Tattoos

Senin, 10 Maret 2014

Tasha's Horned Viper (from the NYC Tattoo Convention)

The 17th Annual New York City Tattoo Convention has ended, but I'll be expanding this week on some of the amazing tattoos I saw (and tweeted out) during the show.

First off is this amazing horned viper:

This vibrant tattoo is on the left hand of Tasha, the shop manager at Independent Tattoo, in Selbyville, Delaware. Matthew Amey, one of the owners, put this on Tasha Friday evening at the convention, so when I took the photo it was still fresh.

When I asked Tasha about why she got this particular piece, she explained, "I was actually gonna get Medusa, but it's like, ten pounds of shit in a dimebag - it's just too much for a small area so [Matt] said, What about a horned viper? and I was like, okay, and he brought the drawing in that he had done and I was like that's pretty cool!"

The rest, as they say, is history.

Tasha, Matthew Amey and Tres Denk, all from Independent, are super cool to talk to, and if you're ever passing through Delaware, are well-worth a visit.

Thanks to Tasha (and the rest of the crew from Independent Tattoo) for sharing this awesome horned viper with us here on Tatoosday!

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Minggu, 09 Maret 2014

Coda: NYC Tattoo Convention at Roseland

Today is the final day for the New York City Tattoo Convention at Roseland Ballroom. Next year, the show will return to May in a new locale, while the old home for the show will be a distant memory, swallowed up by NYC developers.

I spent a long day there yesterday and met a lot of great artists and tattoo enthusiasts. I met up with my old friend Paul, one of Tattoosday's earliest contributors (click his name to see his ink) and we had a nice chat with Jasmine, one of the stars of Tattoo Nightmares.

Jasmine and Paul

Not only did I spend time with the awesome Marisa & Brian from Needles & Sins, but I had a nice chat with Michael McCabe (below right).

McCabe is, among other things, the author of two of the best books on New York City tattooing, one of which New York City Tattoo, has just gone back into print. Check it out and order it here. His other book, also a classic, is Tattooing New York City.

It's hard to get bored with the convention and, thanks to warmer temps on Saturday, there was a lot more tattoos to see than Friday night. I imagine everyone will be out today to give Roseland a final send-off.

Be sure to follow Tattoosday's twitter feed and check back later this week for more tattoos and stories from the show!

Sabtu, 08 Maret 2014

Sam Shares Two Cool Tattoos at the NYC Tattoo Convention

It has been a brutal winter, and the tattoos have been scarce here in New York City, so I was excited to get back to the New York City Tattoo Convention and see some great tattoos.

The event is early this year, to account for the closing of Roseland Ballroom, so unfortunately there were an inordinate amount of people wearing jackets and long sleeves - meaning body art was not overflowing as much as it has been in the past. However, today looks to be warmer, and I'm looking forward to Day 2!

That said, I did interview a woman named Sam, who works at Lark Tattoo in Westbury, NY. She was kind enough to share two tattoos with us for Tattoosday.

First is this giant piece on her thigh:

Sam explained the origins of this piece, which was done in three sessions of three hours apiece:

"This tattoo was done at South Shore Tattoo in Amityville, New York by an artist named Mike Nomy ... he's the owner of the shop. I'd actually gotten it done a couple years ago ... it was one of my first tattoos ... I knew that I was gonna be a heavily-tattooed person and I needed a way to introduce it to my parents, in a way that was heart-felt to them and seemed genuine ... I got something that was literally for them - my mom has a little tattoo of a rose on her butt and my dad has always wanted to get snakes tattooed on him ... I kinda took the two ideas and formed it into something that would show them how much I care about them and hopefully they can see me in the way I choose to transform myself and love me that way also ... It's kinda the way I reached out to them ... I dedicated a huge spot on my body to them."

She also offered up this amazing piece on the back of her calf:

Sam credits this cool tattoo to Joe Friedman at Lark Tattoo.

She elaborates:

"It's a Maneki-neko cat which is normally a lucky cat ....this type of cat is an unlucky cat, there's really no name for it - it's something that I kinda came up with based on a toy I had seen actually and it really inspired me to think about the way my life has been running, I'm pretty unlucky ... so I wanted a way to remind myself that I gotta work and not rely on luck."

Thanks to Sam for sharing her awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Be sure to head down to Roseland this weekend to catch the last two days of the NYC Tattoo Convention in this historic venue!

Jumat, 07 Maret 2014

The NYC Tattoo Convention This Weekend!

If you're thinking, "Wait, is the convention early this year?" you'd be right on the mark.

Normally the Tattoo Industry takes over the venue in May, but alas, our city's beloved Roseland Ballroom, the convention's home, is closing in April, after over 50 years in its current location. Rather than scramble to find a new home, it is only fitting that the 17th Annual New York City Convention bumped up its dates to this weekend, so we could have one last fling before moving to a new location in May 2015.

That said, I will be descending on Roseland this weekend and tweeting, Facebooking, and gathering material for posts for Tattoosday. The Convention has always been kind to Tattoosday, as clicking here can show.

Hope to see you all there!

Get more info on the Convention's Official Site and Facebook page.

Rabu, 26 Februari 2014

Sean Shares Two Circular Tattoos

As we patiently wait for this forsaken winter to end and for the city's tattoos to come out of hiding, my new friend Sean and I were talking about the site recently and he offered up his two tattoos for us here on the site.

First up is this piece on his upper left arm:

The tattoo reads "Blackbird singing in the dead of night...take these sunken eyes and learn to see... all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free ...". This is, for those who don't know, a fragment of lyrics from The Beatles classic "Blackbird."

Sean explains how he came by this, his first tattoo:

"I had my Blackbird tattoo done in honor of my dad whom like myself, loved The Beatles. At the risk of sounding like a weirdo, it started from a dream I had that included the lyrics, 'All you need is love' in the shape of a peace sign. When I woke up, I tried sketching what I dreamt about (I still have the sketch that I drew with my finger on my phone), but it came out looking like shit. However, I was inspired to get a tattoo if I could perfect the design. After playing around with some of the lyrics to Instant Karma! (not the Beatles, but still Lennon!), Blackbird and All You Need Is Love, I settled on Blackbird, since that was supposedly one of my dad's favorites. Anyway, I literally spent months working on the design with my best friend, Darryll Brandwine who is great with graphic art, as he owns his own architecture firm in Las Vegas (D3 Design Studios). During this time, I stumbled upon a 'John Lennon' font which we were able to use in Photoshop. I liked this touch a lot because I felt it gave the tattoo a more 'authentic' feel. After a few different revisions, I brought it into Will [Sheldon at Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg]. Soon after he applied the template to my shoulder, I went out to my wife, Madeline to see how she liked it. Her eyes said it all, which meant a lot since while she was supportive of my decision, she was not really a big tattoo fan. I went back in, Will finished it up and I was very happy with my decision to get my first tattoo."

Sean also has this piece, which I think is really cool, on his inner right wrist:

I'll let Sean describe this Ensō, or Zen circle, tattoo, as well:

"Religion was never something that I felt very comfortable with. However, as I got older, I began to see the value of having one. Coincidentally, over the past few years, a friend of mine has been urging me to try meditation as well as learn about some of the Buddhist teachings. I took to it almost immediately, as it didn't seem as 'restrictive' and 'invasive' as the religions I had come to know. I still joke around with people and tell them that you're not going to see me walking around in a red robe and a shaved head, but Buddhism has taught me a lot and I continue to read books and watch videos on it. Somewhere along the way, I came across the 'Zen Circle' and it seemed like it would make for a simple, nice-looking tattoo. Naturally, people always ask what does it mean and why did I get it. They have no idea what it is or even if it's complete. Like most people who have tattoos, I got it because I like what it represents (strength and enlightenment, for starters) and it IS done...haha. Anyway, Bella [Kozyreva] from Brooklyn Made [in Bay Ridge] did this one and while I envisioned it being smaller on my wrist, I really like how it came out."

Thanks to Sean for sharing his circular tattoos with us here on Tattoosday! Will we see more from him? Sean's final words on the subject were, "I'd say I am done with tattoos, but I said that after my first one too."

I'd add, every tattoo is your last tattoo, until you get the next one!

Kamis, 20 Februari 2014

Erica, Rats and the Chrysler Building

A little over a year ago, we featured this tattoo on Erica, a musician, who also happens to be my wife's cousin.

Erica is a member of Poof Pony, and we recently caught their gig at Fat Baby on the Lower East Side.

After their set, we were kicking back and enjoying some beer, catching up, and Erica showed us her newest tattoo:

This tattoo, sitting on Erica's upper right arm, "is a combination of King Kong and Banksy," she told me, adding "I prefer the Chrysler Building to the Empire State."

The tattoo was inked by Nick Caruso from Bound for Glory Tattoo.

Thanks to Erica for sharing her cool new tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! Be sure to check out Poof Pony's website here and listen to their music!

Minggu, 09 Februari 2014

Sean's Two Sides: Good and Evil

Here we are in February 2014, and we're finishing off with our last encounter from '13. Back in September, on Broad Street in Manhattan, I met Sean, who shared some of his tattoos with us:

Sean explained that these nautical stars and swallows represent good and evil:

"I did the stars on Adobe Illustrator – I took just basically an outline of regular ones and I did a little distressing to them and then decided to turn the colors around and not have full shadings on them, just like silhouettes of shadings. I thought it was a nice move and that’s when my artist said Okay I’ll do those."

His artist is Rich Fie at R&D Tattooing in Queens. He credited the devil and angel swallows to an artist named Lulu.

He also has this piece on his forearm:

Sean has been a musician for twenty-five years, playing drums, guitar, saxophone and harmonica. This tattoo represents his love of music.

Thanks to Sean for sharing his tattoos with us on Tattoosday!

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