0 Out With the Old.....

By thr_80 | At 3:18 AM | Label : chest pieces , koi , Ships , Stars , Studio Enigma , Sugar Skulls , Tiger | 0 Comments

As we wind down 2010, and look ahead to 2011, I wanted to take care of one of my several loose ends from the past year.Back in July, I met a guy named John on the D train. He had tattooed arms and we chatted a bit. He said he'd send me photos and he did a few weeks later.I never posted the photos because the resolution was low, and when I tried to increase the size, they blurred. I was going to include...

0 A Bright Spot in December: A Phoenix and a Pin-Up

By thr_80 | At 7:36 AM | Label : Gargoyle Tattoos , Harry Potter , Phoenix , Pin-ups | 0 Comments

As one would expect, inkspotting is tough during December. Here we are at the end of the month, and I have only interviewed three people since the 1st. There were a few times over the summer when I interviewed three contributors during my lunch hour!The last person whose work I photographed was Megan, who I found upstairs at the Penn Plaza Borders store.Megan has seventeen tattoos, but it was this...

0 Two-for-Tattoosday, Brazilian-Style

By thr_80 | At 8:55 PM | Label : Dragons , koi , mermaid , True Love Tattoo (Sao Paolo) | 0 Comments

Sometimes, due to a) a language barrier and b) the passage of time, we're not always able to give you the most in-depth story about our subjects' tattoos.Such is the case with Celso and Reginaldo, who I met back in September outside of Madison Square Garden.Both gentlemen were visiting from S�o Paolo, Brazil and one of Celso's tattoos caught my eye:That was on his right arm. He also had this one...

0 Christmas House Cleaning

By thr_80 | At 10:47 AM | Label : Agnostic Front , Bon Iver , Crazy Fantasy Tattoo , Dare Devil Tattoo , Guns N' Roses , iguanas , Inca , Lone Wolf Tattoo , Puzzle Pieces , Rising Dragon Tattoos , Ships , song lyrics , Wolf | 0 Comments

Regular readers of Tattoosday will notice that, although I generally follow a chronological order when I share tattoos I have encountered.However, certain pieces, for various and sundry reasons, have been bypassed, and haven't made it to the blog, until now.I was originally going to post a dozen to represent the Twelve Days of Christmas, but I settled for eight. For the nights of Chanukah, perhaps?Without...

0 Home Sweet Home for the Holidays

By thr_80 | At 5:55 AM | Label : Jester's Court Tattoos , Miami , New York City , Pittsburgh , Statue of Liberty | 0 Comments

The saying is, "you can't take it with you," but there is a way to carry your home with you when you move somewhere else.Take, Adam, for example, who I stopped on Seventh Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets.He currently resides in Pittsburgh, but he has lived in Miami and New York City.His tattoos are a work in progress and he has had about eight hours done so far.Adam says he has lived all over...

0 Two, No, Three from Lisa Marie

By thr_80 | At 3:58 AM | Label : Brooklyn Made | 0 Comments

I ran into Lisa Marie in my local grocery store a few months back and she was happy to share a couple of cool tattoos:That is, for those who don't know, the symbol of Coney Island's Steeplechase Park.She got this because she loves Coney Island, one of the most iconic spots in Brooklyn. Lisa Marie later sent me a shot of the tattoo when it was brand-spanking new:This was inked by Michael Kaves at...

0 Luis Shares Two Loter�a Cards

By thr_80 | At 2:40 AM | Label : Loteria Cards , Saved Tattoo , Th'ink Tank Tattoo | 0 Comments

I met Luis in Borders, Penn Plaza, last month and asked him about his tattoos. He has more than fifteen altogether, and three are based on Loter�a cards, which are used as part of a Mexican bingo game, as well as in fortune-telling.He shared two of these cards with me and explained that, as a first generation Mexican-American, these Loter�a cards remind him of growing up.The first one he explained...

0 Marisa's Polychrome Calves

By thr_80 | At 3:16 AM | Label : Rock Star Tattoos , Wizard of Oz | 0 Comments

I met Marisa walking down 40th Street in Manhattan late one October afternoon. She had just crossed Broadway when I spotted her and asked her about her tattoos. Namely, these two gracing the back of her calves:These tattoos are based on the work of artist John R. Neill, who illustrated L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz books. The female figure in both designs is Polychrome, the Rainbow's daughter.Both...

0 Chris's Tattoos Motivate and Inspire

By thr_80 | At 3:05 AM | Label : Crosses , House of 1000 Tattoos , paw prints , Skulls , Words | 0 Comments

I met Chris earlier this month in Penn Station and he shared his 3/4-sleeve. He is the owner/operator of the Muscle Maker Grill at 92 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea.His sleeve is a collage of designs that motivate and inspire him, with a skull design thrown in, to boot.He has the phrase "Live Now. Shoot for the Stars" inked on his biceps. This motto is a nod to his ambition as a business owner.The three...

0 Darya's Bi-Coastal Peacock and Cherry Blossoms

By thr_80 | At 8:39 AM | Label : Brooklyn Ink , cherry blossoms , Peacocks , Studio City Tattoos | 0 Comments

I met Darya coming out of the subway in Bay Ridge and asked if I could take a picture of her tattoo. She kindly allowed me to do so and share it here with everyone on Tattoosday:Darya explained that she always wanted a peacock tattoo, and she has fourteen tattoos in all (not all peacocks). Joe Maggs at Brooklyn Ink tattooed the peacock. The cherry blossoms, symbols of regeneration, were added by Illya...

0 They Call Him Mr. Spades

By thr_80 | At 3:16 AM | Label : heart , Rose City Tattoos , Skulls , spades | 0 Comments

I met Matt in Penn Station last month and he was happy to share a couple of his eight tattoos. The coolest one was this heart on his left arm:A closer look shows just how intricate this design is:Matt explained that the idea behind this tattoo is simply that there are two sides to everything. He collaborated on the design with the tattoo artist Sean Malone, who works out of Rose City Tattoos in Rahway,...

0 Melissa's Feather of Memory

By thr_80 | At 3:23 AM | Label : feathers , Memorial , Shotsie's | 0 Comments

Back in October, I reviewed Kat Von D's The Tattoo Chronicles (here).I also went to a book-signing and met Ms. Von D.As you would expect, there was a long line to see the author, who is indisputably the most famous tattoo artist in the world.Despite the long line, I did have a chance to chat at length with several other people at the event. We talked tattoo as we queued along 46th Street, around...

0 A Quartet of Art-Inspired Tattoos

By thr_80 | At 3:13 AM | Label : Andy Warhol , Art , Dada , Flying Monkey Tattoo | 0 Comments

When I asked Brian how many tattoos he had, back in October when I met him at Borders in Penn Plaza, he kind of shrugged and said "I don't even know". A great answer, in my opinion.Brian is an interior designer and many of his tattoos are inspired by the art he admires.Three of the tattoos I photographed are on his right arm. First is this red tattoo:This, Brian explained, is a piece that pays homage...