Derek Shares Three Tattoos Inspired by Alice's Adventures Under Ground

Looking back to the summer, I ran into Derek one evening while waiting to board the R train at 36th Street in Brooklyn.

I first noticed this piece on the outside of his right leg:

Derek explained that he had this illustration by John Tenniel from Alice's Adventures Under Ground by Lewis Carroll because Alice's passion and curiosity appeal to him. The book is a classic of children's literature and was later published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

This piece depicts Alice being stretched tall, and Derek added this tattoo to his chest:

That one (above) is just incredibly well-done.

Just last week, Derek sent me his latest Alice-inspired piece to me via e-mail :

Inked on his right forearm, this is another Tenniel illustration from the book featuring the scene in which Alice observes three playing cards painting white roses red, on orders from the Queen of Hearts. Derek noted that "this particular image is a reminder not to blindly follow orders without considering the consequences of my actions."

Derek credited all three of these tattoos to Craig Rodriguez at Hand of Glory Tattoo in Brooklyn. Craig is an amazing artist whose work first appeared on Tattoosday here. I'm a big fan of the shop, as evidenced by these posts. I plan on visiting them again in January for their regular Friday the 13th extravaganza.

Thanks to Derek for sharing these awesome 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.

Jasmin's Phoenix Keeps Her Grounded

As the year winds down, I am clearing out the cobwebs - a hodgepodge of posts that just didn't make the grade. What causes an encounter from May to be delayed over seven months? Several things, like, in this case, a photo that just didn't make the grade. Further problematic is a subject's non-working e-mail address, and a credited artist who is not listed on the attributed shop's website.

Still, I hate to just totally abandon a piece, so we'll just go with what we have...

I met Jasmin just outside of Penn Station and she let me photograph this tattoo:

This is a phoenix that Jasmin got in 2010. It doubly keeps her grounded and represents her rise from the ashes.She told me she wanted the "girliest-looking phoenix," something "light and wispy".


The two phrases in the banners are "Ut prosim aliis" and "Il buon tempo".

"Ut prosim aliis" is the motto on her family (Jennings) crest and translates to "that I may be of use to others," or, in Jasmin's words, "that I might profit others".

She told me that "il buon tempo" meant "each new day is bright," but it is more commonly translated from the Italian as "good times".

She credited the work of this tattoo to an artist named Zack at Psycho Tattoo 2 in Atlanta.

Thanks to Jasmin for sharing this 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.

Amy's Stunning Peacock Tattoo

Sometimes, my little camera just doesn't cut it - like on a late summer afternoon with a bright sun low on the horizon.

I met Amy as she walked passed my office back in August. I caught up to her just as she was about to go into Penn Station and I snapped these photos of her peacock half-sleeve:

 

Amy credited her artist Benjamin Harris at Sink the Ink Tattoo & Body Piercing, which has locations in Doylestown and Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Amy says Ben has "been my one and only tattoo artist for years and he's great"!

And, fortunately for us, Sink the Ink had a great photo of this tattoo up on their website:

Copyright © 2011, Sink the Ink Tattoo & Body Piercing
Willow Grove, PA 215.659.3310 | Doylestown, PA 267.880.6531

Thanks to Amy for sharing this amazing 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.

One More from Michael: An Otomo Design That Reminds Him of a Love Lost

Michael, whose Calvin tattoo was featured in the previous post here, also shared this cool piece from his right arm:

Michael explained the origin of this design:

"The artist is Katsuhiro Otomo, the legendary Japanese animator, who did Akira [a popular manga series]. I’ve been in love with him since I was a kid. He came out with another movie called Steamboy that I was super excited about … I got the deluxe set … with the sketchbook in it and I’ve fallen in love with [this girl] … I loved her from the beginning but then I was dating a girl and I fucked it all up and she, well, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and I just wanted to … she’s almost adorable as this and I wanted to put that in memory and not be a fool and, well, she’s still mad at me."

Michael added that they still talk and he's holding out hope that forgiveness and reconciliation are still a possibility.

The tattoo was inked by Ariel Salgado at Millenium Tattoo in Newburgh, New York. Ariel, Michael said, has done most of his tattoos.

Thanks (again) to Michael for sharing his work 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 can contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Michael's Calvin Embodies His Spirit of Adventure

I met Michael back in August out on Penn Plaza and he shared this tattoo, on the upper left side of his chest:

That is, for those who don't know, the comic strip character Calvin, from Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes.
 
Michael is an illustrator and visual artist. He explains this tattoo:

"I’m a Calvin and Hobbes fanatic since I was a kid. I own every single strip. I actually have two of those omnibus hardcover [volumes] and I had gone on a road trip with my father and my 21-year old cousin. 17 states in three weeks. I‘ve always wanted a Calvin tattoo."

The tattoo depicts Calvin as one of his alter-egos, Spaceman Spiff.  The tattoo depicts Calvin, from the cover of Yukon Ho!, in which he runs away with Hobbes to the Yukon. Michael told me that this embodies his spirit of adventure.

The piece was inked by his friend Kyle Sajban at Red Rocket Tattoo in New York City.

We've featured a lot of work from Red Rocket here on this site, but I believe this is the first tattoo attributed to Kyle.

Thanks to Michael for sharing his 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.

Vickie's Pin-Up Has Blood Money

In what must have looked odd to passers-by, I interviewed Vickie in Penn Station the day after Halloween. I'm guessing that she and her friend had attended costume parties the night before. What interested me most was Vickie's ink. She "lost count" of how many tattoos she has, and she offered up this wonderful piece on her upper left arm:

This tattoo, whose name is "Trixie," was designed and inked by Tatu Baby, who works out of Chico's Marked 4 Life, in Miami.

She also wanted to point out that, in Trixie's right hand, she's holding blood money:

Thanks to Vickie for sharing Trixie with us here on Tattoosday!

A Trio of Tattoos from Devin

I met Devin walking down Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, back in September.

He had a lot of ink, so I just grabbed a shot of his left leg:

He broke these three pieces down for me, explaining that the butterfly on the top is an old Sailor Jerry flash piece that was his friend Shawn first tattoo as an apprentice at Ron & Dave's Tattooing on Staten Island.

His friend Shawn's second tattoo as an apprentice was the skull at the bottom:

In the middle of these two pieces is a piece of art that Devin attributed to artwork from the first album by a Staten Island band called The Cable Car Theory:

Thanks to Devin for sharing these three 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.