The Great`s Art: 2012

Sabtu, 07 Januari 2012

Cleaning Out My Inbox: January Edition

One of my New Year's resolutions is to share more of what gets sent to me from various parties looking to promote their tattoo-related projects. What follows are a few items that have been lingering in my inbox, and may be of interest to our readers:

This is "Pencil and Ink: A Film About Justin Klein":

Pencil & Ink : a film about Justin Klein from DannyGregory on Vimeo.

Justin Klein is a New York-based tattoo artist. You can see some of his work here on his Facebook gallery.

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Occasionally I get e-mails introducing me to new shops, or at least shops that are new to me. Suzanne Sawyer is co-owner of Relentless Ink Custom Tattoo in Newburgh, New York. She writes:

"...Thought Id let you know about a newish (March of 2011) local tattoo studio in Orange County, NY, that my husband and I own. Not sure how you get your inspiration for the blog posts and I notice you do write several! Just wanted to point you over to http://www.facebook.com/RelentlessInkTattoo. We have several artists, a couple of whom have been published in tattoo mags or become Featured Artists on sites like Ink Army (Check out owner and my hubby Hal Sawyer & also Jack Hammah) and do tattoo conventions all over, soon Hal and Keith Zahra will be working Tattoolapalooza in Miami."

Tattoolapalooza, actually, is going on this weekend.

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Alexei Nunes, a scriptwriter and producer for Mellow9 Productions, reently pointed me to a video of their interview with well-known Tattoo Artist, Lou Molloy, as part of there "9 Scoop" Interview Series. Check it out here:

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I received a heads up from NOWNESS.com, which is presenting an exclusive extract from filmmaker Ryan Hope’s documentary Skin. The film follows five skin-art collectors on their journey to be tattooed with designs created by major contemporary artists like Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Richard Prince. Check it out here.

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And finally, a fan named Shannon messaged me:

You might dig these videos - photorealistic animated tattoo adventures!
The making-of video is pretty cool too.
http://www.joshuafrankel.net/Kabar.html

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Thanks for checking these out, and have a great weekend!

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, 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://tattoosday.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.

Jumat, 06 Januari 2012

Tattoorism: Naveed's Cobra

Occasionally we'll post a reader submission, referring to it as "tattoorism," as this is, for the most part, a New York City site. There are plenty of websites that cater solely to reader submissions but, I figure, once in a while, it's nice to see someone making the effort to send me a photo with a narrative.

The following submission comes from "across the pond":

This cool tattoo belongs to Naveed, who writes:

"I am 18 years old currently a student in the UK and I live in Bristol. I would like to submit a tattoo, I know you prefer to upload tattoos from people you've met but I am particularly proud of this tattoo as it is my third. It is a king cobra wrapped around a harp with jasmine flowers surrounding it. They are all national symbols of my ethnicities, the king cobra is the national snake of India, the jasmine flowers are the national flower of Pakistan and the harp is the national symbol of Ireland. It was done by Phil Webster at Tattoo House in Dewsbury."

I should note that Phil Webster is not on the Tattoo House website, but is currently be co-owner of Integrity Tattoo Lounge in Ossett, West Yorkshire. I was able to find a much crisper photo on his Facebook page, so I am reprinting it here for the sake of fully representing what a nice tattoo this is:

Thanks to Naveed for sending along this tattoo to us here on Tattoosday!

Kamis, 05 Januari 2012

Michael and The Legend of Zelda

I was walking up Seventh Avenue back in August when I spotted Michael, taking on break on the sidewalk, soaking in the summer pedestrian traffic.

He is a video game programmer who works for a firm called Atom Apps and has his own company called Broken Home Studios.

I noticed he had tattoos and, given his vocation, it made sense that the ink he shared with me had a gaming theme:

These logos are from the classic video game, The Legend of Zelda, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011. When I asked why he had an affinity for Zelda, Michael explained:

"It helped me get through a very violent parent thing. It was like, the little boy, sent into the world, by himself, alone, to fight all the bad things coming at him. And, he didn't do this on his own. He was put into this against his will, like I was, with my situation. He was able to survive and fight and conquer and have a happy ending, and that's why I have that affinity for that character and that game - because I vicariously lived through that character to escape my own issues."

He got both Zelda pieces at Screamin' Ink Tattoo off of Route 4 in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Ian Shafer did the piece on the left

and he attributed the piece on the right to an artist he only remembered as Bob.

I'm familiar with the artists at Screamin' Ink, having witnessed their work up close at the last two NYC Tattoo Conventions. In fact, the work highlighted in this post, by Ian, is among the more amazing tattoos I have had the privilege to see up close.

Thanks to Michael for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday, and for being so forthright about the inspiration behind them as they related to his difficult childhood.

Rabu, 04 Januari 2012

Escher, Anyone?

I met Justin in Penn Station last month and snapped this quick photo of his right forearm:

Justin said he was familiar with Tattoosday because I had previously featured work by his friend Erick Lynch at Redemption Tattoo. He was likely referring to this post.

This work on his sleeve is based on the work of M.C. Escher. The tattoo artist responsible is Chris Dingwell, whose amazing work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Justin for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!

Selasa, 03 Januari 2012

Jenn's Lily of the Valley

I stopped Jenn outside of Madison Square Garden when I noticed the cool floral tattoo wrapping around her right ankle onto her foot:

Jenn identified the artist only as Roland, at a shop in the Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego. "I had the idea for the design and he drew it," she explained. The flower depicted is a Lily of the Valley.

When I asked why she chose this flower, she elaborated:

"I'm not super religious, but there's a story that, whenever Mary cried after Jesus' death, a lily of the valley would grow. I happen to believe that, through tears and feelings, that it really brings a person to life."

Jenn is a therapist, and this expression of emotion leading to new life goes hand-in-hand with her vocation. The full context of the flower in a religious context can be read here.

Thanks to Jenn for sharing her lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Senin, 02 Januari 2012

Tattoosday at the Cincinnati Airport: Patrick’s Ink

Happy New Years from us here at Tattoosday! We still have some old 2011 encounters to recall which, for one reason or another, got postponed until now.

Regular readers may recall that I went briefly to Covington, Kentucky at the end of April and I spotted a few tattoos in my travels.

On my way back to New York, I was navigating the maze that is the TSA security checkpoint when I spotted a guy with a lot of interesting ink. However, common sense dictated that a crowded airport checkpoint was likely not the best place to start taking pictures and interviewing people.

So I put on my shoes and headed off to the gate. I just missed the little shuttle that transports travelers 150 yards or so from one section of the airport to the gate section of the terminal, so I waited, and who should walk up and stand next to me, but the guy I saw at the security checkpoint.

Knowing I couldn’t possibly ignore a clear sign from the fates that this gentleman should be on Tattoosday, I started up a conversation about his ink and five minutes later we were at the airport bar, talking about his tattoos, as I snapped photos of his sleeve, between sips of a very tall frosty glass of Shocktop Ale.

Patrick was kind enough to not only answer all my questions, was also nice enough to buy my beer for me. He works as a bartender on a river barge in the Cincinnati area and has a full sleeve, along with a separate piece on his left biceps. The work was finished in 2004 and took about four to five years due to the fact that he took some breaks between ink sessions.

Patrick is a Christian, and many of his tattoos are reflective of his faith.

For example, this quote, that reads, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart/with all your soul/with all your mind/ And with all your strength”.

The text on the forearm says “that was/to the/Rose/make/tenfold”.

The roses reflect the rose of Sharon.

The kanji on Patrick's right biceps, he told me, symbolize “truth, love and happiness.” The bird inked nearby is a dove.

The triangle at the top of the arm represents Christianity’s Trinity. And obviously, the crosses are also representative of his faith.

The tattoo on Patrick’s left biceps is a design representing the eye of God.

He got that tattoo in 2003 from Kenny Smith at Karmic Tattoo in McDonough, Georgia. Kenny Smith and Kenny Thompson, also of Karmic, are the two artists responsible for all of Patrick’s ink. It should be noted, however, that both Kennys are not listed as staff on the current Karmic website

Thanks to Patrick, not only for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday, but for buying me the beer, and helping me pass the time at the airport.