premiumtattoo: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Repost: Eddie Graces Egghead's Shoulder

For Halloween, I felt like re-posting a piece that appeared here back in November 2009. To date, this tattoo is in my Top 10 that has appeared on Tattoosday. Enjoy! And have a safe, happy Halloween!

I recently met a gentleman from England, along with his wife, as they were milling about outside of Madison Square Garden.

He referred to himself as "Egghead," I'm guessing due to his bald head. I first noticed the logo for the band Slayer on the back of his calf, along with several other interesting looking tattoos. He estimated he has about a dozen tattoos.

But, like the best Tattoosday stories, he shared this amazing tattoo on his right shoulder, hidden under a sweatshirt, which he pulled off so I could see it properly:

That's a phenomenal piece, courtesy of his artist Ben Boston at The Tattoo Studio in Bristol, England.

The tattoo is a likeness of Eddie, mascot for the band Iron Maiden, one of the premiere metal bands that came out of England in the late 1970's/early 1980's. I won't bore the reader with the catalog of my Iron Maiden fandom, but it certainly made the tattoo even that more wonderful for me.

I even had a nice chat with Egghead and his wife about concerts we had attended.

I thank Egghead for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

LATE NIGHT.

After apprenticing under Lowrider Tattoo for a year, Arni stepped up and finally got his first tattoo. This time, Arni was on the other side of the needle and finally felt the sensation of the needle riding his skin. Here's the final product.

It was a great night and everyone stayed with us until the sun came up. We shared laughs, stories and we enjoyed each others company throughout the process.

"I am like any other man, All I do is supply a demand".

- Al Capone.

Mary's Call of the Wild

I met Mary outside of Penn Station on Seventh Avenue a couple weeks ago. She shared this tattoo on her right calf:

Mary explained:

"I got my wolf tattoo at some place on St. Mark's Place, I don't remember, I was drunk, after I read [The] Call of the Wild. I had broken my foot and they let me leave work early, so I went to a bar with my best friend and started drinking. And then, I was like, 'We should get tattoos' and she was like 'I'm gonna go home' and then ... she was like 'I'm not gettin' tattooed'. So we went to some shady tattoo shop where they let me run around without shoes on and drink beer like a crazy girl. And all I remember is him asking me if I like lavender and I said, 'yeah, I like lavender' and that was that."

Not your ideal tattoo story but, all things considered, this came out well.

Thanks to Mary for sharing her cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, October 28, 2011

A Girl in a Cape and a Book

I met David last month at the Bay Ridge green market at 95th and 3rd. He shared this tattoo on his calf:

David credited this, his first tattoo, to Tony at Citizen Ink on Avenue U in Brooklyn. "I just gave him the concept, and he drew it up," David told me, "A girl in a cape and a book."

Thanks to David for sharing his first tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Amour.

My boy John was here yesterday to get a portrait of someone very close to him-his girl.

He wanted to show his love and devotion to her. John has been in US for 3 years but his girl says his heart is in the phillipines with her. Whatever struggle they are going through, they both stay faithfull and john is about to go back to phillipines to see his beloved family. It always a pleasure to meet people driven by their love and that allows me to remember what my real goal in life is........love and happiness.

Collin's Gypsy Snake and Time

I met Collin back in August in the middle of Broadway, between 35th and 35th Streets, sitting at one of those tables that New York City had installed in the middle of the street.

He had a lot of ink, and chose to share this section of his upper left arm:

This piece, a snake with a gypsy head, circling an alarm clock, was done by Grez at Kings Avenue Tattoo in Manhattan on the Bowery. We promoted the shop opening back in May here.

Collin explained the elements of this piece that curves around the arm:

"The clock represents when I was born ... the candle's my life, burning, it's the time I have left ... gypsies are usually known to be good luck ... the snake is for the fucked up parts of my life and the gypsy head is for the good parts of my life, you know, the future."

Collin explained that Grez initially was concerned about all of these elements combined into one piece. "At first he [Grez] thought it was going to be too much," Collin told me, "but it worked out and I'm happy with it."

The clock is particularly remarkable:

Grez's work has appeared on Tattoosday before, here and here. He's a great talent, and I'm always happy to stumble upon his work.

Thanks to Colin for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Jungle Queen finished.

10/26/11
Not made a post in a while so I thought I'd share this one.
The base was left clear so that the modeler could really dress it up with Diorama
materials to give it a tropical jungle feel or how ever they chose to do it.
Click on the pic to see more and larger pictures of the "Jungle Queen" or just follow this link
to the galleries.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Sue Shares a Werewolf by Deno

A couple months back, I ran into a woman during the afternoon rush hour in Penn Station who had this amazing tattoo on her right thigh:

Turns out her name was Sue Jeiven, and she is a tattoo artist at East River Tattoo in Brooklyn. More of Sue's work can be seen in East River's Flickr stream here.

This was her most recent tattoo (at the time) and was done by Deno, a visiting artist from Spain, who's Circus Tattoo in Madrid is a top-notch shop. The quality of this piece is phenomenal.

Work from Deno appeared earlier this year on the site here.

Thanks to Sue for sharing her amazing werewolf with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Consistency.

Paul was here yesterday to get his daughter's portrait.

Here is Ethan first session on his Michelangelo statue.

Amy and Her Colorful Hot Air Balloon

Today's tattoos are from Amy, who I met a couple weeks ago in Penn Station. First is this stunning hot air balloon on her upper right arm:

This was done by Brian Marsman at Powerhouse Tattoo Company in Montclair, New Jersey. "I just wanted a hot air balloon and I didn't have a picture for him or anything," Amy told me, "he just drew it up for me."

She also had this tattoo, on her inner right forearm,

This is an interpretation of a watercolor by Angelique Houtkamp entitled "Edith Piaf":

©Angelique Houtkamp

This was done by an artist named Giordano who was visiting from Brazil, set up shop in Amy's dining room, and tattooed a handful of friends and family, including Amy's husband and father.

Thanks to Amy for chatting with me and sharing these tattoos here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Time and place

So, Allan just posted this on his blog, which means that i'm allowed to do the same, so feast your eyes on this flash sheet of pure, spooky awesomeness!

Want to get one of these out of this world pieces tattooed on you?
Come to the shop on Saturday the 29th!
We start at 1 pm and end around 9 or 10-ish.
All tattoos will have a fixed, very reasonable price, and if you want it even cheaper, all you have to do is dress up, as people in fancy costumes get 50% off!
There will be treats and beverages and spooky music, and we hope to see lots of you there!

Get one of these tattooed by Uncle Allan, or wait and see what Chriss Dettmer has to offer... or get tattooed by them both!

Stu's Sleeve in Progress

One of the drawbacks of approaching folks in Penn Station as I pass through after work is that, if they're waiting for a train, and their platform is called, they're off to the races. Sometimes people reach out to me after I've met them, but other times I don't hear from them again.

Such was the case with Stu, who shared the top part of his sleeve-in-progress:

Stu was able to tell me that his artist is Richie Calascibett at Starlight Tattoo in Rochelle Park, New Jersey.

I particularly love the blue flower and the way that Richie tattooed the wind into the design.

Thanks to Stu for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Ed Hardy - Tattoo the World: Contest Winner!

Congratulations to reader Adam, who won the Ed Hardy DVD!

I know this is a flyer for an event last February, but it's cool and worth sharing.

Entrants were input into Randomized.com and Adam got the nod.

Lacking a review here (it will be forthcoming, I promise), check out this blurb over on the L.A.Times.

Thanks to everyone who entered, and congrats again to Adam!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Update, now with sneak peek

With only little over a week to go before Halloween Day at Conspiracy Inc, i figured it was time for a little sneak peek of the designs that will be available. Don't you?
Allan is painting his sheet as i write this, so it will be done soon... maybe even today?
He will post more previews on his instagram and twitter, so go stalk him there if you would like to see more.
As for Chriss Dettmer's sheet, you will just have to wait until the 29th to see that!

More details in the following days, like what time to show up and stuff, but i hope you already have your costume picked out, and you're ready to hang out and eat snacks and get tattooed... and be spooked, of course!!

Epic flash epicness

I'm probably gonna end up saying this again, but since the last flash day was for the London flash, which was fancy-semi-custom-not-to-be-reproduced-flash, it's worth mentioning more than once: the Halloween flash is just that; actual flash. That means there are no limits to how many times a piece can be done, so there will be no need to fight over that sweet Dracula, or whatever you have your heart set on. You can all get it!*

*In theory, but in reality, that would be super boring, so please don't all get the same thing!

John's Ink Gives Him Inner Strength

Check out this interesting tattoo on the inside of John's upper left arm:

This piece was inked at Top Hat Tattoo in Rocky Point on Long Island.

John says that the placement on his inner left arm means it's close to his heart and represents inner strength.

Thanks to John for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Even More New Tattoos by Matt Decker

Beautiful New Piece on Katherine

Super Cool!

This is Awesome! Diamonds and a Heart!

Ysabel's Devil Girl

I met Ysabel last month on 34th Street across from Macy*s, and she shared this tattoo from her upper left arm:

Ysabel got this devilish girl purely as a decorative piece (no hidden meanings here!) and this is one of her thirteen tattoos.

This was inked at New York Hardcore Tattoos by Ronda Biondi. Ysabel told me that Rhonda is no longer there, and I was unable to find her on the web, so if anyone knows where she can be reached, please let us know so we can link her properly in this post. Xanthos.

After this post went live, I did receive a confirmation from the artist, Ronda Xanthos, who clarified, "I did do that pin-up (not the back-round)," when she was at New York Hardcore. You can check out some of Ronda's work here on Facebook.

Thanks to Ysabel for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

New Work by Matt Decker

Matt Decker has been kicking butt latley! Check out some of his new work from last week!

Al's got this new piece of the planets in alignment on 2012

Missy is almost finished getting her phoenix! Matt has one last color session to go!

Very cute Owl!

An Oakland Outlaw Derby Girl got this great wing! It's also a cover up!

Two for Tattoosday: Elise Remembers Paris and Shares a Cardinal

These next tattoos would not be here on Tattoosday were it not for signal problems at the Jay Street subway station in Brooklyn.

For it was an e-mail alert about those problems disrupting train service which sent me away from my normal routine and directed me last week to the Herald Square subway station to catch a D train.

It was there on the southbound platform that I met Elise who displayed some cool ink on her arms. We chatted a bit and, because her top partially obscured sections of her tattoos, she told me she'd email me photos. Not everybody who says that means it, or follows up, but Elise did not disappoint and sent me the following photos later that evening.

First, is this interesting tattoo on her upper right arm:

Elise calls this “Paris in a Woman,” which is inspired by the fact that she was born and raised in France. The idea of including the Parisian cityscape came from Charmaine Olivia, an artist based out of San Francisco. Elise included the Eiffel Tower in it. The tattoo was done by John Poverty, who tattoos out of Goose Tattoo in Brooklyn.

Lower on her right arm is this amazing bird tattoo:

Elise explained:

“The cardinal by Mike Adams [of True Sight Tattoo Company in Detroit] was inspired by family. Once all my siblings and I ‘flew the coop,’ my parents took up bird watching, and are now avid cardinal lovers. Mike inked this out of Thicker Than Water in Manhattan, [where he] will have a short residency in the beginning of December.”

Work by Mike appeared over the summer on Tattoosday here.

Thanks again to Elise for sharing these wonderful tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Tattoosday Giveaway! Ed Hardy - Tattoo the World

[This Contest is Now Closed]

We here at Tattoosday have in our hot little hands, a brand-spanking new DVD copy of Ed Hardy: Tattoo the World.

It's yours for the taking. All you need to do to win is leave a comment on this post, or on the post on the Tattoosday Facebook page, sometime this week and a winner will be selected from among those entries.

The winner will be announced Saturday along with my review of the movie.

More information about the film, including additional clips, can be found on its website here.

Negative comments will disqualify entries. You are certainly entitled to your opinions, but we want to keep things positive, folks!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Lourdes on Lourdes

Back at the end of August, I met a woman in Borders Penn Plaza who shared this tattoo:

This tattoo depicts Lourdes (officially, Our Lady Of Lourdes) and the woman who shared it, also named Lourdes.

She was in a hurry, so I couldn't get much more information. She credited the artist as "Sugarbear".

Lourdes promised to contact me with additional information, but I haven't heard back from her.

Thanks to Lourdes for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Crystal's Ice-Bat and Gloomy Bear (with a Nod to The Academy Is)

These tattoos, belonging to Crystal, date back to an encounter I had with her on the R train in Brooklyn back in June. She has 14 tattoos, and first shared this one, on her inner right forearm:

What is this? I'll let Crystal explain:

“It’s an Ice-Bat [one of the Uglydolls] with the words ‘Dream of demons / while you sleep / that make you / stutter / when you speak’ – they’re lyrics from a song [“Down and Out”] by The Academy Is, a Chicago band. My best friend and I actually have the same words, different design on her arm. We met in Chicago … it’s kind of a way to show our support for the band but also for our friendship to each other.”

Incidentally, The Academy Is announced just last week that, after eight years, they were breaking up.

This piece was done at The Chicago Tattooing and Piercing Company, but Crystal doesn't recall the name of the artist who did the tattoo.

She also shared this chest piece:

Again, Crystal explains it best:

“I got started on it when I was 19 and I was in Atlanta and had just started college and went through a rebellious phase. … I’m in love with the main character which is Gloomy Bear … Gloomy Bear is kind of the doll that controls the boy…..”

More on Gloomy Bear can be learned on its designer Mori Chack's wikipedia page.

Thanks to Crystal for sharing her ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Here's a little bonus, The Academy Is performing "Down and Out" at an in-store event:

Thursday, October 13, 2011

ABEY ALVAREZ.

Yesterday i went to visit a true virtuoso in the art of tattooing. A very good friend of mine named Abey Alvarez who you must have already seen some of his work . Abey has been creating his own world in the tattoo scene with his very fine line black and grey tattoo work.

When i walked in, he was about to add a portrait to his customers collection. As a true artist, Abey is really humble and rather let his work speak for itself. Check it out for yourself.

Here is some healed up work from previous sessions over the years.

...and of course, his latest.

You can find Abey the Lowrider Tattoo in Costa Mesa and also on abeyalvarez.com

Four from Frank

It may be the middle of October, but I am still working with a handful of summer photos, like those I took of Frank, who shared four of his ten pieces with us.

The first one is by Cris Element at Puncture Tattoo Studios in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn:

He was reluctant to share the meaning of this tattoo, saying it was personal, but he did elaborate on three others, done by Taze at Groove Tattoo in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. This one, for example, he told me was because "I was born on June 7th [and] I got no luck so maybe I'll get some luck out of this tattoo...".

Frank indicated that the element of time figured into this piece, with the naked woman representing life, and the skull representing death:

And this one, also by Taze, represents that he had "the best times of [his] life skateboarding":

Thanks to Frank for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!