Mike's Lion-Skeleton Tattoo

I met Mike outside of Penn Station after work last Friday. He has five to eight tattoos in all, and he had this pretty cool piece to offer:


This piece is all original artwork by the artist, Doug White, formerly at the Ink Spot Tattoo Studios in Linden, New Jersey, back in 1995-6. Mike doesn't know where Doug ended up, but he believes he's now tattooing out in Texas.

He also mentioned there's a figure at the top of the piece which is loosely based on Eddie, the Iron Maiden "mascot":


This segment of the tattoo seems inspired by Iron Maiden's album cover Seventh Son of a Seventh Son:


The lion is also very nicely done:


Thanks again to Mike for sharing his tattoo with us here at best-tatto-design!

Great Balls of Yarn!

A week ago, I met Hobart, who has 14 tattoos. He offered up this interesting piece for best-tatto-design readers:


Seems like your everyday run-of-the-mill pentagram tattoo. But it's not.

Hobart is a knitter and he and his friends often attended "Stitch 'n Bitch" sessions where a group of knitters would get together and practice their craft. Hobart said they grew tired of the "normal middle-age ladies" sitting around talking about sex, so he and his friends formed a group that challenged the image of the group of conservative knitters.

They developed the logo above, made it "as gangland as possible" and called themselves "Satani-stitch".

The pentagram is comprised of knitting needles arranged in the star formation, just below the "gang" name and two balls of yarn, which are engulfed in flames, for effect. Below the pentagram are the Roman numerals V I VI, representing the 516 area code of Nassau County, Long Island.

This creative tattoo was inked at Lone Wolf Tattoo in Bellmore, Long Island. Work from that shop has appeared previously on best-tatto-design here.

For another cool yarn-based piece, check out this previous best-tatto-design post, featuring my friend Eryn.

Hobart also shared his knuckle tattoos with me, to be seen at a future date over on KnuckleTattoos.com.

Thanks to Hobart for sharing his knitting-themed tattoo!

April Marching into May

Last Friday, I spotted this tattoo on Seventh Avenue in the 20's:



April was happy to stop and chat about her black and gray tattoo which was a gift from her boyfriend on her 27th birthday.

The piece is fairly straight forward - cherry blossoms bloom in late March/early April. Her birthday is in March and her name is April.

For that alone these traditional tattoo flowers seemed appropriate for her.

The design of the ouroboros, or the dragon forming a circle by consuming itself beginning with the tail, represents the "vicious cycle of life".

This tattoo was inked by Iann at Armageddon Tattoo in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Iann's work has appeared here previously on the site.

Thanks to April for sharing her lovely tattoo with us on best-tatto-design!

Milo's Tattoos Honor Family

I met Milo at Trader Joe's in Brooklyn on the first Saturday in May. Working the door as a greeter, Milo's tattoos were peeking out from under a shirt sleeve so I couldn't help but stop to chat. Twenty minutes later, when Milo was on break and my groceries were bought, we continued our conversation.

This tattoo is actually a series of family-themed pieces that make up what is currently a quarter-sleeve. The work to date has been completed over the course of two years by Myles Karr at Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn. Myles is now co-owner of Three Kings Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Each element is a tribute to, and/or inspired by, members of Milo's family.

I generally shy away from larger pieces that circumvent the limbs, but each part, in and of itself, as fascinating.

For example, Milo's grandfather was a doctor and a skier, which is represented by a stethoscope and crossed skis.

Milo's grandmother was a musician and the instrument on the inner part of the bicep is a scaled-down representation of her double bass.


What I originally took for severed octopus arms dripping colorful blood, upon closer examination, and a gentle explanation from Milo, was revealed to be shofars (ram's horns). These are traditional instruments that are sounded on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, to welcome the arrival of another year. They are included in this mix of symbols as a tribute to the
Jewish heritage of Milo's father and paternal grandmother.

The lines of color exuding from tubes of paint nestled in the shofars are a nod to the same two forebears, who were artists.

The top of the tattoo, which features a baby eagle and a crown, represents Milo's paternal family crest.


And finally, on the back side of the bicep, these leaves pop out in a brilliant explosion of greens:


Tattooed are three different types of kale: your basic everyday kale, dinosaur kale and Tuscan flatleaf. Milo explained that, growing up, food culture dominated the home. It was integral to the family and the kale not only pays tribute to family, but reminds Milo to eat right. It seemed
fitting to find a kale-themed tattoo at Trader Joe's, one of my favorite grocery stores, and a standard for healthy food.

I want to thank Milo for taking the time to tell me about the numerous tattoos that seemed so personal, yet universal for so many. We here at best-tatto-design loved the uniqueness of Milo's ink.

Check out this other piece, also by Myles Karr at Saved Tattoo, which appeared last May on best-tatto-design.

Adam's Tattoos Honor God and Country

On April 28th, I was walking across Penn Plaza, outside of Madison Square Garden, and saw a couple of guys taking pictures.

This is fairly common outside of "the world's most famous arena".

Depending on the event going on that day or night, one can get an eyefull of tattoo ink. When there is a rock concert scheduled, there is quite a few visible tattoos on the plaza, when the Westminster dog show's in town, not so much.

On this particular day, there was a WWE wrestling event at the Garden, and the guys I saw taking pictures were waiting for the show to begin.

I approached and met Adam, who had this very cool tattoo on his right bicep:


The piece is designed to flow with his musculature and falls under what I call the "torn flesh" category of tattooing. That is, the tattoo takes on an additional dimension, as it is inked to appear as if the flesh is ripped away, allowing the viewer to see what lies below the skin.

In Adam's case, he bleeds red, white and blue in the form of the American flag. His patriotism is exemplified by this tattoo. As a member of the United States Air Force, he serves our country proudly, and his tattoo is a symbol of how his love of our country runs deep.

Adam also wanted to show me his back piece, a religious-themed work that reflects his faith:


The cross takes up most of the space, and is anchored by a banner that proclaims "May God Have Mercy".

There are also two biblical verses on either side of the cross at the top of the back.

The left is from the book of Joshua, Chapter 1, Verse 9 (New Revised Standard Version):

"Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

The right is from lines 14 and 15 of Psalm 91 (also NRSV):

"Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them..."

All the work shown here on Adam was inked by Adrian at Ken's Underground in Dover, Delaware.

Thanks to Adam for sharing his awesome tattoos with us here on best-tatto-design!

Inked Up Angels: Part 2, Kat's Incredible Buddha

Last Friday, I featured a tattoo from one of two women I met in Penn Station.

They both are part of a group called Inked Up Angels.

I had first taken the photo of the tattoo belonging to "Pink", and now it was her friend's turn.

I looked to Kat curiously, wondering what tattoo she was going to offer for best-tatto-design.

We were standing in a corner of busy Penn Station near the subway turnstiles and she told me I needed to move. We switched spots, so that I was standing in the corner and she was between me and the crowds. Her friend Pink stood behind her and shielded Kat from the throngs of commuters. I got that she was going to show me something quite revealing, yet I had no clue what it was.

With her left side facing me, Kat hiked up her skirt to reveal this absolutely incredible piece, that ran from the upper part of her thigh, to above her waistline:


That's about eighteen hours of work, folks, and it's an amazing piece. Kat had it tattooed because she is a Buddhist and loves loves the spirituality of Buddha.


The detail that went into this tattoo and the vibrancy of the color is phenomenal. Take a closer loom at the lotus at the bottom of the tattoo:


Equally incredible is the detailed line work, as is evidence in the eyebrows and the leaves of the tree in the background:


This amazing tattoo was inked by Dez Mooney at The White Lotus Tattoo & Art Gallery in Toms River.

This is definitely one of my favorite tattoos that I have seen in nearly two years of best-tatto-design posts.

I want to thank Kat for sharing her amazing work with us here at best-tatto-design.

If you head over to the Inked Up Angels MySpace Page, you can not only see more of Kat's tattoos (including shots of the Buddha in progress), but you can catch glimpses of some additional work on a number of other tattooed women.

Sad News

I'm numb today after learning that the poet Craig Arnold, whose tattoos were featured here, died just a few days after my posts, just a few days after we chatted via instant message on Facebook.

I certainly did not have the level of interaction with him that many of the other people in his life, I had only really known him for a short time. But his interest and eagerness to participate in the Tattooed Poets Project brought me closer to him, I can only imagine that the sadness I feel is intensified a hundred-fold by the people that really knew him. And I am torn:

I envy their memories of Craig, their experiences with him, all the wonderful recollections of good times, yet I am saddened not just by the loss of Craig, but the heartbreak I feel oozing through the various portals of the internet.

I contacted many poets in the months leading up to April. Some were too busy to respond, or just said "thanks, but no thanks". But Craig, in my book, someone with a great excuse not to help a fellow writer out, came through despite being halfway across the planet, working on what he loved until the very end.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Craig Arnold's friends and family.

I feel blessed to have had just a sliver of time with Craig, in the form of some messages, e-mails, a poem and two tattoos.

Embrace the memories, the words, the experiences. Embrace them and treasure them. They are what sustain us. They give us strength and hope. They make it possible to go on.