Best Tatto Design: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Tattooed Poets Project: Vicki Iorio

We're kicking off this year's Tattooed Poets Project with a tattoo that seems, ahem, apropos-etic:

This poetic foot belongs to Vicki Iorio, a New York poet. She explains the tattoo:

"My group of Long Island poets have the pleasure of reading at the Wyld Chyld Cafe and Tattoo Parlor in Merrick, NY. I watched Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan, the poet laureate of Suffolk County get "poet" tattooed across her shoulder blades. [Tammy will be appearing on the site later this month.] She recited poetry while her back was bleeding, I knew at that moment I would have to get one!

It was a cold January night, Sixx tattooed my right foot with a beautiful scripted "poet." It was a beautiful moment and I love my tat and all it signifies. A slew of woman poets have been tattooed by Sixx. A tattooed sisterhood, indeed."

Here is a poem from Vicki:

Tattoo 56

I will get a tattoo next birthday
no one will care
it won't be like birthday 13
when I dyed my hair purple on a shoplift heist
shaved off eyebrows
pierced frozen ears with a needle
hacked off bushy black fur under stockings

I will find an illustrated man
his head bald and shiny
eyes so blue I will see straight through
to his good heart, diamond stud in one ear
massive arms shocking to the touch.

My spider will go willingly to his fly.
I will tell him what I want
where I want it.

After validating plastic worth,
my pirate will lead me to his table
gift me with little hurts
celebrate me electrically
wrap me in gauze
sing the praises of Bacitracin
wish me a happy birthday.

Vicki Iorio is a Long Island poet who hangs around tattoo parlors. Her poems have been published in various publications including hell strung and crooked. She is saving up for another tattoo!

Thanks to Vicki for sharing her poetic tattoo and tattoo poem with us here on best-tatto-design!

This entry is ©2011 best-tatto-design.

If you are reading this on another web site other than best-tatto-design, 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://best-tatto-design.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.

Tattoos I Know: Beth's Ink Ushers in the New Baseball Season

Well, folks, it's March 31, which means several things, First and foremost, after a long, cold winter, and a rough start to spring, baseball season starts today. And although, the last time I checked, there was a 70% chance of rain for the New York Yankees home opener against the Detroit Tigers today, baseball fans everywhere are just a tad excited that their team's 162 game-long drama is about to begin.

So, it seemed fitting that we share this tattoo, belonging to our cousin Beth:

Photo by Melanie Cohen

Beth is a diehard Yankees fan and she got this inked on September 16, 2005. For the record, the Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays north of the border that day 11-10 thanks, in part, to two Robinson Cano home runs and Mariano Rivera's 40th save of the year.

This is one of Beth's three tattoos, a fact not lost on me, as I have been wanting to post her ink on the site ever since we started back in 2007. However, we just never got around to it and this photo was shot last June in New Jersey by my wife, Melanie, at another cousin's baby shower. I thought, at the time, that we would save this picture for the day the Yankees won the World Series, but last year that ambition fell short in the ALCS. So we saved it for Opening Day, instead.

The tattoo was done by Thomi Hawk at K & B Tattooing & Piercing in Hightstown, New Jersey.

I should also add that, back in August 2007, I was sitting in my seat at PNC Bank Arts Center, between sets, when I noticed a very similar tattoo several rows ahead of me. I thought, "Man, that tattoo looks just like Beth's, and in the same spot [on her upper right back] too!" Of course, it was Beth, and we were both unaware that we were attending the show. And to think I spotted her in all that humanity by noticing her tattoo!

I mentioned at the top of the post that it being March 31, meant several things. Aside from Opening Day, it's also opening day for the inkspotting season, as far as I'm concerned. Posts have been few and far between over the past few months and that's about to change. Tomorrow begins National Poetry Month, and we will be embarking on our third annual Tattooed Poets Project: 30 days of tattoos from poets across the country. And, I will assume, that I'll be having regular best-tatto-design encounters, which will reappear in May, throughout the month.

Play ball!

Thanks again to Beth for sharing her cool patriotic Yankees tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

*

T-shirts with Maori tattoo prints

Hi,

It has been a while, but I'm working on a set of T-shirts for a company "Ainofea" in Hawaii.
They asked me to design several t-shirts with my maori inspired tattoos. The shirts will be available from their website soon. Here are a few examples of the tattoo prints I created:

shirt with maori printed tattoos buy for sale

maori tshirts tattoo prints for sale online shop

Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@best-tatto-design.com
www.best-tatto-design.om

Friday, March 25, 2011

Home is Where the Star Is

Yesterday in Penn Station, I met Jonathan, whose one tattoo caught my eye when I passed him in the Amtrak waiting area.

Except, sometimes, a fragment of a tattoo doesn't necessarily reveal the whole piece. As in Jonathan's case, I saw the back of his arm, and this segment, which resembled (to me, at the time), a crude figure with the beginning of a speech bubble emanating from its mouth:

I felt rather silly, however, when Jonathan agreed to participate and showed me the full tattoo:

The figure I imagined, of course, is really Long Island, and the balloon was the southern tip of the state of New York.

Jonathan explained that he is from Rochester, marked on the tattoo with a star, and that he lived in the same house growing up there for eighteen years. It's a New York state of mind, indeed.

The tattoo was done at Big Joe & Sons Tattooing in White Plains, New York.

Thanks to Jonathan for sharing his stately tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Walkins today on 4th Street

So today I've done two so far. The first one with the lily and the name was an appointment for my coworker but he couldn't make it in today, so he passed one off to me and another to my other coworker who is here covering for him.

So Bill has been on me about doing a color or grey study of the tattoo I'm about to do before I tattoo it. This time I did just that and it really helped me out. It saved me from any guess work while I was working. I've done it before as well, but only after he mentioned something to me about it. I'm going to make sure I do that before any tattoo that I think needs it. I was really happy with this one and hope to get more flowers like this for practice.

This next one was a walkin, the guy picked it off the wall. Only thing we changed was adding color to the ribbon.

More to come.....

The best-tatto-design Book Review: Tattooed by the Family Business

I’ll cut right to the chase: if you’re going to buy one tattoo book this spring, make sure it’s Tattooed by The Family Business, a feast for the eyes and a new standard by which all tattoo photography books should be judged.

Simply stated, this book is gorgeous, heavy on high-quality photography, focusing on the wonderful body art created by Mo Coppoletta and his crew of talented tattooists at The Family Business Tattoo Shop, a London-based establishment that has been producing breath-taking work since 2003.

If you're not familiar with Copoletta, or his studio, the book gives readers a peek inside the world of the Family Business. But aside from a one page foreword, and a couple pages of introduction, this lovely book is light on text, and heavy on images from photographers Fredi Marcarini and Chris Terry.

Image copyright: Fredi Marcarini and Chris Terry
Taken from Tattooed by the Family Business (Pavilion)

The two hundred plus pages are filled with lush images of life in the shop and, more importantly, the high quality work created by the artists. Divided up into five sections, titled "The Family," "The Business," "The Art," "The Work," and "The Patrons," this is not just about Coppoletta and his own work. The reader is also introduced to the whole family: Kanae, Mie Satou, Dominique Holmes, Diego Brandini, and Diego Azaldegui.

Some may draw comparisons to the books the American tattoo artist Kat Von D, which I have favorably reviewed in the past on this site. Tattooed by the Family Business is in a different league. It is as you would expect, Von D's books are busy and filled with words and images; whereas Coppoletta's book exudes a classiness to which other artists can only aspire.

In fact, an online review hardly does it justice. Photography dominates and, whereas the tattoo, or the process of tattooing is always at hand, the beauty of the book also lies in its images. Ultimately, I believe, it's what most serious artists want to see in a tattoo book. Although some may criticize that, in some of the photos, the details of the tattoos themselves are lost in the framing of the photograph, I would argue that these images are just as compelling as the close-ups, as one sees the way the tattoos are placed, and how they flow along the lines of the human form.

Image copyright: Fredi Marcarini and Chris Terry
Taken from Tattooed by the Family Business (Pavilion)

One of the neat features within this volume are several sketches on pages designed to resemble transparencies, where are laid over images of the tattoos themselves. The reader is treated to the full-page two-dimension image from which the artist drew his inspiration, and then can compare it to the end result.

Here on best-tatto-design, where most of the tattoos we see are from New York-based artists, I have, in several years, only had the pleasure of encountering Coppoletta's work once, documented here. Therefore, getting to see a more expansive look at his work, as well as that of other artists in The Family Business, is a real pleasure.

Tattooed by the Family Business is a veritable feast. I keep returning to it, marveling at the craftsmanship and beauty of the tattoos. I highly recommend it to artists and aficionados alike. The book is a work of art in and of itself, and the fact that it so beautifully and simply celebrates the art makes it a must-read, a must-relish, and a must-have for every tattoo library.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Sunday funday!

At No Ka Oi yesterday two girls came in and wanted matching ribbons on their wrists. The stick is a drumstick....

Again another exercise in color and got to play around with pinks.

Next this chick came in... a regular customer at our shop. Just this week she got something else on her chest. She was super sweet and put this on the back of her thigh. Definitely a weird area to tattoo, but with all the stretching practice I'm getting without using an armrest it wasn't as bad as I thought.

The last of the day was this one. Just an outline of the NJ state with a banner and a tiny bit of shading on the banner. It was so weird tattooing him mainly because the skin puffed up so fast! I definitely have to get used to working with darker skin. This guy was super nice and it was also his first tattoo.

Then to today... this walked in first of the day. I was really happy about this one because I got more practice with working with solid color.

Next to walk in was this one.... an old name that needed reworking, and she wanted to add a simple design around the name so that it looked like a bracelet. This is what we came up with.... Sorry about the crappy photo... for some reason the pics came out lighter than the design actually is.

Obviously her skin got super puffed up maybe that's why the photo came out so light.... I hope to see her again so I can see how it healed.

Then the bracelet's boyfriend wanted a kanji design from off the wall. He got it on his forearm and we will add stars around it once hes all healed up.

Another walk in.... really simple kanjis. She didn't sit so well but overall I'm happy with how it came out.

The last walkin of the day so far was this on the wrist. She was really nice and we added some color in the bling stars.

I'm off tomorrow, but will post more when I have more to show you!

ALOHA

Tony's thigh

So on Wednesday Tony and I met up at the South Street shop to outline his left thigh. He told me about a week before this that he wanted a hot mermaid with a clipper ship and water in the background. I was so excited that one of my fellow artists/friends would want me to do something so big on him! So this is what we came up with. This took me roughly 3 hours to outline and Bill was there too.

I'm about to upload the tattoos I did today here on 4th Street. Stay tuned!

More catch up

Due to lack of internet at my house I'm resorting to uploading whenever I'm at work and not busy. So here's the weekend recap....

Im just going to post everything that I've done and then do my best to fill in with comments...

So I was working on 4th Street the other day and got a few walk ins.... this was the first. Also her first tattoo.

Then this one was sent over from No Ka Oi and this was her first tattoo.

Then that same week I was working on South Street with Carlos and a few things came in. This was the second of the day. He was super nice and despite the crappy photo Bill and I were happy with it.

Next these two girls walked in and each of them got a paw print. One of the girls got hers on the hip so we passed that one to Carlos and I did this one.

Next was a young woman who wanted a star bracelet. She was really nice and we went with just an outline for now. Maybe another time she will come back for color or shading.

Then on Friday I worked at No Ka Oi. This girl came in who wanted to let me practice on her! We gave her this which is her last name in Arabic, then she gave me some references for a pomogranate plant on her ribs. I'm going to talk it over with Bill and draw out a design so that we can work on that together. I'm noticing that the simple things are getting easier and easier the more I work.

Next this chick came in. This was a good exercise in color. Very fun to do and she is going to come back to get a matching one on her other ankle.

After that a couple came in and each of them got this on their inner arm.

More to come......!

Playing catch up

So I haven't posted anything in a few days, so here is what I've been up to. The other night when I posted the holy on the foot, a 18 yr old kid came in with his parents wanting his first tattoo. He came in with a dream catcher design and a logo that he wanted in the middle. Although this design is a bit larger than what I'm working on at the moment, I went ahead and did it. Looking back I should have done a value study beforehand to figure out a game plan, but I just went for it. I talked to Bill about it afterwards and there are definitely things that I could have done differently like put more variation in the values. So today I did a value study so that for next time I know how to better approach feathers. All in all I was really excited about this tattoo and so was the client. Another thing is that he had a 10 yr old scar that he wanted covered, and this was my first time dealing with covering up anything.

I told him to come in once this heals so we can add some darker values to the feathers.

Saturday was my day off and my cousin Jimmy came in to get his first tattoo, his last name across his back. We only did the lettering that day, he's going to add shamrocks on either side of the letters the next time. This one went pretty smoothly, learned some lessons about stretching with Bill there and about proper shading. Next time I think I won't go so dark. Use more lighter values to make the transition smoother.

Yesterday I worked at No Ka Oi and it was fairly busy. The first one of the day was a woman getting her first tattoo, and wanted a ladybug flying off her arm. Bill helped me out with the design and adding the shading around the flight lines to make it look more like the bug was in flight. This was a good lesson in color and dealing with darker skin.

The next was another first tattoo for a young man in love. This one is self explanatory.

This one came in after, something really simple on a med student. He chose a font from our lettering book and went from there.

The last couple of the day were really sweet! They had read my blog and wanted to get something from me, way to take one for the team!!! This went on the one girl and the other got this next one on her wrist :)

This one was really funny and I had a good time tattooing these two ladies. I hope to see them again!

Now off to another day.....

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Four from Christine

I met Christine at the Trader Joe's on the Upper West Side yesterday evening and she shared these four tattoos:

Moving clockwise from the upper left in the photo above, we start with an outline of Brooklyn, in honor of the borough in which Christine was born and raised.

At the top of the other forearm is an om symbol, which captures her focus and has occasionally "helped with panic attacks."

The two butterflies on opposite arms were inked in honor of her nieces, who both love these colorful insects. The shade of each represents their favorite colors.

The Brooklyn piece was inked at Asylum Studios in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The om and the butterflies were done by artists at Three Kings Tattoo. Both shops are in Brooklyn and have had work appear on best-tatto-design previously here (Asylum) and here (Three Kings).

Thanks to Christine for sharing these four of her eleven (!) tattoos with us here on best-tatto-design!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Chris's Cherry Blossoms Grace His Forearm

On Friday afternoon, I ran into Chris near the 34th Street subway station near the Manhattan Mall.

He had this wonderful tattoo on his left forearm:

Chris explained that this tree resembles a cherry blossom tree that he played on with his cousin when he was a kid. His cousin has passed, so this is, in essence, a memorial, "without being over the top".

I found it interesting and quite poignant that I spotted this piece on the day of the earthquake in Japan, when the plight of the residents in the northern part of that country was on so many minds. The cherry blossom, as many know, is often associated with the temporary, fleeting nature of life.

I particularly like the shadowy effect in the background of the tattoo:

Chris credited Ryan at ArtCore Tattoos in Naples, Florida with this tattoo.

Thanks to Chris for sharing his tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

This entry is ©2011 best-tatto-design.
If you are reading this on another web site other than best-tatto-design, 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://best-tatto-design.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.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Another day on 4th Street

So I'm working today til midnight, and this one came in about an hour after we opened up. She wanted this on her foot (upside down of course) with the end of the word turning into a cross. She wrote it out herself then I redrew it and this is what we came up with.

Overall I'm ok with this one. I'm fairly comfortable tattooing feet, just not really excited about the design. Next time I do something like this I'll try and talk them into integrating the cross in another way.

Until next time....

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Slow days on 4th street

So yesterday and today i'm working at our 4th street Body Graphics. Yesterday I got to do one walk-in, a small little high heel. This chick was really nice and we did it small and simple with a little grey shading. The pic isn't the greatest but it'll do for now.

I felt confident doing this one since it was so small, and she liked it too.

Then today I had the lovely Kim from over at Infinite to come by for a small pin up girl so that I can get more practice. I didn't need as much black in this one because it's mostly skin tones but I did put some grey in the shadows and used a tiny bit of black. This tattoo was alot of fun to do. I took my time and didn't rush, and she let me do whatever I want with the shading.

Overall this tattoo went well... her skin was great so I didn't really have any trouble with the linework. As for the shading, I had a little bit of machine trouble and had to switch shaders. I have to get used to the fact that my machine bogs down when I use thick colors. I also got to try out this peach color that a coworker of mine mixed up. Other than the bleeding in the hair area I hope that the blonde in the hair stays, thats when I started having the troubles. After I was finished with this I messed with my shaders again and I think theyre running much better now.

BIG thanks to Kim for donating some skin for me, and I'll be sure to post healed pics as soon as I can.

Hopefully we get more walkins tonight.... we haven't had one all day... probably the rain :(

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