More of Jessica's Ink: Halloween Post

I have featured a lot of Jessica's work before. The previous post here will link you back to earlier posts.This seemed an appropriate piece for Halloween. It is on the other side of the leg that features Beetlejuice holding a pumpkin. You can see the pumpkin in the photo.The image is of a child in a ghost costume holding a rock and a paper sack. It's based on a scene from "It's the Great Pumpkin,

Charlie Honors The Birth of His Youngest Son

A cold and dreary day drove me underground on Tuesday, as I spent some of my lunch hour inkspotting, and meeting some new tattoos.Since it was Tat-Tuesday, it only seemed fitting that I met a father and son, Amtrakking from Florida up to Boston, who had four tattoos apiece.I met Charlie first, who had a tiger on his forearm. However, he offered up this piece on his right bicep instead:As a parent

Hemorrhage: Ryan's Derek Hess Piece is Bloody Awesome

I technically didn't meet Ryan, but he did respond to a flier I passed out. I gave it to his girlfriend, we're guessing around 34th Street in Manhattan, she passed it to him, and he e-mailed me the following photo:Initially, all he told me was "It's a Derek Hess piece. It's my blood around it in the ... photo. It was done by Nick [Males] @ Silk City Tattoos".Of course, I know inquiring minds

Eryn's Yarn Skull

I had seen Eryn before in the vicinity of 39th and Broadway and wanted to ask her about her tattoos. When I finally got the opportunity, she rolled up her right sleeve to reveal this incredible tattoo:Eryn is a professional knitter and works with yarn on a daily basis (see some of her artsy stuff here). A friend of her designed this piece for as an homage to her vocation, although Eryn admits it

An Interlude: Third Time's a Charm

Last week I had a bizarre lunchtime walk on Thursday. I met a woman outside of Macy*s who had an interesting neck tattoo. She seemed like a willing participant until the older woman standing with her kept repeating that what I was doing was "weird". The tattooed woman began to appear uncomfortable, so I bowed out gracefully, handing her a flier and moving on.A while later I stopped another woman

Melanie's Traditional Revolvers

As I mentioned above (here), Melanie crossed my path on a day last week when I had been having some bad luck with inkspotting.However, when I saw her on 34th Street across from Macy*s, I had to talk to her about her tattoos.What caught my eye first was her chest piece, two traditional Sailor Jerry designs, including a near replica of the neck piece sported by Buddy Nielsen of Senses Fail.She told

Jessica's Back, Sharing Tattoos 51 and 52

I met Jessica back in June, prior to a Pearl Jam concert, in front of Madison Square Garden. She is an artist in her own right, doing a lot of the work her self, using her own kit and mirrors. Check out the original post here. I followed up with a post of more of her work here. I had a third post planned, as she had sent me some more photos of new work at the end of July.I recently reconnected

Representing Levittown

This isn't the first Long Island tattoo here on this blog (see Ian Jones' post here), but it is the first specifically marking one place on Long Island.This tattoo belongs to Dave, who told me that he and about 8 or 9 friends share the exact same piece, "geographically correct".There's not much to this piece other than that it is an homage to his home in Levittown, a hamlet in the Town of

Jerome Sports a Dark Tower Tattoo

I spotted Jerome at the corner of 31st and 7th Avenue talking with a friend.He offered up the piece above (one of his nine tattoos) with the disclaimer that the top end had to be redone, due to some unfortunate ink running.Regardless of the small imperfection, it's a pretty sweet tattoo.The piece is based on the artwork featured on the spines of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.Jerome was

Jesse's Religious Experience

Religious imagery is among the most popular of themes in tattoo art. There is, to the shrinking minority of people who don't like tattoos, a greater level of acceptance of Christian-themed body art.[Jewish tattoos are coming along, but the majority of Jews have fundamental issues with ink on Jews. Islamic tattoos are less common, and I can't speak to their acceptance. Eastern religious tattoos

John Paul's Gorilla Tattoo Recalls the Soviet Regime

On Monday, I met John Paul in Herald Square at 34th Street, after spotting a flourish of color on his inner bicep.He was more than happy to show me this wonderful tattoo above.John Paul explained that it is based on a prison tattoo from a Soviet Union gulag. The artwork represents a criticism of the regime of the U.S.S.R., depicting it, not as the common Russian bear, but as the brute gorilla. It

Mara Shares a Decorative Tattoo

I met Mara this afternoon in the plaza at the corner of 39th Street and Broadway. She was kind enough to share the above tattoo, inked on her left forearm.She talked to me as she finished her soup, and I'm appreciative of that, as I felt a little guilty intruding on her lunch break.Mara notes that this piece is "purely decorative". It was tattooed by Stephanie Tamez at New York Adorned, based on

Saint Lucy Graces David's Arm

**This post was updated for clarification of facts on October 13, 2008. As Autumn advances on New York, tattoos have been less frequently spotted by yours truly, but a recent streak of warmer temperatures have extended the season just a bit.I spotted the above piece on David's right bicep last Saturday at a green market in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.The tattoo was inked as a result of David taking care

Tattoo Posts That Go Bad: Peeping Kanji

Last October, I posted a a tattoo belonging to a guy named John here. His friend Donna also had tattoos and tried to show them to me on her lower back/waistline, but she understandably couldn't successfully reveal them fully without lowering her pants to an uncomfortable level. She said she would send me better pictures. She never did. But I kept the post in my drafts folder under the title "

Tattoorism 101: Another Form of Tattoo Regret

The other day while walking near Madison Square Garden, I stopped to talk to a woman about the tattoo on her foot. The conversation went something like this:Me: Hey, can I ask you about your tattoo?She: Ugh, that thing? I hate it. I got it when I was younger and wish I hadn't.Me: Well, I write a tattoo appreciation blog, and would love to tell the story behind it anyway. Would you be interested?

Alvin's Hamsa Honors His Grandfather, a Holocaust Survivor

I appreciate irony, but please note that I submit this post on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calender, with the utmost respect. If I somehow offend, please forgive me.I met Alvin on Penn Plaza, my favorite inkspotting locale, and noticed he had several visible tattoos. Had it been summer, and warm, perhaps I would have seen his Jack Skellington tattoo (sorry googlers, none here!), but

Joan of Arc Graces Claire's Arm

I ran into Claire, a musician and artist, on 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge last weekend, as we were both walking in the direction of 86th Street. She had some amazingly colorful and vivid tattoos on her arms, the one above included, and I couldn't help but stop and talk to her.Claire studied art history at the University of North Texas and currently works at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan. She

Introducing Mary's Ink: An Incredible Chalice

My wife Melanie, from time to time, gets to plug Tattoosday with people she meets through the course of her day.I recently received the following e-mail: Hi, You don’t know me but your wife Melanie does . . . and of course since I am writing to you…have tats. I started getting them on my 40th birthday. All were done by Fine Line Tattoos. I have attached a picture of one but I can

Some Housekeeping

This is a non-photo post.I want to thank all the folks e-mailing me and several sites that have added me into their folds.Check out the Alltop Badge I added. We're on their tattoo page here.Even more exciting is this awesome review Tattoosday received here on InkedTalk.com. InkedTalk.com is a "daily tattoo blog featuring all original content on tattoo artists, ink trends, tattoo commentary, and

Joel Marks Memories with Some Significant Ink

What is this? Read on.....Last week I met Joel, a writer and a marketing director for an artist management and development company.Joel couldn't tell me how many tattoos he has (he has that many), but he did share two of them with me.The first is posted above and, despite being a little blurry in the photo, this small piece is an early band logo. In fact, Joel informed me that it was the first

Blessing the Ball

I met Jason while he was chatting with Jessica, who was featured in this post.As I was about to see a WNBA playoff game, it seemed fitting that Jason had a basketball tattoo to offer up.The above piece, inked on his left calf, depicts a basketball, below which are two hands, clasped in prayer.Jason played college basketball for the University of the District of Columbia. He got this tattoo in

Jessica's Tattoo Will Help Her Find Her Soulmate in the Afterlife

I met Jessica last Friday night before game 1 of the New York Liberty-Detroit Shock playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Her neck tattoo caught my eye as I was going to Will Call to pick up my tickets (to hear about the game, go here), so when I was walking back outside and she was still there (talking to Jason, whose tattoo will be next to appear here), I introduced myself.For some reason, the

Patrick's Ink Reflects His Personality

Last Friday I spotted this cool tattoo on the left forearm of Patrick, as he was hanging out in front of Penn Plaza.This tattoo is one of two Patrick has, and was inked about a year ago at Triple X Tattoo in Manhattan by an artist named Angelo Saracina.Angelo designed this piece as a representation of Patrick's personality.Thanks to Patrick for sharing a little piece of himself with us here on

Two Tattoos from Lara

Last Friday evening, on the steps of Penn Plaza, I spotted this simple tattoo on the right side of Lara's neck. It is the sign for someone born under the sign of Leo.Even though it was a simple astrological squiggle, I said hello anyway and, as often is the case, she had another tattoo to show me:Actually, she has five altogether, but this one, the word "heart" inscribed on the inside of her left

Introducing "Tattoorism 101"

Tattoosday was founded upon the concept of spotting tattoos in New York City. I never planned on becoming a submission site, nor did I ever anticipate people would send me photos of their ink. But they have.And I have been conflicted about posting it, as it didn't necessarily "fit the theme".But one thing struck me about two recent submissions from the ether: the people sending me their ink have

Tattoorism 101: Emmie's Vonnegut Tattoo

This is the first installment of what I call Tattoorism 101.Hello Bill, I wanted to start off by saying I love your blog. I really enjoy reading all the stories behind all the interesting tattoos you post. I'm sure you're swamped with submissions, but I wanted to add mine to your collection. The quote "Everything is beautiful and nothing hurt" is from Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five". It's