.

Shy



Possibly coverup.

Mr. Kaves Shares a Mark Mahoney Portrait

A couple weeks back, I ran into Michael Kaves on 3rd Avenue, a couple blocks away from his shop, Brooklyn Made Tattoo. Kaves is also one of the founding members of The Lordz of Brooklyn. I know Kaves from around the neighborhood, and although I've never been tattooed by him, I have been under the needle in his shop and have had the pleasure of seeing him work first-hand and close-up on other clients.

He's familiar with Tattoosday and wanted to share a tattoo with us here on the site. Check it out:


Located on Kaves' upper right arm, this brilliant tattoo was inked by the legendary Mark Mahoney.

Kaves explained he had gone out to Los Angeles a couple months back and worked at Mahoney's renown shop, the Shamrock Social Club. They had a big launch for a limited edition tattoo pigment - "Mark Mahoney's Shamrock Green". He was there, working on St. Patrick's Day for the official launch.



Mahoney, known to many as the " founding father" of single-needle black and gray tattooing,  tattooed this portrait for Kaves, which took about twelve hours from start to finish.

And who is the woman tattooed on his arm? "It's my grandmother, Marie," he explained, "from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, right here on Third Avenue, 1945."


Kaves' own tattooing work first appeared on Tattoosday back in 2008 here. Most recently, his work has appeared here. This is, however, the first time we have been honored to share a tattoo by Mark Mahoney.

Thanks to Kaves for sharing this phenomenal tattoo by an American master, here with us on Tattoosday!


This entry is ©2011 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.

Simone Bolelli

Tattoo

Choosing a Tattoo

When choosing a permanent tattoo you need to think carefully. After all, the tattoo is going to stay with you for lifetime. You simply don't have an option to change your mind. Browse through a tattoo gallery and look at various tattoo designs available. Which tattoo type do you prefer, which size, which part of the body? After you pick the proper design go to a specialist and let him make a sketch on you,a sort of removable tattoo. Do not ink right away! Hang around with the removable tattoo for a few days and notice how you feel. Once you are 100% sure you've got the right thing, you can proceed with the permanent tattoo.

a beacon/lighthouse,for the uneducated unfortunates ... DONT be a scratch pad for cocky freshman tattooers!!!!!

BEFORE!!  a purple griffin ?  very excited  to cover this assholes (his shop names in the title)...work , i matched her hatred  of the piece (of crap) with my enthusiasm to crush it with a coverup that would work best possible...


think it worked well ..... you may check out a new restaurant .. if it sucks ?!!! you can be disappointed and SHIT out the failure ...WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU TRY OUT A NEW TATTOOIST??? that hasnt proved shit of a careeer or ability , in SF non the less??? we all make these mistakes  but in this day and age too many top notchers Xspecially  in SF to even bother with these  perpetrators .. of our craft & trade!!! do some research ! weve done ours & our homework , alot....

cry for the indians

nebraska likes to party

Repost for Memorial Dsy: A Traditional Naval Tattoo on a 21st Century Ship

This post originally appeared on November 7, 2009. I felt it was appropriate to re-post on Memorial Day, 2011:


 The USS New York was put into service today by the United States Navy.

Her hull was forged with steel salvaged from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

It's a momentous occasion indeed, and several crew members were in attendance with dignitaries earlier this week at the World Series.

As is happens, I noticed a gentleman in uniform outside of Madison Square Garden earlier in the week and he had this tattoo on both hands:


Turns out, the tattoo was modeled after this naval pin, which represents the rank of Boatswain's Mate, worn on the lapel:


The gentleman, whose name is Fred, serves on the USS New York, as the more commonly-known title of Ships Bos'n, and it seems appropriate to post this tattoo today as the ship officially enters the naval fleet.

Fred has been in the service for 26 years, and has seven or eight tattoos all told.

As Ships Bos'n he works with mission systems on amphibious maneuvers.

The crossed anchors are traditional naval insignia and, even though he drew this design himself and they weren't inked in a traditional tattoo shop, he recognizes the crossed anchors as symbols of his dedication to the trade.

I thank Fred for his service to our country, as well as his willingness to contribute to Tattoosday. We wish him well as he serves with pride on the USS New York!


Hunk in Boardies

Life is War

Back in April, I met Joshua outside of Penn Station, and he shared this, one of his five tattoos:


This forearm tattoo, exemplifies Joshua's philosophy that life is war: "you have to go through war to get where you're going."

An ex-girlfriend drew it up for him and then he had it tattooed by Jamie at Bullseye Tattoo Shop in Staten Island, New York.

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

In the Wind

Photo from our cross country motorcycle trip in 2005

Left to right, Cody Miller, Nick Rodin, Oliver Peck, Scott Sylvia
from: Victor H. Mair
to: Tian
date: Wed, May 25, 2011 at 7:30 PM
subject: smatter

Hanzi Smatter circa 1700

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3160



A friend of Dr. Mair sent him a
photograph of Dutch chinoiserie tile panel from the late 17th-early 18th century, and asked him to help her identify some of the curious scenes represented on it. Dr. Mair, however, was immediately drawn to the cartouche in the upper left corner.

Here is what happened...
from: Fryeda K.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Fri, May 20, 2011 at 1:20 PM
subject: Tattoo

This idiot went to get "his name", but now gets "lots of laughs in Chinese restaurants".

So, the question is, what does it really say?

Thanks!



Although top character is , however it would not make any sense combining with .

Most likely it was a typo and intended tattoo is 精神, or spirit.
from: John C.
to: tiangotlost@gmail.com
date: Tue, May 17, 2011 at 12:58 PM
subject Tattoo Translation

Hi there,

I got a tattoo a few years back saw the image in a shop alongside a few others, and decided to get it. It is supposed to be Outlaw, though someone I used to game online with from China told me it actually directly translates to Out of the Law. I can live with that if that is true. Though now that it is time to get my tattoos touched up due to fading, I want to double check before I get a new coat of ink put on it. Here is the attached image from when it was still freshly done.

Thanks,

John



躲藏 means "[in] hiding" and is "criminal".

However the translation of 躲藏犯 is equivalent of "snitch" or "rat". It is associated with someone has betrayed his duty and honor to exchange for freedom but in a life of hiding. Definitely not glamorous in either law enforcement or crime syndicates' eyes.

HUDGE. TAT-SPLOSION.

SOME COOL SLAP-DANGLERS FROM HUDGE RECENTLY. PEEP SHOW. AND YES, THAT IS A GRATEFUL DEAD TATTOO ON THE BOTTOM. DONT FIGHT IT. LISTEN TO WORKING MANS DEAD AND THEN TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL. SERIOUSLY. DO IT.


NOPE.

MANDERS GIVIN HEAD... OH WAIT, EW, THATS GROSS.

AMANDA TATTOOED OUR FRIEND CHERENE'S HEAD THE OTHER DAY. CENTIPEDE. COOL.

Jim's Stupid KnuckleHead



Let's be level-headed here...

There is a tendency amongst those in the tattoo industry who've convinced themselves that what they do is more important than it really is. Sometimes this is a conscious philosophy, often its not- more of a pervasive attitude thats been allowed to seep into their behavior.
These 'artists' think they're doing something life-altering, that what they do has some form of world-defining weight.

This line of thought and action leads to a smug arrogance, and elitism. It's epidemic. All of you who've walked into a studio full of artists who behave this way have felt that condescension, that sense of "what makes you think you're good enough to get a tattoo from us?"

You can practically hear their internal monologue- "Move aside mere drop of water, let the Ocean pass."

What is most amusing about this is that the vast majority of these people are all doing the same thing. ALL of them, it's the same old-same old.... "old-school-with-a-twist", yet somehow they're convinced that what they're doing is somehow new, unique, and NOT just completely self-congratulatory onanism.

They're all scamming their drawings from each other as voraciously as possible, but standing on a soap-box about how much better they are than studios (like PennyBlack) that exist for the people, as well as the art... As though giving clients exactly what they want is a bad thing, but cloning each other is the be-all/end-all of existence.

So whats the point to all this? Simply this- We draw on people. That's it.

We don't save lives, we don't make a lasting global difference.

We draw pictures. On skin.

I am proud to be anti Art-Elite.

I know my place in the world, and I will never think that just because I'm allowed to place my art on other peoples skin that makes all others inferior to me.

Anti. Art. Elite.

Muscle Hunk

Chad and the City

I met Chad one afternoon in April outside of Madison Square Garden. He shared this tattoo which is on his left shin:


As one might have guessed, Chad is a huge fan of the former HBO series Sex and the City and this is one of a large number of tattoos that he has. When I asked how many he had, he quipped “I have no clue.”

Chad’s work was inked by Eileen Fabbricatore at Lady Luck Tattoo in Aurora, Colorado.

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

This entry is ©2011 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.

Shoulder mark

Shoulder-mark








A small selection of my art.

Not the greatest photo, but it does illustrate how extreme this re-work was. The original artist didn't use any black whatsoever, and as a result there was zero contrast- so the heal softened the flowers into oblivion. These are a little more robust.

Stephen's Killer Klown

One of the significant changes in the chronology of Tattoosday was the discovery that the Amtrak waiting area in Penn Station was a wonderful place for inkspotting, not just on rainy days, but whenever I had the chance to pass that way.

Stopping someone on the streets of New York City, especially when they are in a hurry to get somewhere, can be challenging. I have discovered that people waiting for their trains, with nothing but time on their hands, are much more likely to be open to discussing their tattoos with strangers like me.
What’s nice, as well, as the trains running out of the Penn Station Amtrak hub go to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and beyond (New Orleans and Toronto are possible rail destinations).

In early April, I ran into Stephen, who was visiting from Auckland, New Zealand. He has ink on both arms, one leg, and the top of his back, so there was a lot to choose from, once he consented to sharing one of his tattoos.

He offered up this horror-themed illustration, on the upper section of his right arm:

The clown with a cleaver is one of those funny/scary images that appeals to fans of the horror genre. Stephen liked the image and collaborated with the tattoo artist, Jamie Thorburn, to come up with the final design.

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


This entry is ©2011 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.

Asian Hottie

Our 1000th Post! David's Mermaid and Seahorse Blow Us Away......

Pardon the royal "we," but this is our 1000th post, and we feel a little celebratory.

To honor this milestone, we are sharing this amazing half sleeve belonging to David:


This astonishing work is the creation of artist Erick Lynch at Redemption Tattoo in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

David said that he had wanted a mermaid, as his wife loves mermaids, and that Lynch's work reflects a traditional Japanese style, thus the female figure appearing as a pearl diver, which is more in line with Japanese artistic tradition.


The whole of the half sleeve represents about 12 hours of work, in David's estimation, which includes the inside of the biceps, and this phenomenally vivid seahorse:


David points to Erick Lynch's use of white highlights in the seahorse, which really makes it "pop".

All in all, this is a remarkable piece of work that we are honored to have as our 1000th post here at Tattoosday. Thanks to David for sharing it and to Erick Lynch for his mastery of the art form!


This entry is ©2011 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.

A short tale of the Half-Continent well worthy of your time (IMO)

Hello folks, I have just returned from England's sunny shores and am so jet-lagged my body keeps asking me in a feed back loop, "Should I sleep now? Should I eat now? Should I go out and run about now?..." Taken up in the name of research for the next Half-Continent story (now in its 4th chapter) the trip to the UK has filled my head and soul with so much historical and contextual excellence I scribbled half a notebook's worth of notes and am fit to burst with an expanded sense of the Half-Continent (... once I can tell which end is my head and which is my hind).

I am however compos mentis enough to have found a most excellent short story over at the MBT Forum, penned by a soul who goes by the apt name of Master Come Lately. It is an ingenious passage of prose describing a scene you will recognise (as I did with a steady and wonderful dawning sensation) from MBT/TFT yet seeing it through a novel perspective.
I do not want to spoil it by saying any more than this.

Brilliant.

What is brillianterer still is that the tale has helped me see that much better from this novel perspective!

Well done, Mr Lately - I think I owe you...