Best Tatto Design: September 2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

Lauren's Hourglass

Occasionally we'll share a reader submission and today we have a piece contributed by Lauren. She sent in this cool hourglass:

Lauren explains:

"I decided on an hourglass after wanting something to represent living your life to the fullest and realizing time is precious. After thinking and going through all the quotes I could find I decided I would get an hourglass to represent it all. Paul Anthony Dobleman at Spider Murphy's Tattoo in San Rafael, CA is a genius. He has done about 75% of my tattoos and he took my idea and ran with it. Exactly what I wanted. Couldn't be happier! The tattoo is located on my left rib cage."

Thanks to Lauren for sharing her timely tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Kali's Skull

So I know it's been a minute since I've updated, so here goes. Business has been slowing down (as per this season) so I've been doing what I can to get my friends in the shop to do some portfolio pieces, and working on artwork. For some reason I've been in some sort of block lately... haven't been inspired to paint until just recently.

On a good note, Kali came in yesterday to finish her skull! Very excited about this one. I still want to go back into the skull and smooth it out some more... still need to work on that. When I get a touchup session in with her I will also take really good pics... I want this one in my book! She's a trooper for letting me so done fun stuff on her... Kudos to Kali!

This was a cool walkin while I was working at No Ka Oi this past saturday... she got this image from a children's book cover, where there's a figure flying in the sky being followed by a canadian goose. We sort of hodge-podged this together, just added the goose and figure. Hope to see her back for more background and such....

Cross done in nj... again still need to work on my shading. Linework is getting easier by the day, however shading will take some time to master... Looks like I need to tune my machines as well!

Small bird

Lettering and zodiac symbol

Another walkin in NJ... he brought in this symbol that he wanted in the middle of the sun... After some revisions we found something that he was happy with, and here we are.

Back of the neck- always a challenge! this was a mother/daughter bonding tattoo, they each got the same thing, same place.

Until next time.... I will have more smooth shading! practice practice practice! I still can't believe a year has passed already!

Anthony's Phenomenal Marilyn Monroe Portrait

Without question, Marilyn Monroe has appeared more on best-tatto-design than any other celebrity, living or dead. You'd think I'd get tired of seeing her in ink, but I never do. Probably because there are artists out there doing this:

This portrait is on the left leg of Anthony, a photographer I met on Penn Plaza a couple weeks ago. The work is based on this famous photograph:

Anthony credited the artist as Horacio Martinez, at Golden Eagle Tattoo in Santa Barbara, California. The detail in the piece is really spectacular:

When I asked why he chose to ink the legendary actress on his leg, he said, "I was in photo school at the time and we were doing a lot of Hollywood glamor stuff and it was just kind of, on a whim. Why not?"

The piece is two years old and took only three and a half hours for Horacio to complete.

To see all the Marilyn Monroe work that has appeared on best-tatto-design, click here. You can also see Anthony's work as a photographer on Tumblr here, or you can visit his website here.

Thanks to Anthony for sharing this incredible tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Frank's Koi Blends Traditional and Modern

Back on the first of July, I met Frank as I was headed home through Penn Station. He shared this tattoo on his lower leg:

Frank explained that the tattoo artist was Gus, who works out of John's Tattoos in Islip, New York. He elaborated, telling me, "I originally wanted a koi fish ... not too traditional, but a little bit different. Some modern twist on it ... Gus put the traditional with the modern and there it is."

Thanks to Frank for sharing his koi fish and cherry blossoms with us here on best-tatto-design!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Jacqueline's Blood Rose

Two weeks ago I spotted Jacqueline and knew I had to ask her about this large tattoo in the center of her back:

Jacqueline explained that she and her older brother got this same tattoo in the same spot. "We just wanted to get a matching tattoo," she told me, "and, you know, we're both blood relatives". It's as simple as that.

She credits Seth Wood with this tattoo. Seth currently works out of Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn. Work by Seth appeared previously on best-tatto-design just last month here.

Thanks to Jacqueline for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Andrea Shares a Gil Elvgren Pinup by Shane O'Neill

Earlier this month, I met Andrea while waiting for the A train.

Andrea is covered with tattoos, estimating she has over 50% of her body inked. I always feel privileged when someone so dedicated to the art of tattoo agrees to share their work. Andrea offered up this amazing pin-up on her right forearm:

This amazing tattoo is based on the work of legendary pin-up artist Gil Elvgren. The tattoo artist responsible for this incredible work is Shane O'Neill, who is based in Middletown, Delaware. The detail in this piece is incredible.

Work by Shane has appeared previously on our site here.

Thanks to Andrea for sharing her amazing work with us here on best-tatto-design!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Natalie's Geisha Butterfly

Last month, I ran into Natalie on Seventh Avenue and 24th Street. She had several tattoos, but shared this geisha, with butterfly wings, floating on the top of her back:

She got this about six years ago in the city of Leeds from an artist named Diego.

When I asked why she got this particular tattoo, she replied, "I kind of just wanted something that was quite girly, yet strong at the same time."

Natalie is a professional photographer whose work can be seen on her website here.

Thanks to Natalie for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Nick's Street Sign is Self-Explanatory

Earlier this week, up in Columbus Circle (see, I don't spend ALL my time in Penn Station!), I ran into Nick, a much-inked individual who kindly allowed me to photograph this tattoo on his left shin:

Nick explained that his friend James tattooed this Pedestrian Crossing sign on him. When I asked him why he chose to get this iconic street sign on his leg, he replied, simply, "We were just bored, and I walk everywhere".

Thanks to Nick for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Kristen's Anchor - Dedicated to Daddy

"This tattoo is for my father," Kristen told me, as we sat talking at the laundromat earlier this month, "because he's my anchor and he's the only man that could ever hold me down and take care of me."

She credits an artist named Twace who works in Brooklyn. [On October 4, 2011, I learned Twace is working at Citizen Ink.] Twace does all her work and is working with Kristen on her sleeve, which is based on family and inspired by Sailor Jerry flash.

When I asked her about coming up with the design, she praised Twace, her artist:

"What I love about him is that we designed the entire piece together ... I paint and do artistic things, as well, which you find [can be] very difficult with tattoo artists to put your inspiration in ... The heart rope was my idea, the color scheme, we basically worked together, bounced ideas off each other, which makes it even more like a special event."

Thanks to Kristen for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Colleen Returns to Share Some Lovely Ink

I spotted a woman with some really great tattoos out on Penn Plaza and, after talking to her a brief moment, realized it was Colleen, who appeared on best-tatto-design once before, back in 2009, as chronicled here.

Colleen shared two tattoos that grace her upper arms:

Colleen loves this tattoo and I can't say I blame her. As a Buddhist, she appreciates the symbolism of the lotus and the om on the skull. She explained:

"the lotus comes out of the mud at the bottom of the water and blooms out of that and that's ... birth. And the skull [represents] death."

The piece encompasses the cycle of life and death. She credits this wonderful work to Patrick Conlon at Graceland Brooklyn.

Colleen also has this work on her right arm:

Colleen explained that the dragon was there first, and then Patrick added the fire and pansies, to make it a much more beautiful tattoo.

Thanks to Colleen for sharing her tattoos with us (again) on best-tatto-design!

Saturday, September 17, 2011

It's a Blog World, After All

It's not unusual to occasionally run into someone who's been featured on the blog before, especially in my neighborhood, but this morning I ran into four former best-tatto-design subjects. So, out of sheer laziness and the desire to share these encounters, we'll be revisiting these old posts.

First, I ran into Melanie, whose Marilyn Monroe tattoo appeared earlier this year here.

I spotted her where I first met her, in the laundromat. We were chatting when Sandra walked by and said hi. I also met Sandra in the laundromat back in 2009. Her tattoo was featured here.

Then, I ran into James and . James was also a laundromat encounter, although his son went to school with my youngest daughter, so we had seen each other around the neighborhood a lot. Today I ran into him about a block from the laundromat. James was here on best-tatto-design in our second post, back in 2007! It's worth checking out here, just to get a perspective of what the site was like "back in the day."

James was walking with his girlfriend, Jeanette, who I met on the subway in 2009, and featured here. What's remarkable is that, at the time, James and Jeanette were not a couple, and I only learned they were together almost a year later, when I ran into James and he told me that his girlfriend had been featured on the site as well.

So, there you have it, folks. Small world, best-tatto-design-style!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Erin's Tribute to Thomas, Her Grandfather

Back in June, I met Erin on the subway, and she shared this section of her inner forearm:

This tattoo is a tribute to her grandfather, Thomas, who served in the U.S. Navy.

The work was done at High Street Tattoo in Columbus, Ohio.

Erin explained:

"I just told [the artist] that I wanted something that would relate to the Navy, I guess, so that's the anchor. I like Old School tattoos, I like Sailor Jerry classic-style."

Erin also has a Friday the 13th tattoo below this, on her wrist:

This was done at Only You Tattoo in Atlanta.

Thanks to Erin for sharing these cool tattoos with us here on best-tatto-design!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

End of the first year

I just want to start off by saying that today is the one year anniversary of me starting to tattoo! I tattooed my first "client" out in Hawaii last year on this day. Kinda weird that it went by as fast as it did.... I'm very happy to be finally doing what I've worked so hard for, and I plan on doing this for the rest of my life.

So in honor of this, I figured the first image should be this cupcake I started last night on a friend. She just turned 21 (in case you can't read) haha so I gave her this as a bday gift. It went in her inner arm and we unfortunately didn't get to finish it, which is ok... I want to see how it heals up and make any adjustments to the color once it's healed, and add some more detail to the sprinkles. Tried my hand at some realism, hopefully i'll get more opportunities like this one. Kudos to Lauren! I'll post better pics once it's done.

This was an interesting one. She walked in, this was her first tattoo (if I remember correctly) She brought in this image which was pretty straight-forward. I set up for her and she also had a weird request... she wanted a little smiley face on her toe. I wasn't sure why until she took off her sock and there it was! two little toenails! kinda weird n all, but after seeing the nails like that, they make two little eyes and the smile completed the picture. Such a fun lil tattoo, even though it probably won't stay.

TOE SMILE!

Got to add onto the eyeball tattoo this week. He wanted to do some polynesian type stuff around it with some color. I haven't done much of this style, so I thought it would be a good time to try it out and start with two segments. I did some sketches, let him choose what he liked, then went to draw on him. This is the sketch phase.......

After finishing the linework and shading I'm overall happy with it, however after getting some feedback I think I would like to thicken up some of the lines in the upper portion, but we will see how it heals. I would like to sit down with my friends who are good at tattooing this type of stuff and get their opinion on how they would approach this when I go to add on.... will keep you posted on this.

The lettering walked into NJ... his first tattoo. Super nice guy. Hope to see him back for more work.

This one made my slow Monday!!! My good friend Parker let me do this on him! Boxing cock! We didn't get to finish it as it's in a very sensitive area and it was getting late. Very fun tattoo and it was inspired by this Adam Shields flash we have here at the shop. I really like how he does his eagles/birds and so did Parker, so we used that for reference (mainly the face) and then redrew the rest. I will post more when we get to finish this! So excited! Thanks Parker!!!!

Until the next post...... don't let the rain get ya down!

A Beacon for Marci on Buddy's Arm

I met Buddy a while back while riding the subway. He had 13 or 14 tattoos and shared this piece, from his left forearm:

Buddy explained that this old gas-lit street light serves a memorial piece for Marci, his French bulldog, who passed away at the age of 14. Marci was his "light in the dark" for a dozen years,

The tattoo was inked at The End is Near in Brooklyn. He couldn't remember the artist's name, but based on his description (and my rudimentary knowledge of the artists there), I believe the tattooist was Joey Wilson, who has moved on to Asylum Studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Thanks to Buddy for sharing this tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Ashley's Scarabs

I met Ashley a couple months ago, over the summer, on a Friday afternoon at the Broadway-Lafayette subway station.

She had two tattoos on her upper left arm that jumped out at me:

These two scarabs were tattooed by Jason June, from Three Kings Tattoo, in Brooklyn. Why scarabs? Ashley explained that they have "a family significance from the scarab bracelet that I have." She showed me the bracelet and two of the stones matched the colors in the tattoos. Pretty neat.

Check out posts tagged Three Kings here to see the work we've featured from the shop on best-tatto-design.

Thanks to Ashley for sharing these scarabs with us here on best-tatto-design!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Good Time Sam and the Mad Hatter

Last month I ran into a young lady who called herself "Good Time Sam" in Penn Station. She was very enthusiastic about sharing one of her tattoos. She has "at least twenty". She offered up this memorable character:

That is, of course, the Mad Hatter, from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Sam credited this piece to her friend Justin from Pigment Custom Tattoo and Piercing in New Orleans.

She chose this for a tattoo because she likes the character, Hatter, from the book, and she always wears a hat.

The image is based on the original John Tenniel illustration

although it seems that the tattoo artist added some additional detail, along with the phrase "live the madness"

Thanks to "Good Time Sam" for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Holy Ship! Isaac's Vessel and a Biblical Quote

There are a few tattoo artists whose work is so good that, when I'm lucky enough to stumble upon one of their clients, I consider it a great day.

Such was the case on a Monday in August on the Upper West Side, when I stopped Isaac in Trader Joe's as he walked past me. I knew, even before he told me who the artist was, that this piece was special:

Isaac explained that this ship was inked by the amazing Amanda Wachob of Dare Devil Tattoo in Manhattan. Amanda was featured in a small post in the New York Times earlier this year here. I have been fortunate enough to stumble across her work personally once before, as documented in this post from last October.

Isaac explained that this ship was inspired by The Flying Dutchman, a painting by Albert Pinkham Ryder.

One of the amazing things about Amanda Wachob's work is how her tattoos look like they are painted onto the skin. Check out the front of Isaac's ship:

"I used to write 'I'm a Son' on my arm all the time," Isaac told me, "as in a son of God," so he refers to this as his sonship.

He also shared this piece on his left biceps:

This is a Biblical reference, from 1 Corinthians 13, Verses 4-8. The passage is

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."

Isaac and his wife have the same piece, with hers being on her right arm. I love the font that the artist used. He attributed it to Kelly at East Side Ink. Kelly is absent from the shop website, so must have been a former or visiting artist.

Thanks so much to Isaac for sharing these wonderful tattoos with us here on best-tatto-design!

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