Rachel's Roses

I spotted these beautiful roses last week outside of Madison Square Garden, and had to find out more about them.

I introduced myself to Rachel with my standard opening line, "Can I ask you about your tattoo?" Rachel admitted to me that the first impression she had was that I was going to try to sell her on a tattoo-removal product or service. She has not been the first person to think that. Perhaps I need a new intro.

Anyway, Rachel's trio of roses are remarkable, and she has 6 or 7 tattoos in all, many of which are roses as well, although she professed an admiration of Betty Boop, and has one of the comics icon as well.

But all I saw were these three roses, inked by Shannon O'Sullivan at a tattoo convention. Rachel's brother worked for a bit at Skin & Ink magazine, which helped introduce her to some folks in the tattoo community.

Rachel explained her rosy infatuation a bit further, noting she had worked for the designer Betsey Johnson, who used a lot of rose prints and rose-inspired design. She acknowledged that this led to her "obsession" with roses, and that beyond that, they do not have "a deep meaning".

Rachel is a designer whose website highlights her work.

Thanks to Rachel for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Surf

Masked

Lovely Tattoo Art Design in the Tattoo Contest

Sexy teen girl with lovely permanent Flower tattoo design in the Tattoo Contest.

Fairy and Butterfly Tattoo Design in the Sexy Teen Girl Body

Teen girl with Fairy and Butterfly art tattoo design in the sexy body.

Young Sexy Woman with Tattoo Body Art

Young and sexy woman with permanent tattoo body art.

Latino Hunk

The Virgin Mary Will Be Saved

I ran into Michael last week outside of Madison Square Garden. He had numerous tattoos up and down his arms, but he told me that he regretted most of them. He had been in the military, based in the San Diego area, and he said he hoped, someday, to have all of his ink removed.

"All of it?" I asked. He had a lot.

He nodded, but then pointed to the one pictured above, inked on the underside his left forearm, and said he would probably keep this one, as it was a religious tattoo that has some meaning.

He said that he got this "homemade" piece in Tijuana for about $30, and that it took only a couple of hours to do. He definitely didn't need to take out any payday loans to afford that one!

A lot of people in Southern California make the trip across the border to Tijuana to take advantage of the nightlife there. Some even walk away with tattoos.

Thanks to Michael for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Gabe Kapler

Douglas Chew

Cook Douglas Chew

Vaj Shares His Interpretation of the Creative Process

The triptych above (ok, it's not technically a triptych, but I am calling it that as I divided it into three sections) belongs to Vaj (rhymes with Dodge), a filmmaker who I met across the street from Macy*s on 34th Street and 7th Avenue early last week.

This piece was inked about 16 years ago in California by Jeff Rassier, who currently works out of Black Heart Tattoo in San Francisco.

Vaj, who has been in the entertainment business for many years, based his tattoo on the interpretation of the creative process.

The center of the tattoo contains a jar with two brains:

moving up and out of the jar is a an arm, at the end of which is a hand holding paper:

Moving down out of the jar is an arm, at the end of which is a hand holding a pen, which is dripping ink:

The two hands, each with pen and paper, are acting out the creative process, stemming from the two sides of the brain.

Thanks to Vaj for sharing this interpretation in his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Nice Gun

Josh Slices Up a Sturgeon on His Culinary Sleeve

At the beginning of the week, I ran into Josh, a chef at an upscale restaurant in Tribeca. He was actually showing his tattoos to a couple of people standing with him, so I felt in apropos to join in the conversation.

Josh is hard at work on a culinary sleeve on his left arm, which includes a langoustine, a Red Junglefowl, and the tattoo above, a sturgeon, complete with slicing knife and roe.

The tattoo, as well as his other work, was done by Mark Harada at East Side Ink in Manhattan.

Thanks to Josh for sharing his sturgeon with us here on Tattoosday. Here's hoping he'll return to show us more. The Red Junglefowl was not completed, otherwise I would have asked to feature that piece here. It's a sweet piece (you can see a fragment of claw above the sturgeon).

Tattoo Body design in the Tattoo Contest for Girls

Tattoo body design in the tattoo contest for girls. This contest in Kuta, Bali.

Teen Girls in the Tattoo Body Contest

Teen girls in the tattoo body contest with heart tattoo design.

Traditional Japanese Art Tattoo Design

Traditional temporary Japanese art tattoo design, in model back body.

Snorkeler

Dylan's Tattoo Dances on Her Ankle

Earlier this week, I met Dylan as she was crossing 34th Street by Macy*s Herald Square. She had the tattoo above her right ankle.

She had been a competitive dancer as a teenager, and had this inked when she was eighteen in Santa Cruz, California.

It was merely an expression of her love for the art of dance.

Thanks to Dylan for sharing her tattoo here with us on Tattoosday!

Ultimate Fighters

News Link: Tattoos Gain Even More Visibility

Tattoos Gain Even More Visibility

By GUY TREBAY

Published: September 24, 2008

WHO in the world gets a neck tattoo? A couple of years back you could have narrowed the answer to gang members, prison inmates, members of the Russian mob and the rapper Lil Wayne. Then something occurred.

Continued from the New York Times here

Man in the duty with Temporary Red Cross Tattoo

Man in the duty with temporary red cross tattoo in the hand.

Temporary Star Tattoo with Black Color

Beautiful temporary Star Tattoo with black color.

Sexy Girls with Temporary Dragon Tattoo in the back body

Sweet girls with temporary dragon tattoo in the sexy back body.

Match Up

Tyson Ritter

Christopher's Ink Bridges Generations

Last Friday I met Christopher on Penn Plaza. He estimated that he had tattoos numbering in the mid-fifties.

Again, I am sometimes intimidated by folks with a lot of ink, and will usually not trouble them, but not this time.

And, of all those tattoos, Christopher lifted up his shirt to reveal one of his most meaningful pieces:

The cross with angel wings behind it is graced by a banner that reads "In Loving Memory ... Grandpa Al".

This tribute tattoo was inked at Good Times Tattoo Studio in East Islip, New York by Bill. Christopher is a tattoo artist there as well.

Grandpa Al was a tattoo artist himself, at Ace Tattoo in San Diego, one of the oldest shops in the city (founded around 1947). I acknolwedged that Al must have been busy working in San Diego, with several military bases nearby.

Christopher always knew he wanted to be an artist, and has been tattooing about 14 years.

"What about your Dad," I asked him, "is he an artist?"

Christopher shook his head and said he wasn't. "And he doesn't have a single tattoo. Not one!"

"Really?" I asked.

He shook his head and laughed "I just don't understand it."

So the ink-lination to tattoo skipped a generation in his family, but you could tell he was proud of his grandfather's legacy, and he bore it like a badge of honor.

Thanks so much to Christopher for sharing his tribute to Grandpa Al here on Tattoosday!

Nick Youngquest

Hottie

Buddy's Advice about Neck Tattoos

Last Friday was a banner day for inkspotting. By day's end, I had four great Tattoosday stories to tell. This is the third of the four, although it was the first encounter of the day. It certainly set the tone.

I was walking east on 34th Street when I spotted a well-inked guy walking in my direction. I am sometimes less-inclined to talk to people with a TON of tattoos, but I stopped him anyway and asked about his work.

Buddy seemed eager to share, and quickly raised his right pant leg to reveal, in red ink, the words "Boston Sucks". Right below it was a depiction of an anatomical part that would fit the epithet. I hesitated.

"It's kind of a family blog," I joked, "my daughter reads it." He seemed disappointed, but was understanding. "How about the neck tattoo?" I suggested. He was game. I snapped the photo above.

It was inked in Austin, Texas at, according to Buddy, a shop called Red River Tattoos, circa 2003. He has approximately 32 tattoos in all. Any story behind it? "I was drunk when I got it," he said. Knowing that, and the absence of any reference to a shop called Red River Tattoos in Austin, I am more inclined to believe it might have been True Blue Tattoo, which is located on Red River Street. Work from True Blue has appeared on Tattoosday previously here.

But then he added, "If you don't get a neck tattoo before you're successful, then you shouldn't get one".

"So," I asked, "are you successful?"

"I'm in a band," he acknowledged, "I'm the singer."

This is not new to me, I have come across several musicians on Tattoosday before (here and here, for example).

"What's the name of the band?" I asked.

"Senses Fail" he replied.

"Cool," I said, "I'll link the band's page to the blog." In the back of my mind, I thought the name sounded familiar.

I thanked Buddy and we parted ways. It was only later that I realized that Buddy Nielsen wasn't just a singer from a band in New Jersey. Senses Fail is a significant act in the music scene. They're not platinum artists, yet. Their last record, Still Searching, sold 900,000 copies in the U.S. alone.

They've toured widely since they formed in 2003. I even have one of their songs in my iPod. The song, "Can't Be Saved" even refers to the tattoo on his chest (the video is below). So, Buddy's tattoo, the one that is up above (according to wikipedia has a second word "lady" below it), is the most famous tattoo I have photographed thus far for Tattoosday.

Thanks to Buddy for sharing his ink with us here!

The "Can't Be Saved" video:

El Mejor Diseño Del Tatuaje