Repost: Michael's Mariachis

<i>Well, it has been a repost sort of week, and as it is All Soul's Day, a.k.a. The Day of the Dead, this only seemed fitting. It's from my college friend, Michael, and it appeared here originally on December 30, 2008. Enjoy!</i><br /> <br /> <img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269720254143055906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQG-ZjqGAKyU6o5IkT212dRhV7cOIi2W7HddOZIXsB72SOF90r-RjM_nNv1Hfi8Ifuhxuw4sdYLrGcK3uJDHfm0GgTE0d5lQcprCSOt0j021YLHmUWrrFwYS4l3ZjZFZoSSlVcJONl7RaL/s640/mariachi+with+iris.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 356px;" width="569" /><br /> In reconnecting with old college friends through Facebook, my old friend Michael who I haven't seen in almost twenty years sent me an amazing tattoo he has on his right arm.<br /> <br /> He sent me before and after shots so we can see the transformation from outline to spectacularly colorful body art. First, the before shots.....<br /> <br /> <br /> <img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269719225156372226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzpyG47s5Ab8GZzuoS1FNB8aCl6O5cyuj1MnBuap7LOWhUMnchVn3JFTHDRp3jp_8Qf3ovzh-NWrElPPFHCkDJ8D2Q8z2SkscaSM_B2igTRLp9BgJuNE4DdnGC7Zmy0YB8reZu3q2wALOv/s640/mariachi+outline+1.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 214px;" width="342" /><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269718659087915346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixnGG_JoKA7YaO8p5uY6xCGuMGVrQ-Ug8saDlDuUcYjb5OewHZtBPUuQolSqr7IGkoGuGdqSstRU94FTHgeUWLeHQs6uUynfxGCSuZWQl0wRdJG8aVAXnm-QGqHoFYXAsq1Yyy6Eo-Q7qt/s400/mariachi+outline+2.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 176px;" /><br /> The detail and the line work is exemplary and breath-taking. As someone with a guitar inked on my arm, I can appreciate the intricacies of a finely-drawn instrument. The detail on the mariachi's jacket cuff is incredible.<br /> <br /> <br /> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269719773239210498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM_l-1sUP3l96Ox7DiTETQXOY_F1uscr0b7P3uVOeZ4tHe5gSarTKznkbnkcap-aenmNE9vjrEfXRfxugUEiEV1bUJmsjK3QeNa2WQtOiwwldtQzgF-2AgZNUfoescCovX7yIPpxubNF-0/s400/mariachi+detail.jpg" style="display: block; height: 147px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /><br /> And now, for some color:<br /> <br /> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269718515179009634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pAPO8cWZeRiCaE2-jdLHiwmt33iPqti0yQESq2p5cNjr7VS2sTgcJwikiCwYl3nYlqJyWo7PPmB1z6aLPQcjdB0-GXkhHSFcafNMRepEcsjeu-wyg6SYwkN8iEJ061ItGHzzQGsidxFa/s400/mariachi+right.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 193px;" /><br /> <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269718414681594482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtWDXReXnqg3HDBDUK7BPOjKt99Qe1IHfY_AjLpTapDXiwUpeeAd8ypGYjRzEoEp0KW6ACKQUzEiTrt2eGbbLNrVN4u6LMuPXRZOhJy1BRgt_r8D_eKlz3soTjtjrnT-lofp2Tr9Rmps2/s400/mariachi+left.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 146px;" /><br /> <img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269718302019198898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-ThIFKR8Yi6K_WHVGW27xaw-cGmn5vr7AK-mH52kev55n1Hv_Bjn8M0fzc9Bmfd_nGSb9hXkbwWy5oH2KL7zFnBfNm3vm6abfsGQEJ9NVByyhmpfKPe1QqwpFpvaJejRVG08tuQ8NR9C/s640/mariachi+center.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 190px;" width="304" /><br /> Michael explains the basic premise of this tattoo:<br /> <blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">In a sense, this piece is a "memorial" tattoo, although I hate to call it that. Since I grew up in the Southwest, Day of the Dead was a regular thing, so I've always been drawn to that type of imagery, plus I like the meaning -- honoring the dead, and reminding us to live life to the fullest.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> I picked the mariachis partly because I am so into music, and partly because of the celebratory aspect of mariachis. </span></blockquote>Like many intricate tattoos with multiple elements, every part has significance. The tulips, for example, that are growing at the mariachi's feet, "are an actual heirloom varietal that I have in the garden" [and] are for my wife -- tulips are her favorite flower".<br /> <br /> <br /> <img alt="" border="0" height="285" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285329957944922738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyypf3FaboSBnBjkOPRfrUF_csDwPo1u81Ose2h3NbCMs1DVJKS8xe8vOLgJdiE8a_AqmVqC3zUTQFLpepfjm5Ip-F7MFn9c8dIo5iU6GOdnf3uDFyCxzwydpn6vTwH9FFIPA5nX6Xt-JO/s400/mariachi+tulips.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="400" /><br /> And the angel at the top of the piece (and the top of the post)?<br /> <br /> <img alt="" border="0" height="355" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269719465230803490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQhPyNCz5SQAgi4FPybnIrR8V13KKaOtnWvM0L9mmMFFUIxL4aY6TyQYI1l69dL5JHWaVQSyWC_A1YJct_xxWj50DfxfcducZ7DYV26H87rSkgJ1FEIAENz2_Z7koI1TCcQhLuQmMnBsx/s400/mariachi+top.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="400" /><br /> Michael informs us that "the angel is for my mother, who is no longer with us. The angel holds a purple iris (my mother's favorite flower), and looks down over the whole scene."<br /> <br /> This amazing piece was inked by Susan Behney-Doyle who works out of Jinx Proof Tattoo in Washington, D.C. Mexican folk art is one of her specialties (see a gallery of her work here) and Michael says he "gave her a few reference pieces to look at, but she basically drew it after a consultation". He continues, "we made just a couple tweaks after I saw the drawing, but it's a one-of-a-kind custom piece".<br /> <br /> The whole tattoo was crafted back in 2006 over a five-month, seven-session period. Michael notes that one of those sessions was devoted solely to shading the guitar. A closer look at the instrument reveals an incredible complexity of brown variations that truly makes the guitar jump off the skin.

Repost: Michael's Mariachis

Well, it has been a repost sort of week, and as it is All Soul's Day, a.k.a. The Day of the Dead, this only seemed fitting. It's fro...

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Repost: Eddie Graces Egghead's Shoulder

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiriiyMPf0mrrScqzZHCLw2GWrYXgmAziQ7zAwdMaqnxEDsLm64dJtqtsu1EumQw1gC4Lbbqff_SWeKBrEEzSD1N9TsMH03ed2ttcBdsClAEyHGJVzRtdPCS1AHi-anSBk5eXNWC0nWs/s1600/Eddie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><i>For Halloween, I felt like re-posting a piece that appeared here back in November 2009. To date, this tattoo is in my Top 10 that has appeared on Tattoosday. Enjoy! And have a safe, happy Halloween!</i> <br /> <br /> I recently met a gentleman from England, along with his wife, as they were milling about outside of Madison Square Garden.<br /> <br /> He referred to himself as "Egghead," I'm guessing due to his bald head. I first noticed the logo for the band Slayer on the back of his calf, along with several other interesting looking tattoos. He estimated he has about a dozen tattoos.<br /> <br /> But, like the best Tattoosday stories, he shared this amazing tattoo on his right shoulder, hidden under a sweatshirt, which he pulled off so I could see it properly:<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiriiyMPf0mrrScqzZHCLw2GWrYXgmAziQ7zAwdMaqnxEDsLm64dJtqtsu1EumQw1gC4Lbbqff_SWeKBrEEzSD1N9TsMH03ed2ttcBdsClAEyHGJVzRtdPCS1AHi-anSBk5eXNWC0nWs/s1600/Eddie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiriiyMPf0mrrScqzZHCLw2GWrYXgmAziQ7zAwdMaqnxEDsLm64dJtqtsu1EumQw1gC4Lbbqff_SWeKBrEEzSD1N9TsMH03ed2ttcBdsClAEyHGJVzRtdPCS1AHi-anSBk5eXNWC0nWs/s400/Eddie.jpg" width="255" /></a></div><br /> That's a phenomenal piece, courtesy of his artist Ben Boston at The Tattoo Studio in Bristol, England.<br /> <br /> <img alt="" border="0" height="400" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399832367246328066" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1Reus56u92GQ_JRLzrNhaBbYmmQrBo0dBZPgIY0_jTegBWuWcL9VN3-R04MN79c2WM-qPm3To1Coco1GIhGt-dXedjzvtl8wkgJeNL9ZafAlhbIQfdcV2yHBdRM97CacNrjUR5eR/s400/tattoo+studio+t1.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 266px;" width="266" /><br /> <img alt="" border="0" height="395" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399832234993110882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_6MJTxEAiUAXsPNRQ30juTAUeoFkOxtVIs2Gx4K9fJW3-jNzrgFYBPEyfuuZmJyyD1W-5MeF3nYOI79FsVdpY_YXYBLYAq9xLwdCttaT0tSclkqWpEwUDjk9wSw8sTYi-Tczlwqd/s400/tattoo+studio+t2.jpg" style="display: block; height: 395px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" width="400" /><br /> The tattoo is a likeness of Eddie, mascot for the band Iron Maiden, one of the premiere metal bands that came out of England in the late 1970's/early 1980's. I won't bore the reader with the catalog of my Iron Maiden fandom, but it certainly made the tattoo even that more wonderful for me.<br /> <br /> I even had a nice chat with Egghead and his wife about concerts we had attended.

Repost: Eddie Graces Egghead's Shoulder

For Halloween, I felt like re-posting a piece that appeared here back in November 2009. To date, this tattoo is in my Top 10 that has appear...

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Repost: Whole Lotta Rosary

<i>This post originally appeared here, three years ago on March 6, 2008:</i> <br /><br />So it was another Saturday night in Bay Ridge and we had just got home from a friend's house. The kids were getting ready for bed. My youngest, Shayna, was having a birthday party the next day. We were pretty much set on the party planning, but needed gift bags for party favors.<br /><br />I headed off to the 24-hour <a href="http://www.duanereade.com/">Duane Reade</a>, six blocks away. By the time I arrived, there were already a half-dozen things added to my list. I grabbed a cart (although in Brooklyn they refer to it as a wagon) and was somewhere in the haircare section (shampoo for kids) when two young ladies walked by.<br /><br />I had brought, as always, my Tattoosday folder with fliers in it, along with my camera, despite the fact that it was cold and in the thirties. But one can never be too prepared. These women were dressed for the clubs, coatless, bare-armed, and high-heeled. I spotted a tattoo on one of the women's feet.<br /><br />I thought about asking her then and there about it, but I balked. These were two attractive young women in a drugstore late at night and I wasn't up for the challenge of being scrutinized as a creep.<br /><br />Besides, I reasoned, it's only a rosary tattoo. Nothing extraordinary about that. Let me just leave them alone, I thought, they're obviously headed to some club.<br /><br />But I ran into them/passed them a couple more times and, each time, I cursed myself more for being too cowardly to ask. So what if its just a rosary? Here at Tattoosday, it's not just about the ink, but about the story behind the ink.<br /><br />I was at the front part of the store, trying to decide which individually-wrapped candies would be the least damaging to my children's teeth (for the party bags), when they headed my way, on their way out of the store. I figured, "what the heck?" and asked the young lady about her tattoo.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaI_CYXMEEvXHlxVjazZQnlOiQ6Rvyf9J5YQPLNROFx5fAR3Wp6H-oEtty7bhXY7rc1utkHgDzAaoPrM-wZ4WFM_hhruuO6OWlOnv7DS1TAbRaDl9bv7w1vobXJORcJ8eHyO5v7lHyX79F/s1600-h/100_6641.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174497780672622258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaI_CYXMEEvXHlxVjazZQnlOiQ6Rvyf9J5YQPLNROFx5fAR3Wp6H-oEtty7bhXY7rc1utkHgDzAaoPrM-wZ4WFM_hhruuO6OWlOnv7DS1TAbRaDl9bv7w1vobXJORcJ8eHyO5v7lHyX79F/s400/100_6641.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br /><br />This was not the first tattoo I took a picture of. Before I knew it, woman said "Wanna see a sick tattoo?" And she turned around and lifted the back of her shirt up to reveal, indeed, this very sick tattoo:<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOVilqDVPTdKvPMstic4WwWToidbKl2OWiscg-XHtJ9Bdjxr2pBY73P1oLeusGtqLCXqxXaeJk95DGyQ_SVvINGw8xIfRtUHLRw0oSYmoCQnlQYPriXQg_K4XSXlZkf_U-mSa8Hh-3elI/s1600-h/100_6640.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174497578809159330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXOVilqDVPTdKvPMstic4WwWToidbKl2OWiscg-XHtJ9Bdjxr2pBY73P1oLeusGtqLCXqxXaeJk95DGyQ_SVvINGw8xIfRtUHLRw0oSYmoCQnlQYPriXQg_K4XSXlZkf_U-mSa8Hh-3elI/s400/100_6640.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />Wow. Sweet. Which just goes to show, Tattoosday Rule #1: Don't dismiss the "ordinary" tattoo. There may be extraordinary ones just out of sight!<br /><br />Her name is Layla and she was very cool. I snapped the above shot and then asked if I could take the rosary one as well, since that's what caused me to stop and talk to her.<br /><br />Both were inked by her friend <a href="http://www.myspace.com/vitotatts">Vito</a> at <a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=277607840">King's County Tattoo Co.</a>. She got the rosary modeled after<a href="http://www.tattooblog.org/entry/nicole-richies-foot-rosary-tattoo-is-hot-amongst-american-girls/"> Nicole Richie's tattoo</a>. The awesome lower back piece she inked when she was 19. She was young and rebelling against her parents, she said, and she didn't want a small lower back tattoo like everyone else had, she wanted something big and bold. Check out this detail:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cfTmgI4i2G3X_GToXcTpo8dLcrtLOJtln-k3XOfVfMA9YNnM0eF-UTy8cJ-8Nj-KHh-FWi4HmRSCF9YllX1-KfCVxaD-Ff4FJoTuHOo9BqExlWiK7f-Sucp6ZisYIUjFhlMZjBigry5W/s1600-h/skull+detail.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174496543722040962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cfTmgI4i2G3X_GToXcTpo8dLcrtLOJtln-k3XOfVfMA9YNnM0eF-UTy8cJ-8Nj-KHh-FWi4HmRSCF9YllX1-KfCVxaD-Ff4FJoTuHOo9BqExlWiK7f-Sucp6ZisYIUjFhlMZjBigry5W/s400/skull+detail.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />It's beautiful work.<br /><br />I noticed that she also had a cross on her left forearm and I gave my standard Tattoosday patter: check out the blog in a few days, and feel free, if you like what you see, to email me if she wants to share more of her ink with the world.<br /><br />I turned to her friend, , and said, naively, and when you get a tattoo, let me know, and I'll put yours on too. She proudly replied, "I have seven already." Silly me, and then I noticed the rosary on her right foot.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsR49fkrgerTwZhL4cBNcF1owJDoIO-IFxRufoo3aw3XY-Chf8id-o9Rtya-MKrM2pRq5TVug6adT6SQgJFW49k2XlP7xInVjkckyYPebaamk75yDbu_EwtnuQsgkRR9HVBaXe3Q0EA-aB/s1600-h/100_6642.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174497153607397010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsR49fkrgerTwZhL4cBNcF1owJDoIO-IFxRufoo3aw3XY-Chf8id-o9Rtya-MKrM2pRq5TVug6adT6SQgJFW49k2XlP7xInVjkckyYPebaamk75yDbu_EwtnuQsgkRR9HVBaXe3Q0EA-aB/s400/100_6642.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br /><br />Like Layla, Lisa's rosary tattoo is inspired by Nicole Richie's. In fact, Lisa said, hers is an <span style="font-style: italic;">exact</span> replica of Nicole Richie's (below):<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsw7UgpmnMeF9_dAAb7nfYlXunO-e6vwFZhSiz9q83ciHVAezb_TxvkBnqLiHx7WAlqTNIkvyIIkNOXdra-qdsvoyVpecvTKNnHKgPtCLNPY15xMnD0jEZBGrm4B8AhOuFLwzZltKO89Z/s1600-h/nicoleritch1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174605876409528002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjsw7UgpmnMeF9_dAAb7nfYlXunO-e6vwFZhSiz9q83ciHVAezb_TxvkBnqLiHx7WAlqTNIkvyIIkNOXdra-qdsvoyVpecvTKNnHKgPtCLNPY15xMnD0jEZBGrm4B8AhOuFLwzZltKO89Z/s400/nicoleritch1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />I extended the same offer: if you like what you see on the blog, let me know, we can always have you come back as a recurring tattoo feature.<br /><br />I thanked both ladies and they headed out while I went back to searching for the elusive gift bags.<br /><br />Thanks to Layla and Lisa for their willingness to put their night on hold, and sharing their tattoos!

Repost: Whole Lotta Rosary

This post originally appeared here, three years ago on March 6, 2008: So it was another Saturday night in Bay Ridge and we had just got hom...

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