Luis Shares Two Loter�a Cards

I met Luis in Borders, Penn Plaza, last month and asked him about his tattoos. He has more than fifteen altogether, and three are based on Loter�a cards, which are used as part of a Mexican bingo game, as well as in fortune-telling.

He shared two of these cards with me and explained that, as a first generation Mexican-American, these Loter�a cards remind him of growing up.

The first one he explained is number 21, La Mano:

Luis explained that he relates to this card because "la mano" is Spanish for hand, and  he is a builder/electrician/carpenter by trade. He considers himself a "designer of ideas," and because he works with his hands, this is an appropriate card to have as a tattoo.

The second one he let me photograph is number 27, El coraz�n:

This card is appropriate, according to Luis, because "El coraz�n" means the heart and, Luis said, smiling, "I've got a big one".

There are a lot of different artistic representations of these cards out on the web, which tells me that they serve as inspiration for a lot of people.

Image courtesy of "The Lucky W" Amulet Archive by Cat Yronwode

Luis had these tattoos done by a tattoo artist named Fish, who was visiting Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn, but generally works out of Th'ink Tank Tattoo in Denver. Work from Th'ink Tank appeared here once before.

Thanks to Luis for sharing these two Loter�a cards with us here on Tattoosday!

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Jess Shares Her Colorful Rooster

I met Jess last month and, still using a loaner camera, managed to get a shot of one of her three tattoos, located on her right forearm:

Aside from the fact that the picture is not ideally crisp, one can still see how beautiful and colorful this tattoo is.
The inspiration came from a book of Chinese propaganda posters.

Jess noted that she asked the artist, John Reardon at Saved Tattoo, to give the rooster a "gentler eye" which she hoped would "embrace [its] masculinity while poking fun at it". Reardon's work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here and here.

Thanks to Jess for sharing this lovely rooster with us here on Tattoosday!

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Niki's Memorial for Elizabeth

Last week I was down in Chelsea when I spotted Niki from a distance. She appeared to have a colorful Madonna-like tattoo on her right shoulder, so I changed course and caught up to her only to discover this lovely tattoo instead:

This lovely photo was supplied to me by Niki, as my own camera's battery had run out of power and my BlackBerry photo seemed inadequate:

Niki explained that, after her beloved cat Elizabeth passed away, she wanted a memorial tattoo to honor the friend she had for fourteen years.

She went to artist John Reardon, then at Saved Tattoo, and told him she wanted a memorial in the style of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the look of Mexican shrines and altars.

One can see Reardon hit the ball out of the park, as proven by my mistaking the piece from a distance as a religious icon.

John Reardon is no stranger to Tattoosday. His work has appeared previously here and here.He now works out of his private studio in Brooklyn.

Thanks to Niki for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us on Tattoosday!

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Lisa's Guardian Angel

I met Lisa recently on the subway platform at West 4th Street.

She had this cool tattoo on her right forearm:

The tattoo, which took four hours to complete, is Lisa's guardian angel.

Lisa told me that this is a representation of her guardian angel, a "spiritual guide," although she emphasized that she's not religious.

She had the basic idea for the tattoo and took it to Scott Campbell at Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She pointed out that she absolutely loves the work he did with the shading in the tattoo:

Work from Saved has appeared previously on Tattoosday here. This, however, is the first work we've seen by Scott Campbell in our travels.

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

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All I Want for Christmas is a Tattoo with Teeth

On Christmas Eve afternoon, I was passing through Penn Station, I spotted Lindsay, a woman with what appeared to be a sleeve that had a water-inspired design.

It wasn't until after I approached her and asked if she wanted to contribute to Tattoosday that I saw, as she rolled up her sleeve, what awesome work she had done on her left arm:


Lindsay said that, like all of her 14 or 15 tattoos, none of them have "deep meaning". She just goes with whatever she describes as an "intense urge" at the time she's getting the tattoo.

The sleeve above started with her taking photos with stylings to the artist, saying she wanted a bloody shark. This was the first part of the tattoo:


She then expanded it with this segment of shark


which is certainly reminiscient of the movie poster for Jaws.


This piece was created in four sittings lasting 3-4 hours each, by John Reardon at Saved Tattoo (which was the shop responsible for yesterday's post, too).

Work from John Reardon has appeared here on Tattoosday previously. Work from Saved appearing on the site can be seen here. Reardon is also the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting a Tattoo.

Thanks to Lindsay for taking the time to share her incredible shark sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

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Max's Spin on a Traditional Gypsy Tattoo

I was passing through Penn Station late yesterday when I spotted Max, who offered up this fascinating tattoo:


At first glance it looks like the traditional gypsy piece, but if you look closely at the back of the gypsy's head, you can see Max added an element that extended the design up and around his right arm:



That is a deer skull that the gypsy woman is wearing, complete with a set of antlers.

When I asked Max about this he acknowledged that the tattoo, in concept, had started as just the old-style gypsy profile but, growing up in Maryland, he said that there were deer everywhere around his home, and that this was a nod to his former home state.

Perhaps reading too much into it, I asked him if he was taking a symbol of home and tying it to the nomadic image of the gypsy to illustrate a dichotomy between the two contrasting lifestyles. He nodded and said he hadn't thought of it in those terms before, but it seemed to make a little sense if you looked at it like that.

This is one of nine tattoos Max has. The piece in question was designed by Paul Bosch at Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn. Max came to Paul with the concept and left it to the artist to design the tattoo. Work from Saved has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Max for sharing this fascinating spin on the traditional gypsy tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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No Hope But Home

I met Matthew walking through Penn Station last week. He has several tattoos, and shared this one with me:


On his right arm, this traditional nautical star has been embellished with several design elements that personalize the tattoo.

The banner "No Hope but Home" refers to lyrics from a song by a New Jersey band called Scream Hello.

The nautical star is accompanied by a knitting needle and a fountain pen. These two objects refer to his parents. The knitting needle speaks to his mother who is a homemaker and also knits as a hobby. The fountain pen alludes to his father, who is a writer professionally, and also
writes for pleasure.

The nautical star, traditionally worn by sailors to serve as a talisman to find a way home, serves a figurative purpose here, pointing toward, while also emphasizing the hopefulness of home, but also the importance of Matthew's parents in his life.

This cool tattoo was inked by John Reardon at Saved Tattoo, in Brooklyn. Work from Saved has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Matthew for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

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Cenk's Skeleton Tattoo Pays Homage to Yukio Mishima and St. Sebastian

I met Cenk where I meet so many Tattoosday volunteers, outside of Penn Station on the plaza adjacent to Madison Square Garden.

He shared this, one of his four tattoos:

This is an interpretation of the depiction of St. Sebastian, as seen by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima, one of Cenk's favorite writers. A variation of the St. Sebastian imagery graced one of the many covers of Mishima's Confessions of a Mask:


Mishima even posed for a publicity photo as the martyred St. Sebastian:


This piece was tattooed by Myles Karr at Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn. According to his website, he has since left Saved, and opened Three Kings Tattoo Parlor. Mr. Karr's work has appeared previously on Tattoosday here and here.


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

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