Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Katya's Pumpkin Patch

(We here at Tattoosday have survived Hurricane Sandy relatively unscathed. Now back to some ink appreciation....)

I've been hanging on to this photo for over six months:


This tattoo belongs to Katya, who I met back in April in Penn Station. This seemed more appropriate to post around Halloween. since it features pumpkins.

Katya credits this work to a friend of hers named John Murphy in California with starting this piece, which she conceives as the start of a sleeve, which will rise from the earth and the pumpkins, up her arm to a cityscape and an homage to the television show Bewitched.

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

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website 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.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Just a reminder

Tomorrow at 2 pm... be there or be... like, a super lame person or something!



Scaaaryyyy...

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Part 3 of Tattoo Age's Profile of Mutsuo is Up!

I've been really enjoying the current profile of the Japanese tattoo artist Mutsuo, of which the third and concluding part has just gone live on Vice's Tattoo Age series.

Behold:


There is a certain Zen quality to this last installment, as Mutsuo visits a Buddhist/Shinto shrine, and talks a little about the acceptance (or lack thereof) of tattoos in Japanese society. You can also click the "Tattoo Age" tag at the bottom of this post to see previous entries.

Trailer for The Sitdown, a Conversation with New York Tattoo Legends

Here is the new official trailer for The Sitdown...A Conversation with Tattoo Legends:

 

Legends indeed! Recorded on October 21 2012 at Richie's Tattoo in Elmont. Listen to Richie Montgomery, Pete Giaquinto, Ronnie DellAquila, Mike Perfetto & Tony Polito, hosted by Mike Schweigert. Filmed & Edited by Rich Fie. Produced by Mike Schweigert & Rich Fie. (c)2012 SHTC Productions

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Tattoos In the News: Hilo on My Mind

Tattoosday may be a New York City-based blog, but we here at the home office have roots deep in Hawai'i. We showed a whole slew of islands-based ink back in our "Tattoosday Goes to Hawai'i" posts back in 2010 (this tag lets you see most of those entries).

I was on the phone with my mother yesterday and she told me that the cover of the local Hawaii Tribune Herald featured "Hilo's Illustrated Man," a guy named Bryston "Sonny" Savella:


The full article here details how Savella was inspired by images of people who had Route 66 tattoos. He wanted a similar concept, only with images from the town of Hilo.


Among the expected sights, his work also features "...a Big Island Candies dipped cookie ... and a smorgasbord of menu items from Ken's House of Pancakes." 


The work is credited to local artist John Butler, who is owner and operator of Tattoos by Butler.

It's a great article and a nice slice of Hawaiian life for a quick read. I encourage you to check out the piece and see Butler's work on his Facebook page. You may even want to book an appointment on your next trip to the Big Island!

Mahalo to my mom for tipping me off and to Savella and Butler for combining forces on this Hawaiian-style project!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website 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.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Lindsay's Grandfather Resonates in Her Tattoos

I met Lindsay in Penn Station back in August and she shared two tattoos, starting with this incredible blackbird inked on her thigh:


She credited this amazing piece to Grez at Kings Avenue Tattoo. He is one of those artists whose work I see occasionally in my travels. As always, I am impressed with his workmanship.

What does this tattoo symbolize? Lindsay explained, "I actually have the key as a necklace of mine that I found in my house and then the poppy is for my grandpa." And the blackbird? She told me, "I like the myths of death behind it."

Lindsay also has this tattoo on her arm:


Lindsay explains:
"This is my grandpa's suitcase and I actually found it with the key [from the op tattoo] and it was in the wall of my house. It was really awesome. It's like this really old style suitcase."
This is a great tribute to her grandfather and was also tattooed by Grez.

Thanks to Lindsay for sharing these awesome tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website 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.

Resistance is futile!

Hey all, we're back from the most amazing convention weekend ever.
Don't worry, you didn't miss Allan at any tattoo convention, cause i'm talking about the friggin Star Trek convention we just attended in good old London town!
Oh, come on, it's not like you didn't already know we were huge nerds, right?

So yeah, we're back, completely broke, but so happy, and a few priceless autographs and moments richer!
Oh, and Sarah got to show Kate Mulgrew her Captain Janeway tattoo that Allan did on her this summer.
Through tights, but still, she did see it, and from what we heard, she was very impressed!

More Trek stories over on my blog when i've transferred pictures and maybe slept a little more... yeah, we went pretty much straight from airport to work this morning... poor Allan!


Sarah, me and Allan with unnamed Borg!

The Janeway and the Mulgrew

No, sadly Allan wasn't in costume, so me and Sarah had to Trek out extra hard!
 (Pictures from Sarah's instagram, she's @eraserbits there if you wanna see more!)


That's it for the geek talk, but i have some Danish info too, so i'll just switch on the universal translator for the next part!
Haha, get it, universal translator? No? Don't get up, i'll show myself out...

Attention København! Davee har stadig tider i denne uge, og vil også tage walk-ins, så hvis du står med en god ide, eller bare en spontan trang til at blive tatoveret (og hvem gør ikke det?!) kan du komme forbi Schleppegrellsgade 7 fra i morgen fra kl. 13 og tage en snak med ham.
Der kan forekomme lidt ventetid når det er på walk-in basis, men stadig, dette er ugens tilbud, så spred ordet og kom forbi!


Bare rolig, det behøver ikke nødvendigvis være hoved tatoveringer!


Things are really moving forward with our Berlin plans, and i can finally say that the contract is signed and the house is indeed ours.
Very exciting!
I am working on getting a bunch of practical stuff done before we leave for Japan in less than a week (Allan has a few appointments available between the 31st and the 14th of November, so contact Inkrat if you wanna get tattooed, the email is inkrat00@yahoo.co.jp), so if you've sent me a non-urgent email, i may not be able to reply right away.
The same goes for buying flash or prints; i try to make time to go to the post office as soon after an order has been placed as i can, but that's not always possible, so if you're not prepared to let it take the time it's gonna take, don't place an order right now.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of emails, there's no need to write me about the waiting list.
It's still closed, but when it opens, i promise i won't try to keep it a secret, so just check back here every once in a while and you won't miss a thing!

I'll be back with more updates and tattoo photos soon!
Oh, and don't forget our Halloween flash day on Saturday, ok?
Fun times!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Kara's Kara-cature (and a Killer Back Piece, to Boot)

I spotted Kara on 7th Avenue back in July.

She was headed south while I was headed north. When I turned and saw her back piece, I whirled around and caught up to her to ask her about her work. She was kind enough to share. Check it out:


She credited an artist named Augustin Espinosa with this piece and most of her tattoos are "all about decoration." Espinosa was at A-List Industry Studios in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn when he did the back piece, but he was at New York Hardcore in Manhattan when he tattooed her left arm:


Kara explained,
"My arm piece is basically a caricature of me ... I am a marathon runner ... I wanted a pin-up tattoo and I'm a narcissist so I wanted it to be about me ... I gave Augustin basically what I wanted and he drew this."
Thanks to Kara for stopping when I asked her about her tattoos, and for sharing them with us here on Tattoosday!

UPDATE: I learned just recently, while researching this post, that Kara has joined the ranks of the many burlesque performers that have graced these illustrious pages. She performs under the name Magdalena Fox and is, by my best estimation, the fifth performer (that I am aware of) that has been featured here. Just one of the fun perks of being a tattoo blogger!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website 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.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Kate's Marie Antoinette Tattoo (and a Look at Something New)

Looking back to May, I wanted to share this tattoo from Kate that I photographed at the New York City Tattoo Convention:


You can tell from the photo that Kate has simply incredible sleeves. These and the pistol shown in my convention recap here were tattooed by Becca Roach at North Star Tattoo in Manhattan.

It was this back piece, however, that really interested me:


Kate explained that this was her first large tattoo and it depicts Marie Antoinette. She told me, "I always felt a connection with good old Marie A, and felt she was an ordinary girl put in extraordinary circumstances."

The banner below Ms. Antoinette reads, "l'amour pour moi qui je suis, pas qui vous voulez etre a moi," which translates to "love me for who I am, not for who you want me to be."

She credited this tattoo to Jef Wright at Wealthy Street Tattoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In subsequent conversations with Kate, she told me that Marie now has company. Artist Becca Roach has started a new piece lower on Kate's back:





Can't wait to see the final product!

Thanks again to Kate for sharing her work with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website 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.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

It's Halloween time y'all!



Ok, i think we're done with the big life changing announcements for the time being, but that doesn't mean we don't have news to share!
After all the fun we had at last years Halloween walk-in day, we just couldn't not do it again this year, so insanely busy or not, it's happening!
So on the 27th, just two friggin days before we have to leave for Japan, we will have our second Halloween walk-in day, and the last ever at this location!

Tattooers at the event will be Uncle Allan, Dino Baby and Davee Blows, who will all make some super scary flash for you to choose from.
There will be fixed prices but, just like last year, it'll be cheaper if you're in costume, so dress up, ok?

We'll start at 2 pm and keep going until we're too tired or have to go home and pack!
There will be refreshments and maybe some snacks too?
Ok, definitely snacks.

Hope to see y'all there!!





Jeg er sikker på at alle fik nogenlunde fat på hvad posten her handler om, men her er den alligevel på dansk.
På næste lørdag, den 27. Oktober kl 14 holder vi Halloween i butikken!
Det bliver samme deal some sidste år med spooky flash at vælge fra, og i år bliver det Allan, Dino Baby og Davee der står for tatoveringerne.

Se den engelske tekst for links til sidste års event og tatovørenes arbejde.
Husk at kom udklædt, ellers kommer du bare til at føle dig helt malplaceret!
Vi giver noget og drikke, og lidt kage eller snacks, så kom og hyg, det er måske sidste chance!


Ps. Davee har stadig ledige tider i næste uge, så skriv til mig på conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com for at booke en tid!

Mutsuo on Vice's Tattoo Age (Part 2) - Video Up Today!

I know, it's been a long week since we were treated to part one of Vice's Tattoo Age episode introducing us to Japanese artist Mutsuo.

The middle segment is now live:




The good people at Vice tell us "In Part 2, Tattoo Age delves into the history of Mutsuo's shop, Three Tides Tattoo, and hears from Chris Garver, Masa Sakamoto, and more, as they give us insight into how western-style tattooing gained ground in Japan after the 1999 Tokyo Convention."

Now we just have to wait another week for more Mutsuo. As always, this series continues to impress!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Tattoo Designs and Ideas For Sexy Foot ang hands Tattoos For Women


Tattoo Designs and Ideas For Sexy Foot and hands Tattoos For Women

As compared to other kinds of tattoos, foot tattoos are always considered more exotic. There are so many admirers of the female foot and to some nothing is sexier than a tat on one's foot. There are so many tattoo art designs that you can choose from. To start, flower designs are classic when it comes to female foot tattoos together with letter and star designs. You can have a flower lei design on your ankle that extends to the flat of your foot to make it look like you always have a flower anklet on. You can even have a four leaf clover for good luck.

But before you go ahead with your plan of getting a foot tat, you have to understand first that your idea might be more painful than you imagine. When it comes to getting tattoo arts the general rule is that the process will hurt more if you have it right over bone than flesh. Hence, hand tattoos fall in the same category as foot tattoos.

One other problem when it comes to foot tattoos is ink migration. This simply means that the ink in your foot ink art would spread and blur the entire design. To prevent this from happening, position your tat on top of your foot but never on the sides and your toes. Ink migration can be attributed to the constant movement of your foot but re-inking is always an option anyway.

Lastly, there is a great issue with the healing of your foot tattoo art. Unlike other parts of the body, when you get a tat on your feet it is necessarily important for you to refrain from wearing shoes or flip flops. Nonetheless, keeping your tattoo art from the heat of the sun is also important. But if you must wear shoes, wear two pairs of light socks underneath.

Tattoo Reality Overload - New Show "Tattoo Nightmares" premieres tonight on Spike TV

With last week's double shot of Inkmaster's second season (two episodes for the price of one!) and Tattoo Rescue, you'd think we'd be rolling toward Tattoo Reality Overlord. Although it appears Tattoo Rescue was a one-off pilot, we will now get a new series premiering tonight after Inkmaster.

For those in the tattoo industry who think that "reality" shows exploit their industry and that no new tattoo shows is a good thing, they will likely cringe at the title of Tattoo Nightmares.

But, similar to a TLC series I spotted over the summer called America's Worst Tattoos, the new series highlights artists who are trying to correct tattoos gone bad.

As their press release touts:
"Real people with really bad tattoos, ranging from hilarious to downright disturbing, seek the help of three of the best cover-up artists in the business to fix them – Tommy Helm, Big Gus and Jasmine Rodriguez. The stakes are high as the regretful clients ... see if the artists at Tattoo Nightmares can work a miracle and turn their disaster pieces into masterpieces. Reenactments allow us to see how the bad ink was born."
The way I see it, you're either a fan of these types of reality shows, or you're almost violently against them. Personally, I'm a tattoo half-full guy. For the most part, these shows are entertaining - just on the basis that they are legitimately trying to show a positive side to tattoos.

One of the three artists behind Tattoo Nightmares is New York's Tommy Helm, who was one of the three finalists in the first season of Inkmaster. He's a top-notch artist, so I'll give the show a chance based on that alone.

Tommy Helm is one of the biggest reasons to watch Tattoo Nightmares
Look, when show's like Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo draws millions of viewers, it seems silly to complain about a tattoo reality program that celebrates an art form and arguably helps the tattoo business. The same people who complain about these shows are likely also going to be taking appointments from clients who are inspired by these "tattoo nightmares" and seeking high-quality cover-ups.

Tattoo Nightmares premieres tonight on Spike TV at 11:00 and 11:30 PM.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Kate Shares Some Amazing Portraits by Tommy Montoya

Sometimes I hang on to the great tattoo photos for a rainy day.

Well, it's not rainy today, but I thought I'd release these portraits from Kate, who I was fortunate enough to meet in Penn Station back in May.  Kate credited the work to the phenomenal Tommy Montoya (one of the artists from N.Y. Ink) out of Inkslingers L.A.


That's John Dillinger, Marilyn Monroe on the outside of Kate's left arm, and on the inside:


Billie Holliday and James Dean.

Thanks to Kate for sharing these amazing portraits by one of the best in the business!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website 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.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Og så flyttede de igen

(scroll down to the previous post for all of this in English) 

Som i måske kunne se på den forrige post har vi nogle nyheder, og jeg synes det er så stort at det kræver to posts, en dansk og en engelsk. Selvom en tysk måske også havde været på sin plads, da nyheden jo er at vi, Allan og Amalie og vores ikke så lille butik, flytter til Berlin!

Nogle af vores kunder har vidst det et stykke tid, og til dem der først hører om det nu beklager jeg, men vi har ikke følt at vi kunne gøre det helt officielt før vi havde fået alle detaljerne på plads, og det gjorde vi så først i går. Eller, de vigtigste af dem i hvert fald, som et sted at bo og et sted at arbejde.
Det er en process der startede for flere måneder siden, og det er til tider gået rigtig  langsomt, lige indtil det pludselig gik meget hurtigt, og nu ser det ud som om at vi allerede flytter i december. I starten endda!
Det giver selvfølgelig ikke Allan lang tid til at gøre igangværende projekter færdige, især ikke da vi kommer til at tilbringe halvdelen af November i Japan, så hvis du har en tatovering som du gerne vil have lavet færdig inden Allan flytter skal du sende mig en email på conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com lige med det samme, så jeg kan få booket dig ind.

Vi prøver at reservere det sidste stykke tid i Danmark til at færdiggøre ting, og hvis der skulle være tid til overs vil vi booke faste kunder der gerne vil have lavet nye projekter (en sessions projekter, med mindre de er villige til at komme til Berlin og gøre dem færdige).

Grunden til vi flytter er ikke at vi hader hverken København eller vores butik, tværtimod, vi ELSKER vores butik (og vores danske kunder, selvfølgelig!), men da butikken efterhånden noget af det eneste der holder os her, har vi besluttet os for at tage chancen og prøve at skabe et endnu bedre hjem et nyt sted, og af en eller anden grund blev det altså til Berlin!
Og heldigvis for vores herboende kunder er Berlin jo ikke langt fra København, så vi håber da at en masse vil komme ned og besøge os!

Ok, det var så de store nyheder! Jeg kommer til at skrive meget mere om alt det her senere, men her er lige et par vigtige highlights:

-Ventelisten eksisterer stadig. Hvis du ikke har lyst til at komme til Berlin og blive tatoveret kan du sende den en mail med emnet "slet mig" og du bliver fjernet. Hvis du gerne vil komme til Berlin, og blive på listen, behøver du ikke at foretage dig noget.
-Alle nye tider booket fra ventelisten bliver i Berlin. Allan vil selvfølgelig komme til København ind imellem, men det er ikke sikkert der er tid til guestspots i det første lange stykke tid.
-Vores venner Matthew Gordon og Wendy Pham der arbejdede i butikken i August flytter med os! Eller, det vil sige at de flytter til Berlin i Marts for at arbejde med os, så der vil også være mulighed for at blive tatoveret af dem til næste år. Nick kommer selvfølgelig også til næste år (se på hans blog hvornår), og vi håber også på at kunne finde andre gode gæstetatovører til længere guestspots næste år.
-Det lader til at David, som jo desværre ikke flytter med, kan overtage vores elskede butik på Schleppegrellsgade, og det glæder vi os alle sammen meget over! Han har gode ideer og vil passe godt på stedet, og vi glæder os til at se hvad han finder på. Følg med på hans blog, jeg er sikker på at han nok også skal poste om det snart!
-Så snart vi ved mere om flytte datoer og den slags, vil jeg booke nogle enkelte kunder til december, og da det bliver med ret kort varsel kan jeg nok ikke nå at bruge ventelisten. Så hvis du har en ide til en stor one shot tatovering du gerne vil have lavet i Berlin i december, skal du skrive til os så snart du ser en post om det her eller på twitter. Så altså ikke endnu, først når vi ved med sikkerhed hvornår vores nye sted er til at arbejde i!

Ok, det var det for nu!
I er selvfølgelig velkommen til at skrive til os hvis i har nogle spørgsmål, enten på mail eller i kommentar feltet.



Et lille sneak peek...

The Berlin conspiracy

This is gonna come as a shock to some people, and others already know, but here it is, the official post telling you that Conspiracy Inc. is moving to Berlin!
Yes, myself, Allan, Lucifer and the shop (minus one Dino Baby) are moving ourselves, and all the crap we've hoarded though the years, to Berlin as early as December.

We had obviously hoped to be able to give our clients longer notice than that, but things went from going reeeally slow, to happening all at once, and now we are very close to being the owners (well, renters, technically) of a lovely space in Berlin were we will rebuild our little empire.
We couldn't go really for reals public with the news until we were certain that this was actually happening, and we literally just got confirmation yesterday, so yeah.. surprise!

If you're wondering why we're moving, we're not quite sure, it's just something we've wanted to try for a long time... and so we just decided to do it, and the dart we were throwing at a world map landed on Berlin, and so that's were we're going.
And if you're wondering if we're just a little bummed about leaving our beloved studio in Schleppegrellsgade, the answer is "hell yes!", but since that place was just about the only thing keeping us here, we decided it was worth it.

I'll be posting a lot more info later on; like the address and directions and important stuff like that, but for now, y'all just need to know that we are leaving Copenhagen and soon!
But there are of course a few other things i think you should know now and here they are, the ones i can think of right now anyway:

-First of all, the waiting list still exists.
If you're on the list and for any reason us leaving Copenhagen is a dealbreaker for you, just email the list with "delete me" in the subject and we'll take you right off. I'll be sending out an email to the people on the waiting list too informing them of the move.
The waiting list will open again soon, and it will only be for appointments in Berlin, not Copenhagen.
-Uncle Allan will come to Denmark once in a while, and maybe even tattoo a bit while he's here, but if you're in Denmark and have a piece in progress that you'd like finished before we leave, email me asap!
We're gonna be in Japan most of November, so there are very few appointments left before the move!
This would probably also be a good time to mention that airfare from Copenhagen to Berlin is ridiculously cheap, and the flight only takes 40 minutes. Just sayin'...
- Our friends and guest artists, Matthew Gordon and Wendy Pham, have decided to join us in Berlin and will be working with us from March 2013 and for as long as they are able to and feel like! We are so excited to work and hang out with these guys again, and i'll let you know when they start booking for Berlin.
We will also be open for other longer guestspots, think from a few weeks to a few months, but since we're still gonna be a private studio (possibly even more hidden away than we are now!), we're mainly looking for artists with a lot of experience, who've already made a name for themselves internationally. And preferably even someone we've met before! I hope it doesn't come off as too snobbish, but we wanna be as sure as we can be, that the artists who come work with us actually have something to do!
-Nick (Electric Pick) will be joining us in February or March for a guestspot and as always you can check his blog for travel updates.
-There is a very real possibility that David will take over at our current location, and since we can't take him with us, we're hoping he can make himself a wonderful new home in our old shop. So that's exciting too and eventually you'll be able to read about his plans on his blog!
-As soon as we know when we move exactly, like the date, and more importantly when we'll be able to have the studio up and running, i'll be taking appointments for December for anyone who's able to step in on short notice.
People who are on the waiting lists will get in first and we are primarily looking for people who want large one shots.
The only reason i will not be booking from the waiting list is because this will be short notice, and for some reason it simply takes too long for people to get back to me via the list. And we'll need to pay for paint and expensive German plumbers somehow!*
So if you wanna get tattooed in December, keep an eye on the blog and our twitter (@conspiracyinc) and email me as soon as i say go. So, not now. Later!


Sneak peek...



Ok, more info soon, we are so excited about this and can't wait to welcome our friends and clients to a hopefully even more epic Conspiracy Inc. in the near future!

Oh, and a special thanks to our friends in Berlin and Hamburg for all your help, and to all of our friends and family in Denmark and around the world for all of your encouragement and support!
And uhm... please come help us paint, ok?


*Speaking of German plumbers, if you are one, and you have time to do some work for us in December, send me an email. Not even kidding!

The Tattoosday Book Review: Painted Bodies

As regular readers may now, we occasionally review tattoo-related books here on Tattoosday. We're going to try and make this a regular Saturday occasion as we enter the colder weather and try to make our summer backlog last as long as possible.

Today's book is Painted Bodies: African Body Painting, Tattoos, and Scarification by the award-winning photographers Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher.



Published by Rizzoli, this beautiful book offers up large and colorful photos en masse - highlighting a wide range and variety of body art adorning African tribes. I will concede, the 288 pages of mostly full-page photographs are specific to body paint, there is one chapter that focuses on tattoos and scarification.

That said, this is not the book for someone looking for an expose on African tattooing. However, I paged through this volume transfixed, amazed at the simple beauty of the patterns and color utilized by the tribal artists documented with great respect for its subjects.

Beckwith and Fisher have been photographing the indigenous people of Africa for decades and have produced several volumes over the years that have celebrated the diversity of cultures on that continent.
This large coffee table-sized book, which retails for US$100.00, but is discounted through Amazon.com, at least at the time of this writing, takes great care to not only document the different body-painting styles of numerous tribes, but to also describe in chapter prefaces, the processes and cultural significance of the techniques.


"In order to attract females, Karo men decorate themselves lavishly using clays and pigments found naturally in the Omo River region..."    © Carol Beckwith & Angela Fisher, 2012
Although technically not a tattoo book, I still believe this would be a valuable addition to anyone's library, whether it is utilized as a sourcebook and inspiration for artists looking to the roots of body art, or as an appreciation of one section of humanity's embrace of the earth and human expression.

"A proud Wodaabe female from Niger is easily identified by a combination of tattoos that mark her forehead, cheeks, and the corners of her lips, along with face paint that emphasizes her aquiline nose and high cheekbones." © Carol Beckwith & Angela Fisher, 2012
I would recommend, if anyone is interested in the work of these photographers, to head over to this National Geographic website, where one can learn more about Beckwith and Fisher, and see more of their amazing photos.


This review is ©2012 Tattoosday. All images and excerpts are ©2012 Carol Beckwith & Angela Fisher.

If you are reading this on another website 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.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Tom Shares His Escher and Hokusai-Inspired Sleeves

Back in June, I rode my bike out to the Coney Island boardwalk and did a little inkspotting. One of the several tattooed individuals I met was Tom, who had some cool work to share.

It was his M.C. Escher-inspired sleeve that first caught my attention:


Among the designs from which Tom drew inspiration were Escher's "12 Birds"


and his "Lizard."


Tom credited his artist Haun Duong, located in Queens, with this work.

His other arm has a compilation of the works of the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai:


This is based primarily on his most recognizable work, The Great Wave of Kanagawa:


Tom told me that the koi fish represent the fact that he is a Pisces and that he has a twin sister. And there are additional elements from the Japanese master lower on the arm that represent him and his wife, along with three turtles (not pictured) which represent his kids. And inside the bicep:


The falcon and the snake represent the good and the bad within him.

Thanks to Tom for sharing his great work with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website 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.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Tattoo Age on Vice - Episode 2, Part 1 - Mutsuo

I really want to recommend the Tattoo Age series on Vice. The truth is, I ignored it last year because two of my favorite tattoo sites announced when new installments appeared, so I didn't want to seem to be copying them. This mindset was a bit of a disservice to any readers who did not frequent those other sites as well.

I just watched the first installment of the second featured artists this season on Tattoo Age, and it's just so well-done, I can't say enough.

The featured artist is the Japanese tattooist Mutsuo, who works out of Three Tides Tattoo in Osaka, Japan.
Do yourself a favor and watch:


This blog entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website 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.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Ink Master, Season 2, Premieres Tonight on Spike TV

If you're new to Tattoosday, you may not know that I was a "human canvas" on the second episode of Ink Master's first season, which aired earlier this year in January.

My tattoo (and accompanying story) appeared here.

I know there's a lot of hand-wringing about "reality" tattoo shows, but my position is this: if there's a chance to see quality tattoo work on TV, I'll watch it, even putting up with the drama, real or not.

As we head into Season 2, check this trailer:


SPIKE
Season 2 Trailer
www.spike.com
Spike Full EpisodesSpike Video ClipsSpike on Facebook

Like in the first season, there are some artist competing who I've never heard of. But there are also those whose work I have been fortunate enough to feature here on the site.

Most notable is Lalo Yunda of Sacred Tattoo. Lalo's work has appeared on Tattoosday the most, which makes sense since he is a New York-based artist. His work appeared most recently here and here.

There'a also Katherine "Tatu Baby" Flores, whose nickname has raised eyebrows among more serious tattoo enthusiasts. I do know know that when I featured one of her pieces late last year here, I was impressed.

Since last year's winner, Shane O'Neill, had also appeared on Tattoosday here and here, I'll go out on a limb and predict that Lalo Yunda will be this season's winner. Call it the Tattoosday blessing!

Be sure to check it out (or at least DVR it) and remember, if you're looking for the episode I was in, it was called "Botched Head Tattoo".

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website 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.

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Millie's Macaw Brightens Up the Subway

Last week I met Millie on the 42nd Street subway platform when this colorful tattoo on her forearm caught my attention:


Millie credited the artist Wendi Koontz at Rising Dragon Tattoos in Manhattan with creating this beautiful macaw. As parrots go, it's quite spectacular!

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

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website 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.

Monday, October 8, 2012

October guest artist news!!

For those of you hoping we'd have some news on the guest artist front, you're in luck!
Davee Blows, who was here briefly in August during Allan's black metal art show, is coming back for a real guest spot.
He'll be doing fun stuff, in the style you see in the pictures below, and he'll be here from the 24th till the 28th of October.
For booking, contact me (conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com) and i'll sort out the details with you!

Så er der gæste nyt!
Davee Blows komme forbi shoppen fra den 24. til den 28. Oktober og du skulle da tage og blive tatoveret af ham.
Du kan email butikken (conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com) for at høre nærmere og booke tider.
Husk, kun sjove ting i den stil du ser på billederne her!



















I seriously have a lot of news, like big news that some of you may have already heard through that infamous grapevine, but they deserve their own post, and for practical reasons, i can't write that post until Saturday.
How annoyingly cryptic, i know, but soon!
Until then, why not book an appointment with Davee to kill the time?
Yes, that is a fine plan indeed!