GLOBAL: 2011

Knee?

I think this is tattoo made on knee.

Choosing a Tattoo

When choosing a permanent tattoo you need to think carefully. After all, the tattoo is going to stay with you for lifetime. You simply don't have an option to change your mind. Browse through a tattoo gallery and look at various tattoo designs available. Which tattoo type do you prefer, which size, which part of the body? After you pick the proper design go to a specialist and let him make a sketch on you,a sort of removable tattoo. Do not ink right away! Hang around with the removable tattoo for a few days and notice how you feel. Once you are 100% sure you've got the right thing, you can proceed with the permanent tattoo.

Shoulder mark

Real otritsala

Ivan's Sleeve: Doom, Zombies, and The Joker

Last month I met Ivan in Penn Station, and I took a bunch of photos of his right arm, fully-sleeved. There's a lot going on here, so let's take a look:

And the inner part of the sleeve:

Ivan's tattoo artist is Larry Davis at Explicit Tattoo in Suffern, New York

Ivan explains a little bit about his ink:

"The zombie on my shoulder is an original that Larry drew from his imagination. The face with the ragged teeth on my bicep is from the video game Doom.

As for the totem pole-esque image on my forearm, the middle and upper pieces were drawn by the artist Matt Simonetti.

The lower piece was drawn by Micki Fever. Larry did the tattooing, as is true for all my tattoos."

Ivan also has this segment of his sleeve which is noteworthy:

Ivan explained that this tattoo of The Joker and Harley Quinn is based on this illustration by the artist Alex Ross, which appeared on the cover of Batman: Harley Quinn.

Thanks to Ivan for sharing his cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Best Week Ever: Tattoosday Edition

The last seven days have been quite a whirlwind, and I felt it is worth a recap, just because I can't believe what happened since last Saturday.

A week ago, I had my best trip to the New York Tattoo Convention, saw a lot of great ink, reconnected with old blogging friends, and met a lot of cool people. All my posts since Sunday (with the exception of Friday) recapped the show and some of the folks I met.

On Wednesday, I swung by Kings Ave NYC on the Bowery after work and met one of the greats in the tattoo community, Corey Miller. When I asked him if it would be too dorky to ask to take a picture with him, he said, "Of course, it's dorky, but I love that shit." Do I look just a little bit excited?

For those of you who watch L.A. Ink, last season we saw a subplot in an episode in which Corey designed the album art for his friend Trever Kieth's band Face to Face.

As it happened, this past week the album dropped, and Face to Face had a gig in Times Square. Corey came along for the ride, and joined the band at Kings Avenue NYC to sign posters, singles, magazines, and other goodies.

Corey and the band signed the poster featuring the original album artwork

and the single they produced with Rise Against:

I'm not holding my breath, but I did give out Tattoosday cards to the guys in the band (and to Corey, of course) and asked them to contact me if they wanted to share some of their ink on a future Musician Monday feature. Fingers crossed!

Here's a fan video from the show they did that night:

Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about how the week ended, but I can tell you I was on location Friday on the set of a local tattoo establishment that is home base for a new reality-based tattoo show on a cable channel. Now, I may or may not have received a new tattoo, but eventually I'll be able to tell you all about the experience.

Incidentally, we are less than two weeks away from the premiere of TLC's NY Ink (June 2!) Can't wait to see it, as the show features Ami James, formerly of Miami Ink, as well as amazing artists like Tim Hendricks, Tommy Montoya, and Megan Massacre.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Congratulations to Michael Henry Lee, who won a t-shirt in our Kings Ave NYC contest! Your shirt is on its way!

Kathryn's Birdhouse Reminds Her of Home

I spotted Kathryn in Penn Station earlier this month and asked her about her tattoos. She shared this one, which jumped out at me from across the room:

I had a nice time chatting with Kathryn who referred to her approximately 18 tattoos as a "patchwork" collection, with each tattoo marking a different occasion and/or the places she has been. I totally related to that, although she certainly has a lot more ink than I do.

This birdhouse was the first tattoo she got after moving to Philadelphia. It represents a look back to home. Although the house is not modeled after the building where she lived, it's the same color as her former home, and she associates it with her leaving the nest for the big city.

This piece, on her inner right forearm, is credited to Topper at Philadelphia Eddie's.

Do note I framed the photo so you can see two of the five cherry bombs she had tattooed on her left arm when she turned eighteen. She noted that these bombs were a "loose" reference to the graffiti artist Banksy.

Thanks to Kathryn for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!