It Was A Very Good Year for Some

I was passing through Penn Station earlier this month, when I spotted a young lady with this tattoo:

Being a baseball fan, I guessed what the meaning of this tattoo was, but I had to ask, just to confirm. The young woman, who wished only to be identified as "Passenger Jane Doe," confirmed, this tattoo refers to the last year that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.

 

A self-described "huge Cubs fan," she elaborated:

"My dad would take me to games. I ... grew up keeping score when I was 6 years old. I was the little girl with the scorecard. I moved to D.C. five years ago. Being a transplant made me cling to my home identity more ... whenever the Cubs come to D.C., I go to the whole series at Nats Park."

She designed the tattoo herself, using a few different fonts for inspiration. The tattoo was inked at Ambrotos Tattoo. She told me it was in D.C., but they have two locations in Bethesda and Silver Spring, Maryland, so I'm not sure which shop did the work.

Thank you, Passenger Jane Doe, for sharing your love of baseball, the Chicago Cubs, and this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Chris and His Empirical Pin-up

Well, little did I know, but yesterday, when I posted some of Fernando's tattoos, the R2-D2 and Megatron pieces in particular, it was coinciding with the opening of Comic-Con 2011 in San Diego.

Since I am not traveling to the big convention to inkspot (maybe some day, when I have the wherewithal), let's continue the Comic-Con theme over the next few days with some material I have encountered over the past few days.

Cue Chris, who I met at the end of June on Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street, and offered up this killer tattoo:

Chris credited this tattoo to Mike Ski, an artist who works in Philadelphia.

According to Chris, Mike is well known for his Old School style of tattooing, which includes that classic pin-up girl look.

Chris said that the tattoo was also influenced by the work of Alphonse Mucha from the late 1800's. This, Chris told me, is "an Old School take on that. We just thought it's be fun to do and," he added, "I've always loved Star Wars."

For those of you not in the know, this pin-up is sporting the garb of the Imperial Stormtroopers.

And, just so to sate our taste for the Empire, the inner part of Chris' arm has a portrait of Darth Vader:

Thanks to Chris for sharing his love of Star Wars 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.

Fernando's Trio of Whimsical Ink

I met Fernando a while back outside of Penn Station and he had a lot of work to share. He estimated that he had around thirty tattoos on his canvas, but we picked three to spotlight here on Tattoosday.

As a Star Wars fan, he couldn't resist this portrait of R2-D2:

The banner "YOU'RE MY ONLY HOPE" refers to the scene in the first movie, when Princess Leia sends a holographic distress message to Obi-Wan Kenobi via R2-D2 that ends, "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

Both the tattoo of R2-D2 and this one, were done by Evan at Revolver Tattoo in New Burnswick, New Jersey:

That is Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons in the Transformers franchise.

And thirdly, Fernando shared this take on a sugar skull:

This piece was tattooed by Mike Rivelry at Immortal Ink.

Thanks to Fernando for sharing a few of his dozens of tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Panic in New York - A Visit from Victor

I always like visits from old friends of the site, but when I bumped into Victor in the Penn Plaza Borders back in May, I realized I hadn't seen him in a while. Turns out he had moved out of New York and has been residing in Pennsylvania.

Before we go further, perhaps you should reacquaint yourselves with Victor's "tat-alog". He first appeared here, showing off eight tattoos, then we checked out five more cinematic tattoos here, and then, last year, an iconic piece here.This will mark the fourth consecutive year Victor has appeared on the site, so we'll make it a good, no, great one:

This incredible David Bowie tattoo was inked by Victor's brother, Eddie Bonacore, at 5-7-0 Tattooing Co. in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

The image above, of course, is from the iconic Bowie album Aladdin Sane.

Victor told me that Eddie's Bowie portrait had garnered three awards at a recent tattoo convention.

It was a pleasure seeing our old friend Victor after a year, and we thank him, and his brother Eddie, 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.

Lori Shares Some Peonies, and a Fairy Mermaid

When I post here at Tattoosday, there is no definite chronological order. I tend to follow a variety of factors, which can often result in older encounters waiting in the wings for a very long time.

Take Lori, for example. At the beginning of May, while my wife was at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, fighting a bout of appendicitis, I walked over to a pizzeria on 50^th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway for a quick bite for lunch. On my way out, I noticed  two women at a table, one of whom, Lori, had some pretty nice ink. Generally, one of my unwritten rules is not to bother people while they are eating, so I handed the woman my card and asked her to contact me if she was interested in contributing to Tattoosday.

Lori e-mailed me shortly thereafter, and a few weeks later, she sent me some photos. Since then, she has been patiently waiting for the post. E-mailed submissions tend to get a little lost in the shuffle but, finally, thanks to a little nudge on our Facebook page, we’re finally seeing them here on the site.

I’ll let Lori explain what we’re seeing:

“Here are 2 peonies, one is a flash stencil, done by Mike B. at Studio Enigma on Avenue U [in Brooklyn] .... the other peony (my favorite), was hand drawn by Pablo Barada, who is from Argentina [also at Studio Enigma] …

The Fairy mermaid was a picture I found just surfing the internet,  so I printed it out. I wish I still had the black and white photo before Mike B. colored it in. Now that I look at it, I think the B&W was much prettier. By the way, she took 18 hours to do, six three-hour sittings.”

Thanks to Lori for sharing some of her 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.

A Rose for Emily (Laugh Now, Cry Later)

I ran into Emily at the beginning of the month on the 36th Street subway platform in Brooklyn.

She shared this awesome tattoo on her left thigh:

Emily credits Tazz at Aztlan Tattoo in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, with this cool ink.

"I just like roses," Emily told me, explaining that she had an idea and then Tazz expanded on the concept, which is a spin on the traditional "Laugh Now, Cry Later" theme.

Thanks to Emily for sharing this great 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.

A Chance to Cover Up, Reality-Style

Considering that some of the best tattoos I have seen over the years (check some of them out here), the following casting call would seem to me certainly compelling for anyone looking to cover up an old, unwanted tattoo:

Spike TV - Open Casting Call For Tattoo Competition Reality Series!

Are you sick of your faded, old tattoo and ready to cover it up with something brand new?

If so...try Spike TV!

Our new tattoo show, “InkMaster," is looking for people who want to be a human canvas for the top-notch artists competing on our show...and we NEED PEOPLE WHO WANT COVER UPS!

We are bringing together some of the BEST tattoo artists in the game for “InkMaster,” and we’re looking for people who want to be their next canvas! If you’re 23+, in the tri-state area (New York/New Jersey/Connecticut), email us at inkcastingNYC@gmail.com with a description and a recent photo of yourself, along with an idea of the tattoo you want and why. You must be a New York area local, as interviews and filming will take place July & August in the NYC area.

“InkMaster” is produced by Original Media, the production company behind “LA Ink,” “NY Ink,” “Miami Ink.”

~ ~ ~ ~

I say, what have you got to lose? The concept of the show is certainly intriguing and, if you're unhappy with that old tattoo, why not try and improve it?