Ian's Three Clowns

I met Ian on the West 4th Street subway platform last month and spotted this tattoo on the outside of his right leg:


Ian had this done three years ago when working in Miami. He's an audio engineer in the television industry, so he travels a bit.

He picked the flash out of a book in the tattoo shop. He liked the sad and happy clowns at the top of the piece, a clown-like Tragedy/Comedy homage, and then added the clown on the bottom which, he said, better reflected his personality. The two separate flash designs merged to make one larger tattoo.

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

Joe's Piece of π

I was on the 34th Street subway platform, waiting for a downtown N express train, when I met Joe who had a series of numbers inked around his arm:


I asked him if the digits represented his social security number (don't laugh, I've heard it has been done) and he shook his head and rolled up his sleeve to reveal the top of the tattoo:


This, of course, is the value of π (pi), which mathematicians have determined, possesses an infinite number of decimal places.

As a physics enthusiast, he loves what pi represents. He told me, as the "meaning of symbols change a lot, what better [to have tattooed] than a transcendental constant?"

Despite π's infinite number of decimals, he only has the tattoo calculated out to 27 places because, he said, it was "all I could afford" at the time.



Later, Joe e-mailed me and gave me more specifics. The tattoo was done at Utopia in Huntington, New York (out on Long Island). I can't find a current listing foe the shop, so it may no longer be in business. And, Joe said, "the font is Times New Roman, the π symbol is 180pt font (π in degrees) and the numbers are 90pt font (π/2 in degrees)".

This careful selection of font size only emphasizes Joe's commitment to the purity of this πtattoo.

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

Art show coming up!

Just posting that I will be showing at the Portside Parlor and Art Gallery, the new tattoo shop/ Art Gallery in Olde City, Philadelphia. Me, along with many other artists from our shops will be exhibiting at a group show on the First Friday in November. Most works will be for sale, so stop by and buy something to feed our broke asses!!

Featuring previously posted Blue Skull and pink skull, along with the Garuda painting and a small painting of a Hula girl.

Will post soon!

Thanks and come check it out!

-Tina

Dean's Wolverine Tattoo Shows Amazing Perspective

I met Dean outside of Penn Station late one Friday afternoon.

I was interested in talking to him about this leg tattoo:


When I approached him, he challenged me, asking if I knew what it was. There's nothing more embarrassing than misidentifying someone's tattoo, so I gave it a careful look.

"Wolverine?" I asked. In hindsight it seems clearer, but at the time I was worried about answering it incorrectly.


I passed the test.

Dean, possessor of seven tattoos, is a huge fan of the comic book superhero, and was even more so 15 years ago, when he had this done by his friend Shawn Adamczyk, who is co-owner of S&S Ink Spot in Columbus, Georgia.

What's remarkable about the tattoo is the perspective, as Wolverine himself is further back, on the side of the leg and, as he reaches forward with his claws, the character seems nearer, as the hand and razor-like talons dominate the top part of the shin:


The tattoo represents four sittings and approximately twenty hours of work.

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

Gypsy Roses and a Tombstone

Last month, I ran outside toward the end of the day to throw a letter in the mailbox at the corner of 31st and 7th, near Penn Station.

Always prepared, I had a flier and my camera with me, just in case, and I spotted a woman ahead of me on the sidewalk with an interesting-looking tattoo on the back of her right arm.

After dropping my letter in the box, I ran up and introduced myself. She said her name was Jeanette and she showed me this chest piece which truly took my breath away:


I was however, without a pen, so she lent me hers. Fortunately, she later e-mailed me a fuller explanation of her work, reiterating what she told me in the street:

My gypsies on my chest are a representation of my open, free spirited soul, my wandering spiritual ways and my childhood. As a child, my mom moved my 4 sisters and I from place to place; never truly getting settled but gaining amazing friendships and experiences on the way.


These gypsies were created and drawn by Mo Coppoletta a tattoo artist originally from Italy but now residing in London.


He owns and operates The Family Business...He is a feisty but charming fellow who I bonded with immediately after meeting. You can view more of his work and his shop at www.thefailybusinesstattoo.com.

I also snapped a photo of the original tattoo I had spotted on her right arm:

She explained:

This tattoo is very sentimental...[in memory of] my mother who passed away at the young age of 50 in May of 2003. The words inscribed on the tombstone..."It's Gettin Chistled on yer tombstone" are from one of my favorite films, The Devil's Rejects. These words represent the things you do in life...each moment...each day you are engraving a memory for which people will remember you by, and this is how my mother lived. Always giving a hand and offering her last dollar from her pocket to a stranger. This tattoo is not completed yet, I intend to have the front of the tombstone added soon which will have my mother's name, date of birth and death and the words "Loving Mother and Loving Soul" in bold ink. This tattoo artist is Ezra [McCabe] from Sacramento, CA owner and operator of Timeless Tattoo and his work is truly timeless and remarkable. They are located at 912 J St Sacramento, CA and can be reached at (916) 443-6441.

A little more about Jeanette:

"I am a freelance fashion designer for my own clothing line "Altered Betty's," a line of clothing that comes straight from my heart. All one of a kind pieces made from all recycled fabrics and notions. What once was very special to one could be a delightful surprise for another. I recently moved to New York from California, I am still adjusting but I am beginning to really love and appreciate this beautiful city. "

It was an unexpected treat to meet Jeanette and I thank her for sharing her amazing gypsy rose tattoos with us here on best-tatto-design!

Tiger Versus Viper

I had the good fortune of meeting Burton in Penn Station as he was headed back to Georgia.

He was in town because his friend had won tickets to the MTV Video Music Awards the night before, and he got to tag along.

Burton is a tattooist with thirteen tattoos, and the one he shared with me is truly spectacular:


He collaborated on this design with his friend Richard Nunnaly at Psycho Tattoo in Marietta, Georgia.

Burton wanted something traditional, that represented an inner struggle.


They developed the tiger fighting the viper (and winning), but modified it to give the design a cartoon-like spin.


He explained that they had the original design, but that it wasn't that exciting to their creative sensibilities, so they started sketching directly on the arm. The whole piece took approximately 14-16 hours.

I especially love how the tiger's fur spirals at the elbow.


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

Alyssa's Arabic Ink

It wasn't Alyssa I approached on a Friday afternoon outside of Madison Square Garden, but her friend, who had several visible tattoos.

However, the friend was unhappy with all of her ink, so I asked if anyone else standing with her if they had work they'd like to share.

Alyssa offered up this Arabic tattoo, behind her right ear:


The script is the transliteration of her name, Alyssa, which she said means "flourishing" in Greek.


Definitions I have found point to it meaning "rational," or "noble," rather than "flourishing". Nonetheless, it is widely regarded as a very pretty name.

This was tattooed at Crazy Fantasy Tattoo in Manhattan. Work from that shop previously posted on best-tatto-design can be seen here.

It just so happened I recently read the book Arabic Tattoos compiled by Jon Udelson. It's an interesting look at the phenomenon of the increase in popularity of Arabic script tattoos, and well worth a gander.

My favorite Arabic tattoo that has appeared on best-tatto-design is this one.

Thanks to Alyssa for sharing her tattoo with us here on the site!