Jessica's Floral Half-Sleeve

A trip to the Fairway market in Red Hook last month was not only remarkable for the experience with the cheese monger, but because I met Jessica, the owner of this beautiful tattoo:

 

I love the variety of flowers, colors, and textures:

Jessica credited this work to Greg at Planet New York Tattoo in Poughkeepsie.

Thanks to Jessica for sharing this beautiful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Melanie's Phoenix Helps Her Rise Above

I met Melanie in Penn Station and had to stop her to ask about this colorful phoenix on her back:

She originally had just the Yin and Yang tattoo, but expanded the work to include the legendary bird rising through the ashes. To Melanie, this represents being "better and stronger" after picking up the pieces from life's challenges, overcoming difficulties and rising above everything.

The tattoo was inked by Rick Schreck at House of 1000 Tattoos in Middlesex, New Jersey.

Thanks to Melanie for sharing her cool phoenix tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sew You Want a Cool Tattoo? Check This One out from Vicky...

I met Vicky back in August outside of Penn Station and marveled about the colorful vibrancy of this beautiful tattoo:

Vicky explained that she is a seamstress for a new company called Cupcake Provocateur. Check out their site, it's pretty cool. Vicky's boss, Cynthia, is the brainchild behind the business, designing all of the aprons and other housewares, as well as making the cupcakes. There are several tattoo-inspired apron designs on their site, including this one, which would make a great holiday gift, no?

But back to the tattoo, Vicky hopes to grow this tattoo into a half-sleeve, and it started out as a design that she had Angelique Houtkamp design for her. "It wasn't drawn exactly the way I wanted it," Vicky explained, so she took it to Sunday Dawne-Marie at Skinflower Cosmic Arts in Phoenecia, New York and, she continued, "Sunday went with my basic idea, an antique sewing machine in a cameo, and re-drew and re-designed the entire thing."

I am most familiar with Sunday's work at Lark Tattoo on the poet Adam Deutsch.

Thanks to Vicky for sharing her amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! We look forward to seeing the sleeve grow in the future!

Jackie's Vintage Postcard

I caught up to Jackie after she passed me in Penn Station and I was delighted when she agreed to share her tattoo with us:

It's a truly remarkable piece, and I was thrilled to hear it was tattooed by the amazingly talented Amanda Wachob at Dare Devil Tattoo in New York City. She is well-known for an amazing eye for detail for tattoos that appear as if they were just painted on. I mean, look at this delicate touch on the back side of the piece:

Jackie explained that the tattoo is inspired by art in a book of vintage, early 1900's postcards that she found from Pleiades Press. She credited S. Solomko as the artist who created the original piece which inspired this tattoo.

She loved the vintage appearance of the original and Asked Amanda to recreate that feel.

She also loves, from an artistic perspective, the female form, and the sensuality of the peacock feathers fanning out at the bottom of the tattoo.

 

Again, I can't help but marvel at Amanda's artistry and how she paints on a tattoo:

Thanks again to Jackie for sharing her amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sandra's Cherry Blossoms

I met Sandra at the local laundromat at the end of August and she shared this lovely tattoo on her upper right arm:

There are two elements to this design, the cherry blossoms and the quote. The cherry blossoms were inked after her father was initially diagnosed with cancer. The quote was added when Sandra decided to move to New York from Oregon.

Reading "When your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme...", this quote is from the film Pinocchio, in the song "When You Wish Upon a Star".

The tattoo was done by Dragon at Star Tattoo, in Portland, Oregon.

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


Here's a little bonus:

Tattoos for Men

Getting the best Tattoos for Men! Choose one that you thinking is the right chosen of Tattoos for Men here!

Contrary to what a few people believe, men and tattoos have had a long, long history. The origin of tattoos can be traced back to more than 5000 thousand years ago. Back then, the concept of tattooing was used for a number of reasons - as a signature symbol of a particular tribe, as a mark of seniority/rank/superiority, for religious reasons, for medicinal illustrations, and many more. However, thanks to celebrities like David Beckham, Angelina Jolie, Robbie Williams, 50 Cent, Johnny Depp, Eminem, Britney Spears and Jessica Alba; getting a tattoo in the modern era is mostly seen as a way of showcasing one's personality and making an individual style statement. All the above-mentioned celebrities are famous for having sported varieties of tattoos, and therefore can very well be labeled as the 'unofficial tattoo ambassadors' of the 21st century. In this article, we will have a look at the different possibilities when it comes to tattoos for men. Therefore, without wasting too much time, let us have a look at a few tattoo ideas for men.

Tattoo Ideas for Men

If you're a guy who's thinking of getting a tattoo, but is short on tattoo designs and especially tattoo ideas for men, then relax and take a chill pill. You need not worry. There are innumerable tattoo designs for men, ranging from zodiac signs to ancient tribal symbols and religious emblems to fancy dragon designs. All you need to do is browse through the tattoo parlor's design catalog, or do through a tattoos for men magazine, and select the design that you find to be the most appealing. In case you happen to be a first timer, you might want to know some of the common body parts or areas when it comes to tattoos for men. For a guy, some of the best places to get a tattoo are the following:

* neck

* upper arm (bicep)

* forearm

* shoulder blades

* pectorals (chest)

* nape of the neck

* upper back

* lower back

* waist

* lower and upper calves.

Where you decide to get tattooed will depend on your choice of tattoo design, your body type, your physique, and how well you can carry your tattoo. Now let us have a look at some popular tattoo designs for men.

Frank's Anvil

When someone is "not sure" how many tattoos they have, the one they do offer up can seem a bit random.

Take Frank, for example, who volunteered this anvil for us here at Tattoosday:

Why an anvil? "I'm a big Looney Tunes fan," he told me. The anvil, falling from great heights, is often a cartoon catalyst for one of those big expanding bumps on the head of say, Wile E. Coyote, for example. Thus the name on the anvil, ACME, which was said coyote's chief supplier of items designed to aid in the capture of the Roadrunner.

This particular piece was inked by Jae Connor at Electric Lotus Tattoo in Boonton, New Jersey. Work from Electric Lotus has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Frank for sharing this nostalgic tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!