Under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

As mentioned in the previous post, I was having some luck spotting some tattoos while riding my bike along the path that runs along the southern tip of Brooklyn.Last weekend, I was riding north and passed a woman sunbathing in a bikini in the grass along the bike path. I noticed she had some sort of intricate pattern inked on her foot. Yes, I am that committed to Tattoosday that when I see a

Chris Honors His Mother with a Back Piece

Last weekend, while riding my bike along the Shore Promenade at the southern tip of Brooklyn, I spotted the back piece above.Although it is not completed, Chris, to whom the tattoo belongs, was more then happy to share it with us.The story of this tattoo goes back a bit. Chris explained to me that, when he was seventeen, his father took him to get a tattoo. He got a piece on the left side of his

April's Tribal Piece

No offense to people with tribal tattoos, but they (the tattoos, not the people) generally don't generate much interest from me.Unless they are incorporated into a bigger design concept (like this tiger lily piece), they don't seem particularly interesting. I know, I know, that's a sweeping generalization, and there will always be exceptions.But tribal arm bands, anklets, or lower back designs

Untouchable is Something to Be

John had much ink and, as often happens when I ask, a previously unseen tattoo is revealed which is just as impressive as all the other visible work.John offered up this right upper arm piece, a pin-up straddling a bomb. It's exceptional work and I found the source material on which this is based, a concert poster for the Against Me!:The poster is from a October 14, 2005 gig in Portland, Oregon

Building Their Own Nation

At the tail end of my discussion with John about his tattoo (see the post above), he revealed that he was here in New York with his new wife Liz. Ah, a honeymoon in the Big Apple!Liz and John posed the above tattoos for the occasion. I generally don't go on and on about the photos I take, but I just love how this photo came out: John's wrist nesting lightly in Liz's hand. The matter-of-fact

Vicki's Shamrock Tattoo

Earlier this month, I posted this tattoo which was a tribute to Olivia Rose, a new daughter born to Vicki. I mentioned in the post that it was Vicki's tattoo below her neck which first grabbed my attention, but that Vicki offered up her newer piece for us here at Tattoosday.Vicki has recently sent me a photo of the original tattoo I saw on her. It's a nice, simple shamrock and hearts.This, like

Vincent Bears the Spear of Longinus

I met Vincent Corrigan on the way to the subway on 33rd Street between 7th and 6th Avenues. It was a giant arm piece that crawled up under his shirt and onto his shoulder that first caught my eye.However, he offered up the piece above and, in the course of speaking with him, I took pictures of three other tattoos that were notable. I am going to discuss them in reverse order.First, this piece may

Tattoosday, Across the Pond

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and earlier this month a young lass named Mel over in Newcastle contacted me to ask my blessing to spin off the blog over in England. I blessed and she's off with it. Check it out here.

Kelly's Memorial for a Best Friend / Carpe Diem

I spotted this beautiful cross of flowers on the back of Kelly's neck in front of the entrance to Penn Station on Seventh Avenue.Regular readers may sense a little bit of déjà vu. Did I say her name was Kelly? Sure did. She was, in fact, the third woman named Kelly whose tattoos I photographed in just two days.Kelly's floral cross is a memorial for her best friend who died in the last few months.

Kelly Remembers her Grandmother

This awesome portrait was jumping off of Kelly's right shoulder in Penn Plaza last Wednesday.Kelly has ten tattoos in all, but she chose this portrait for Tattoosday, inked six years ago by Joey Ortega at Kingpin Tattoos in Harker Heights, Texas.This was, according to Kelly, Ortega's first portrait, and he created for her a lasting memorial to her grandmother, who had meant the world to her.The

Punx: Two Friends from Texas

This is a continuation of sorts, from the post above.When I met Kelly, she was hanging out with her friend Amber. And although Kelly appeared to be the more inked of the two, Amber was very positive and enthusiastic about the concept behind Tattoosday.So after taking a picture of Kelly's tattoo, I turned to Amber and asked if she wanted to share as well.The two decided to show off their "Punx"

A Cool Frog Tattoo on a Hot Day

In probably one of my shortest posts, I present you with the frog above, inked on the left leg of Kelly.I spotted this beautiful tattoo as Kelly and a friend were waiting for some food at a cart on the corner of 33rd and 7th Avenue.Her hands were full and she seemed a bit in a hurry, so I don't have a lot of details (as well as not a perfect picture), but Kelly was in New York, visiting from

Frankie and Her Brother, Forever in Ink

Frankie designed this cartoon portrait of herself with her brother holding hands. The tattoo is on her left bicep. That's her on the right, with the red hair.She had this inked at Village Pop Inc. on West 4th Street in Manhattan. I caught Frankie on the R train and took the photo on the 95th Street platform in Bay Ridge.Thanks to Frankie for sharing this poignant tattoo here with us at

Crys Shares His Colorful Arm

When I passed Crys on Seventh Avenue last Friday, I knew I had to stop and ask about his arm.Aside from the matching ohms-within-nautical stars on both elbows, Crys has two main pieces on his left arm.Chronologically, the dragon came first:He got it basically because he liked the design. It was inked by Nick at True Blue Tattoo in Austin, Texas.The kanji surrounding the dragon were added later

The Only Tattoo Blog that Educates its Readers About the Clutius Manuscript AND the Hoplite Phalanx

As you may have guessed from the title above, this is an educational post.Anna has four tattoos, but it was this one, on the back of her left calf, that caught my eye as she passed me on Seventh Avenue last week. I stopped to ask what this was all about. And I felt like I was back in the classroom. Absolutely fascinating!This piece is based on the art found on the Chigi Vase:So why is the Chigi

Surgeon General's Warning: A Varga Girl Smoking on Your Arm Looks Awesome

Meet Priscilla. That's her above on Maeve's arm, as seen last week on 6th Avenue. Maeve offered her to Tattoosday from among the thirteen tattoos she has. Priscilla, as Maeve calls her, is based on the pin-up art of Alberto Vargas. Check out more of his work here.The work on which she is based initially had her as a blonde, but Maeve, made her a brunette. She also chose to have her smoking

Massimo Shares A Tribal Design

I met Massimo on the plaza in front of Penn Station last Friday and talked to him about this cool piece he has on his right foot.He was visiting from Milan and, according to him, designed and tattooed this himself about seven years ago. He had a friend who was a tattoo apprentice around that time, who taught him the basics of tattooing.He began by saying this was Hawaii-inspired, which is

Chris Wears His Knife on his Sleeve

On Wednesday I met Chris, outside of the hotel across the street from my office. He sported four tattoos in all, but this one was the most fascinating.Chris was in town (he resides in Ripon, California) on business as the tour caterer for Neil Diamond (he has also worked for Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and others).The knife, on his left forearm, is a portrait, one could say, of his own chef's knife.

Kate's Floral Arm Piece

Kate had this tattoo inked about 8 years ago somewhere in New Jersey. She doesn't recall the artist or the shop, but that is often quite common.The piece, which is on her right bicep, was designed by a friend of hers who was a tattoo apprentice.She likes this simple floral design because it reflects her philosophy. To Kate, flowers represent life. Even though they die, she notes, they come back

Michele's First Tattoo: Beautiful Can Also Be Dangerous

I met Michele in the middle of the day last Wednesday. I was riding my bike on a vacation day and she was sitting on the Shore Promenade while on a lunch break.The tattoo above is small, but I liked how Michele described it. The piece is about sixteen years old and was done by an artist named Vinnie.This was the first of her three tattoos and she picked it off of the flash art on the walls in

Erica's Ink: A Tale of Two Tattoos

Last Saturday I was riding my bike on a gorgeous day (see this post here) when I passed Erica who was sitting on a bench along the Shore Promenade.I spotted a tattoo on her back as I rode by, so I circled around for a closer look:It seemed interesting so I asked her about it. She said there really wasn't anything interesting about it but I told her to try me. Sometimes when you've lived with a

Thea Illuminates Music

I introduced myself to Thea on the 86th Street train platform after spotting her awesome neck tattoo.There's something about the train platforms and subways of New York that is a challenge to Tattoosday. Generally, when New Yorkers descend to the subway system, an additional layer of protective on-guardness (I know it's not a word, but it nails the sentiment) is added. For this reason, I

A Newborn Tattoo for a Newborn Daughter

Although it was the shamrocked neck piece that first grabbed my attention, Vicki offered up the above piece on her right shoulder instead.Vicki explained that this rose tattoo is in honor of her daughter, born just two months ago. The piece was inked only last month by Michelle at True Blue Tattoo in Queens.As a fellow inked person with two tattoos honoring my two girls, I certainly can

What's Up, Tiger Lily?

Normally, I've been posting chronologically, but Sunday night at a Brooklyn Cyclones game, I spotted the tattoo above, and talked to its host Lauren, in the pre-game rain delay.My fliers were soaked, but she shared her awesome tiger lily tattoo with me.Lauren says she's had an affinity for tiger lilies ever since she was a kid because they are orange and have "freckles".As one would imagine,

Two of Tawni's Tattoos

It seemed appropriate to take pictures of two of Tawni's tattoos on Two-for-Tattoosday, and she was accommodating.The first piece was the one that caught my eye initially, a snake on her left bicep that actually represents an "astrology marriage," in her words between Eastern and Western astrology.The tattoo represents that she was born in the Year of the Snake and, it is positioned to mimic the

Jay's Incredible Chest Pieces

Last Friday, I met Jay on the 59th Street platform in Brooklyn. He had well-inked arms and he clearly had other ink peeking out from the edges of his shirt.We chatted for a while on the platform and on the R train after it arrived. Jay was game for contributing to the blog, but wanted to offer up his chest pieces, of which he is most proud. Since taking off his shirt was not an option, he

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

I ran into Enrique in front of the Borders at Penn Plaza, a prime tattoo-spotting location, as regular readers of Tattoosday know.He sported three tattoos, including this fresh replica of his wings from the Air Force, where he was an E3 Airman 1st Class:Here's a sample of what this tattoo is based upon: This piece, along with the others, was inked by Sandy at Body Art in Manhattan. When the

Karen's Ink Balances the Physical and the Intellectual

Monday was a good tattoo day. I met Karen on Sixth Avenue in the 20's after her right ankle caught my attention and we chatted for a bit about tattoos.The piece above is about 10 years old and is based on Northwestern Native American art. Karen studied art history in college and felt that this style of art is "smarter" and speaks in "more intelligent visual dialects" than other art forms.This

Tara's Shoulder, Flowering

This past weekend was a good one for flowers. Not only did I see a beautiful flower tattoo on Saturday, but I snapped the one above on Sunday while at the local grocery store.The trio of flowers belongs to Tara, who has 6 or 7 pieces in all. She designed the tattoo herself and had it inked by Kelly at Chameleon Tattoo and Body Piercing in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Thanks to Tara for sharing her