Alyssa Milano Tattoo

Back Tattoos

Best Girl Tattoos

Tattooing-kind of artTATTOO Tattoo-special pleasureTattooing is actually a kind of art. It involved those who dare or have the special pleasure (such as for any other genre of art) to affect the human body. Resulting in skin stamped paintings that never fade.Wear a tattoo itself is a simple way of life, is a special way of thinking and acceptance of own ego. Those who have tattoos on the body, we

Halloween Bonus: Zombie Pinup

Back in September I posted Little Dead Riding Hood, courtesy of Amy, who I met in Penn Station.

Amy has a new tattoo, which she generously shared:


It's a zombie pin-up girl, and appropriate for the holiday today.

Like the previous piece, this was created by T.J. Mcinnis at Mcinnis Tattoo Company in Providence, Rhode Island.

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

Have a safe and ghoulishly fun Halloween!

Best Tattoo Design

Best Tattoo Design

Choose the Right Tattoo

Matt has twenty-three (23) tattoos and he offered up this simple trio of letters:
The CTR represents the expression "Choose the Right," a common thread in the ideology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly referred to as the Mormon church.

In essence, Matt explained, it means "follow the right path". Its akin to a mantra eschewing sinful activities frowned upon by the church like drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, and, yup, you guessed it: getting tattooed.

Matt finds great power in this tattoo because it represents an oxymoron: the letters CTR stand for a way of life that is contradicted by the fact that they have been tattooed on flesh. It would be like a Jewish person having the phrase, in Hebrew, "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or imprint markings upon you: I am the Lord" tattooed on them. As a tattooed Mormon, this is Matt's way of addressing,and coming to terms with, the disparity between faith and his love of tattoos.

This was tattooed by a friend of his in Ogden, Utah.

Thanks to Matt for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Shiri's Logos

"Excuse me," I called, loudly, on the 34th Street train platform, "Can I ask you about your tattoo?"

Anyone reading this who has been featured here may recognize this as my opening salvo. Most people are open to my questions. Very few dismiss me. For this I am thankful.

Shira was the woman to whom I was speaking, and she was very welcoming to my inquiries.

Here is the best of the many tattoos I saw she had:


It's a fairly intricate (and extremely well-done) replica for one of the album designs for a band named Sponge. Shiri had a matching t-shirt, but taking a picture of that would have been borderline creepy, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the only image online I could find was small:


On her left arm she had two other band designs:


The one on the right is from the group Gogol Bordello, which surprised me as I had seen a similar tattoo several weeks before (and recounted here).


The logo on the left was from a group called Spookey Ruben.

Obviously, Shiri is a big fan of all these groups. The tattoos were all inked by her brother Ron.

You can see other band-related tattoos by clicking on the appropriate tag at the bottom of the post.

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

"You Gotta Go There to Come Back": Sarah Shares Three Tattoos

Sarah's half-sleeve jumped out at me in Penn Station as I was quietly bemoaning cooler weather and the dwindling of my blog backlog.

I was pleased to find Sarah more than accommodating, as she shared several perspectives of the ink tattooed on her upper right arm.

Visiting from Newcastle, Australia, her tattoos revolved around this piece at the center of her bicep:


I asked if there was any significance to these two women, but Sarah noted that they were just two pretty girls.

This fluid script is on the outside of her arm:


It states "You gotta go there to come back..." or, in her words, you have to "understand how shitty it can be, before how good it can get".

On her inner arm is the following tattoo:


Sarah says that this design of an angel on a cigarette break is based on the work of a popular London graffiti artist named "Banksy".


All of her work was done by Pat, the owner of 2012 Tattoo Studio in Newcastle.

Thanks very much to Sarah for sharing her incredible tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Chris Andersen Tattoos

Among all NBA players, Chris Andersen is the one who can proudly show off the most amazing tattoos. In this article I will try to describe this singular and often underestimated basketball player and his wonderful tattoos.

During this 2008/2009 NBA Season, Chris Andersen, also known as "The Birdman" (name he earned for his flying ability on the court and a couple of wings tattooed on his arms), has once again proved to be one of the best center in the NBA.

Nevertheless, he is still better known for his crazy hair-style and his many tattoos than for his basketball skills. Due to his tattoos and his defensive ability, Andersen has often been likened to an old NBA Star, Dennis Rodman.

Born July 7 1978 in Long Beach, California, Chris Andersen spent only a few years of his childhood in his homeland. As a teenager, he grew up in Texas, Iola, and he ended up choosing the University of Huston for his higher education. It did not take him too much time to understand he was not made to study. Therefore he tried to find an easier way to get a qualification at the little Blinn College in Brenham, where he managed to earn a diploma in just two years.

Nobody seemed to believe in his potential, as he was not picked by any team in the 1999 NBA draft. Therefore The Birdman had to start his basketball career in China with the Jiangsu Nagang.
In 2002 he finally joined a real NBA Team, the New Orleans Hornets, where he played some years with fluctuating performances.

In 2006 Chris Birdman Andersen was found positive for drugs. He got a two-year suspension for violating the league's drug policy. His career looked over. There are moments in life in which being a good player is not enough. You need to be a Man. Andersen had to prove he was not just a flying bird anymore; he needed the strength of a man to overcome the difficult moment and fly back to the rim again.

Well he proved it; he became a man and came back to the NBA in 2008 with his old team New Orleans Hornets.

Following the 2007-08 NBA season, Andersen agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Nuggets, where he is still playing. Andersen is currently second in the league in blocks per game.

During the seasons 2003-04 and 2005-06, Andersen bought thousands of dollars in tickets that were distributed among several different charities throughout the years.

But let's have a look at Chris Andersen tattoos, or at least the ones we could get a look at:

- A skull tattoo with a crown on his left biceps;
- Chains are tattooed on both his arms and his upper chest;
- Homage to his home state of Texas is inked on his right forearm;
- The words "Honky Tonk" on his stomach;
- Coloured wings are inked under both his arms; those are the wings of the only real Birdman in the NBA: An indelible sign of his flying ability and his love for tattoos. Curiosity: Andersen once admitted to crying "like a little girl" while getting his wing tattoos on both his inner biceps.
- A snow crystal on his left elbow;
- A basketball player making a Slam-Dunk on his right arm.
- Japanese signs on both his arms.

These are just a few of Chris Andersen Tattoos. Many others are visible but not clearly recognizable in many pictures online. Andersen got most of his tattoos compliments of his friend, tattoo artist John Slaughter in Denver.

Hang the DJ

I met Rohan on a Brooklyn-bound A train.

He has "thirteen or fourteen" tattoos, and he offered up this one from his right arm:


The phrase "Hang the DJ" refers to lyrics sung by Morrissey when he was with The Smiths.

I was only on the train with him for two stops, so I didn't get a full explanation of the tattoo until later, when Rohan e-mailed me:

I got this tattoo for several reasons - first and foremost I love The Smiths and their music changed the way I viewed myself against the social and cultural backdrop that we're all in. I thought a jukebox with the lyrics "Hang the DJ", the refrain from the song "Panic", was ironic.


The jukebox is what allows all of us to be the DJ and in "Panic", Morrissey is singing about how the music the DJ is playing means nothing to him and his life, and I share that sentiment with most of what I hear. The tattoo is sort of an encapsulation of how I feel about rock and roll and how certain bands and certain songs can, when they're really good and really honest, mean a lot more than just entertainment value.

The tattoo was inked by Dusty Neal in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is currently working at Donny Manco's New Republic Tattoo.

UPDATE: I exchange a few e-mails with the artist Dusty Neal after this posted and he remembered doing this tattoo very early on in his career as an artist. He wanted me to clarify this point, and to communicate that he feels that his art has developed to the point that this piece does not best represent his work as a tattooer. A look at photos of his work on MySpace here certainly showcases some amazing tattoos. Dusty encourages people to check out his current endeavors and, with all due respect to Rohan and the tattoo in this post, judge his talents based on what he has done more recently, and not early on in his career.

Thanks again to Rohan for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

As a little bonus, here is the video from "Panic" by the Smiths:

Benjamin's Amazing Viking-Geisha Sleeve by Tim Kern

Please join me as I extend a metaphor.

I approach inkblogging as if I were one of those guys that goes out on the beach with a metal detector.

You find a lot of interesting stuff and, every once in a while, you find treasure.

Earlier this month, I saw a man in front of Madison Square Garden walking south. I was headed in the opposite direction and, despite my general reluctance to post sleeves here (I wonder if I can even do them justice), I stopped and asked him to show me the amazing work on his right arm.

I should also preface this by acknowledging how awesome it is to randomly find work by a tattoo artist who is at the top of his game, and is a recognized talent in the tattoo community.

Benjamin, the guy I stopped, was visiting New York from Denmark to see his artist, Tim Kern at Tribulation Tattoo. He was in town to begin work on a new sleeve. Benjamin happily shared his first sleeve:


Benjamin summarized the theme of his arm by stating that life is about choices. The two extrmes are, you can take a life, as represented by the Viking warrior at the top of the shoulder:


This is juxtaposed by the geisha who is taking her own life through ritual suicide:


The detail of the blood-spattered hand holding the seppuku blade is fascinating in its stark grisliness:


The sleeve also includes stunning waterfall and pagoda elements on the inside of the arm:


I especially appreciate the beauty and shading of the pagoda:


The color and artistry of this entire sleeve are astonishing and we are honored that Benjamin consented to contributing this work to Tattoosday.

We thank him and the artist Tim Kern for their work!

Maggie, a Fan of Pink, Shares Some Ink

One of the pluses of working near Madison Square Garden is that concert-goers and fans are always about.

Occasionally, they can be found camped out near the artists' entrance on 33rd Street. The presence of fans milling about can often be great opportunities to spot tattoos, as in this case, previously.

Earlier this month, I chatted with some Pink fans out on the street and one of them, Maggie, shared her tattoos:


Maggie has nine tattoos in all, and these represent four of them.

She seemed surprised that I was interested, more so because there weren't typical "stories" behind the art.

The top piece is a tribute to her mother,

and the heart, the bands, and the angel wing are just elements she felt like adding.

I particularly like the free form of the heart design.


All work was done at Tattoo Heaven in Manhattan.

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

Joe's Tribute to His Uncle

I spotted Joe earlier this month outside of Penn Station. He has seven or eight tattoos, and chose to share this one from his right forearm:


Joe explained that this piece is a tribute to an uncle who had passed away. He had served proudly in the United States Marine Corps and had had a skull tattoo upon which was perched a top hat.

Joe collaborated with the artist, Pepe, at The Tattoo Shop in Medford, New York, to take that idea and customize it for Joe's arm. Another tattoo from the shop appeared earlier this week here.

The whole thing took about three and a half hours to complete.

Thanks to Joe for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Hayden Panettiere Tattoos

Hayden Panettiere may have come out of nowhere but the Hero's star has certainly started to make a name for herself in Hollywood. She is actively standing up for the rights of dolphins in Japan. She has been actively protesting the government over there and she was even got into some legal trouble over there because if it. Well the Hero's star didn't stop there, Hayden is also involved with several other charities that range from children to dogs to Whales. Hayden also sells her own clothes and gives the proceeds to charity. Now with all this good that this young star has done would you even think that she had some tattoos. This just goes to show that even good charity people that care deeply about animals and children can bare tattoos and not be a terrible, horrible, evil person.

Hayden is only at the ripe age of 19 but the Hero's star has two tattoos of her own. Many people including her mother didn't even know she had even gotten her first tattoo. Hayden's first tattoo is so small it is rather hard to see, literally if you blink you miss it. Hayden has the Leo symbol right under her ankle bone on her left foot. Hayden also has another tattoo that runs down the side of her right side. No one has been able to fully see what this tattoo says but the first two words are, Vivere Memento, which is Italian for Live the moment.

So if you are thinking about getting a tattoo and want it in a place that people will probably not notice. Follow Hayden's example and get something farily small right under your ankle bone.

A Little Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

I met Cristina on the R train several weeks back.

The weather was just beginning to turn cooler, and I noticed that summer had ended quickly, with no gradual diminishing of tattoo sightings, but a sudden disappearance, like shutting the light switch off in a large, bright room at midnight.

Cristina had this small, unusual tattoo on her foot:


Despite being small, I was curious to learn about this design.

Cristina explained that her husband travels a lot and that, on a whim, they each got sun tattoos while in Dallas. The designs are slightly different.


She told me her husband thought the sun tattoos were perfect for them because, he said, when they're together, he's walking on sunshine.

You can look at that as incredibly corny, incredibly romantic, or a mixture of the two. Cristina acknowledged that when she looks at her tattoo, it reminds her of what her husband said, about walking on sunshine, and that makes her laugh, which makes her happy, which can be a solace when her husband is traveling.

All from a little tattoo!

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

Prison Gang Tattoos

Tattooing reimbursement, revenge TATTOOING REVENGE-REIMBURSEMENTTattooing reimbursement, revenge Tattooing reimbursement or revenge is particularly high extended among prisoners, who are often victims of informants and discarded from society. These accept only those, which serves it, and those, who can buy it returning back into. Such images are often linked with the motif of hands, daggers,

Bill's Ink Honors Generations Past and Future

I met Bill in mid-September on the 34th Street train platform while waiting for a downtown A train.

You may have heard of the scent known as a "new car smell". Bill had whatis known as a "new tattoo sheen," which occurs when one anoints a fresh tattoo with a healing ointment used to protect the ink.


The tattoo depicts himself, seen from the back, standing in reverence at the graves of his grandfather "Giff" and his uncle Giff Jr.


It's a nice way to memorialize his family. This was inked by Aaron at Red Rocket Tattoo East, in Levittown on Long Island.

Bill has a great tattoo on his outer right forearm, as well. Whereas his left arm is a memorial to those in his family that passed before him, his other piece pays tribute to a newer generation:


In this piece, two traditional swallows hold aloft a banner bearing the name of his daughter, Allana.

This tattoo, his first, was done by Greg Fly at The Tattoo Shop on Rte 112 in Medford, L.I.

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

Two for Tattoosday: Hawai'i Calling and a Pin-Up Boy

I met Joakim and Marina last month on the sidewalk, just outside of the 34th Street Penn Station entrance.

The couple were visiting from Sweden and it was Joakim's sleeves that jumped out at me.

He shared this one segment on his lower right arm:


He asked me if it looked familiar. It did, but I couldn't quite place it. He smiled, and told me it's a variation on the cover of The Clash's quintessential album, London Calling,


Joakim loves the Clash and loves Hawaiian culture, so he designed had the tattoo artist design the piece to merge both elements for a great tattoo.

The piece was inked by Big Fat Joe at a shop called Art by Fafnir in Stockholm.


I turned to Marina and asked if she had any tattoos. She smiled and said she did, removing her jacket to reveal this piece, also by Joe:


"It's my pin-up boy," she laughed. Her variation on the traditional pin-up girl is going to tie in with a sleeve she is working on, as well.

She remarked that the artist was "thrilled" to do this tattoo, because it was not the typical pin-up tattoo.

Thanks to Joakim and Marina for sharing their great tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Whole Lotta Ink

I spotted Dina's runic tattoos outside of Borders on Penn Plaza, late one Friday afternoon:


Dina is a big fan of Led Zeppelin and, as most fans know, these runes represent the four members of the band.


The four symbols represent, from left to right, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham, and Robert Plant. These symbols appeared on the band's untitled fourth album and, for many people, represented the name of the record (i.e. "Zoso" or "Runes"). There's more on the naming of "IV" here.

This is one of three tattoos Dina has and, in case you were wondering, "Since I've Been Loving You" is her favorite Zeppelin tune.

Thanks to Dina for sharing her runes with us here on Tattoosday!

A little bonus, in honor of Dina:

Tattoo Motif Design

Symbols of Classical Romantic Love TATTOO SYMBOLS OF ROMANTIC LOVESymbols of Classical Romantic Love The fact that someone wearing puncture indelible symbols of classical romantic love (heart, heart pierced by an arrow, chain, keys, flowers ...) has helped, for example that the prison was less dissuasive, but this is far from the most basic emotional relationship. Such symbols are usually found

Joel Madden Tattoos

The lead singer of Good Charlotte and boyfriend to Nicole Richie, Joel Madden has a quite large collection if tattoos. Nearly half of his body is covered in them. Because of this Joel was recently denied access to getting on an airplane in England because they were concerned his tattoos would offend other people. Shocked and confused by this request Joel complained with the airline and put a long sleeve shirt on to cover most of his tattoos. Being discriminated against because you have tattoos should be just the same as someone being discriminated against because of their race, age, sex or religion.

Below is a list of most of Joel's tattoos:

1. On both shoulders there is an outline of a star.

2. On the inside of his right hand he has the letters "A-M-C." This stands for "American Murder Crew." It is something that he, Benji, and their group of friends from D.C. all have.

3. On his chest right above his heart, he has praying hands with "Benjamin" and with "Saved By Grace" underneath

4. On his left wrist, there is an outline of a star and "Truth" underneath it

5. On the edge of his lower right arm, he has his last name, M-A-D-D-E-N.

6. On the back of his upper right arm, there is an Irish flag.

7. On his lower right arm, is the face of Jesus.

8. On his upper left arm, there is a cross with a banner around it and 2 doves flying around it. Under that, there's a rose.

9, On his lower left arm, is the face of the virgin Mary.

10. On his right wrist, there is an outline of a star with "Hope" underneath it.

11. On his right calf, there is a dragon.

12. On his left calf, there is a heart and a shooting star.

13. Also on his lower leg sleeve he has somewhat of a Chinese symbol for "Mom"

14. On his left forearm he has Joseph (foster father of Jesus) and the word "Salvation" on the front of his wrist.

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 Tattoosday!

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 Tattoosday!

Tattoos Picture Posts

Tattooing important turning points Tattoos can be grouped into different types: Symbolic tattooing Tattooing nicknames

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 Tattoosday!