Andy Honors Hercules

Today's post is noteworthy as it features the final photos taken by my old camera. A day after this encounter, the screen cracked, and that was that. I've been living on borrowed cameras ever since.

This tattoo, offered up by Andy, was spotted in Grand Central Station in a Hudson News shop:

Andy explained that he got this tattoo because the boat pictured, Hercules, is a "great old steam tug".

This historic boat, built in 1907, can be seen at the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

This tugboat took Matt Adams at Sacred Tattoo about four and a half hours to complete. Work from Matt has appeared previously on best-tatto-design here.

Thanks to Andy for sharing this great naval tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Renee's Feathered Serpent

I was walking down 31st Street in Manhattan when a woman walked by with a hummingbird and flower on her left shoulder. I turned back to talk to her and I was stunned to see a bright colorful tattoo spanning the top of her back> I called after her and had a nice chat.

To my delight, Renee was my familiar with the site, as her artist, Joy Rumore, had just been featured on best-tatto-design here. Taking a photo of the tattoo in question was not possible due to the presence of clothing covering sections of it, but I gave Renee my card and asked her to keep in touch. However, after a few messages on Twitter, not only did I have the link to photos of the tattoo from the artist's blog, I also had an open dialogue with Renee, who explained the tattoo for me.

As Joy says on her original post here, "All hail the mighty Kukulcan!":

I asked Renee to elaborate on why she got this incredible tattoo across her back. I'll let her words speak for themselves:

"I got this feathered serpent tattoo when I advanced to candicacy in my doctoral program where I study Aztec art. I think we did it over three or four 90-minute sessions ... The feathered serpent was an old Mesoamerican god, a version of which dates back to the Olmecs (about 400 BCE) and is seen at a number of Mexican sites like Teotihuacan, Chichen Itza, Tula, and the Templo Mayor in Mexico City. The Aztecs called him Quetzalcoatl which translates from Nahuatl (their spoken language) into bird-snake. Joy refers to him on her blog as Kukulcan, which is the version that is seen at Chichen Itza in the Yucatán.

I wanted a tattoo of a feathered serpent because he so relevant to the Aztecs and they took great care in carving beautiful stone images of the animal.  I also knew of Joy's penchant for amazing feather work, and I knew this would be a good match.  I brought Joy a series of images, one from a mural at Teotihuacan, one from a Mixtec manuscript and another of an Aztec stone carving of a feathered serpent.  She used those and her knowledge of imagery from the Yucatan to create a more composite image of the god."

 A huge thanks to Renee and to Joy at Twelve 28 Tattoo for their cooperation in making this post possible!

Anthony's Tribal Tattoo, Inspired by Fiji

Last month I ran into Anthony in Penn Station with this interesting, yet unfinished, tattoo on his left arm:

A visitor from England, Anthony let me take the photo, but he was in a bit of a rush, so I didn't get too much information from him, other than this was a Polynesian-themed design, inspired by a trip he took to Fiji.

He credited Toni at Lycan Ink in Liverpool, England, with the work.

Thanks to Anthony for sharing with us here on best-tatto-design.

Repost: Happy Independance Day!

Happy 4th of July. I am away for the weekend up in Woodstock, New York, so I'm reposting a patriotic tattoo that appeared here back in 2008. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday!


I ran into Rob in my neighborhood in late August and he gladly shared his patriotic tattoo.

Rob is a Revolutionary War buff and has a distinct interest in American history.

He wanted an "old school" tattoo back in 2000, and wanted something patriotic back "before it was fashionable". He's referring of course, to the explosion of post-9/11 red, white and blue ink. He wasn't disrespecting or being critical of patriotic tattoos done after 2001, he was merely clarifying for me that his piece was not a product of the huge wave of emotion that surged through the country after that day of infamy seven years ago.

Rob's "Land of the free, Home of the brave" banner with the original 13-star flag was inked by Darren Rosa at Rising Dragon in Manhattan. Work from Rising Dragon has appeared on best-tatto-design previously here.

Thanks to Rob for sharing his red, white, and blue patriotic tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design on this occasion.

The Lovely Tattoo of Legs Malone

I couldn't help notice the striking woman standing on the subway platform waiting for the R train. She was tall, had long shapely legs, a close-shaven head, and a small tattoo on the back of her left calf.

The R pulled in and, as luck would have it, we sat down next to one another on the train.

I had to introduce myself.

Turns out, I was sitting with a burlesque performer named with the stage name Legs Malone.

We didn't have a lot of time to talk, as she was exiting the train a stop or two earlier than me, but she obliged me for a photo by taking my camera and shooting the tattoo on the back of her leg:

She told me that this small tattoo (the only one visible on her frame) was inspired by a heart-shaped bruise that she wanted to replicate on her skin, but in a more aesthetically-pleasing way. The flowers around the heart are cherry blossoms.

The tattoo was inked at Fly Rite Studio by Charlie Foos, who is now at Read Street Tattoo Parlour in Baltimore. Charlie's work most recently appeared on best-tatto-design here.

Thanks to Legs Malone for sharing her tattoo with us here on best-tatto-design!

Stephanie's Serpentine Strength

Under normal circumstances, I may not have stopped to chat with Stephanie about her wrist tattoo. However, she was playing with her new corn snake, which is not something you see everyday when passing through Pennsylvania Station.

Stephanie introduced me to her new friend Muñeca (the Spanish word for "doll")

and then elaborated on one of her three tattoos, the word "Strength" on her inner left wrist:

She had this done at a time in her life when she was depressed, so she put the word on her wrist to remind her to always be strong.

What's truly interesting about this tattoo and the juxtaposition of the snake is the serpentine nature of the letter "S". My friend and co-worker Maida also pointed out, when I showed her the photo, that muñeca also has the anatomical meaning of "wrist" in Spanish.

The tattoo was done at Progressive Tattoo in Lindenhurst, New York.

Thanks to Stephanie for sharing her tattoo and Muñeca with us here at best-tatto-design!

Kristina's Labyrinthine Symbol of Hopi

A few weeks back, I met Kristina, after spotting the top of her tattoo peeking out from under her shirt and reaching toward her neck.

I was intrigued and asked her about it. She revealed it to be a much larger piece than I initially observed and explained that it is a Hopi symbol of mother-daughter unity that accompanies her on her spiritual journey through life.

From what I can gather, this is a variation on the symbol for Tapu'a, or Mother Earth, and the maze-like construction of the emblem represents one's journey through life.

She had this inked at a shop in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

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