Happy Thanksgiving!

In honor of the holiday, I am sharing this, my newest tattoo, located above my knee on my right thigh:

This was done at Hand of Glory in Brooklyn yesterday as part of the shop's $75 Thanksgiving Tattoo Special and was sponsored by Troll Skin, produced by Skin Actives Scientific.

For those of you just tuning in, check the pre-post here, which includes all the Thanksgiving flash designed for the occasion. I asked readers to vote on which tattoo to get, and this one sneaked out a narrow victory over the traditional Native American profile.

I like this design because it combines a lot of traditional tattoo elements and delivers an image with a sociopolitical subtext. We have the traditional American flag and handshake designs, but the added element of crossed fingers serves as a reminder that, despite apparent good intentions, there was subsequently a historical betrayal of that initial good will.

But that's just one perspective, of course, and the Thanksgiving holiday focuses on the positive in our society. The mere existence of the tattoo reminds me to be thankful, which I alluded to in my original post.

I was fortunate enough to have Brian Faulk as my artist again. He had inked my Friday the 13th tattoo last August, and I appreciate that he works quickly and concisely.

Brian Faulk at Work

It was nice, also, that this design was one of his contributions to the flash sheet, as he was kind enough to embellish slightly on the original design, and it always seems better when an artist is tattooing his or her own design. As for the idea behind it, he was trying to represent graphically a broken treaty. I'm extremely pleased with the end result.

In consideration for their sponsoring this tattoo, I will be exclusively using Skin Active's product, Troll Skin Aftercare over the next two weeks as the tattoo heals. I can already say I am pleased with the aftercare cream because it is a lot less messy than the ointment I am used to using within the first 72 hours after getting a tattoo.

I'll report back then on how their product held up compared to the regiment I've followed in the past.

I want to thank all of the readers who voted for designs, and for everyone who reads and supports the site.

And thanks again to Skin Actives for helping make this tattoo possible, to Brian at Hand of Glory, and to my family, at home in Brooklyn and across the U.S., for their support

Leyna's Balloon Keeps Her Grounded

Leyna was leaving the Borders at 2 Penn Plaza when I spotted one of her tattoos and asked about it.

This was the tattoo in question:

It is located on the back of her left leg, on the calf.

The design was inspired by the cover art from the Modest Mouse record We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.

Leyna thought the anchor was cool, and she feels it is a good representation of herself in her 20's.

The tattoo was inked by Derik Snell at Hand of Glory Tattoo in Brooklyn. He liked the design because he had never tattooed a hot air balloon before. Work from Hand of Glory has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Another one of Leyna's tattoos  caught my eyes, as well:

This two-word snippet, "ecstatic and insatiate" is an excerpt from Allen Ginsberg's Howl. I'd speak more about it, but it appeared first on the most awesome blog, Contrariwise. I'd direct you over here to read what Leyna had to say about this tattoo, and encourage you to linger about and check out the seemingly endless array of literary ink.

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

Mark's Gypsy Tattoo Pays Tribute to the Female Singer-Songwriter

I have mentioned before that I tend to shy away from approaching subway commuters about their tattoos.

However, like most of my self-imposed guidelines, I always make exceptions for work that is transcendent. That is, if the tattoos are supremely blogworthy, I will solicit, for the sake of the reader, people on the subway. One such case presented itself last week on the Brooklyn-bound N train.

I approached Mark Turrigiano as the N emerged from the subterranean underworld and climbed the Manhattan Bridge. He has phenomenal sleeves, intricate work that wraps and surrounds the limbs.

His right arm, with an Asian-inspired theme, is mostly attributed to Elio Espana at Fly Rite Tattoo Studio (whose work has been seen previously here). His left arm hosts an incredibly huge and colorful octopus, which was inked by Lou at Third Eye Tattoo (whose work has appeared on Tattoosday here).

Because of the scale of those sleeves, we opted to go with one of his newer pieces, a gypsy on the back of his left calf:


This piece, designed and inked by Craig Rodriguez at Hand of Glory Tattoo Studio in Brooklyn, is seen by Mark as "a good way to commemorate [his] work with female singer-songwriters".

I like this piece a lot because it contains a lot of traditional gypsy elements, but is atypical in its presentation. It seems much larger with greater detail than the traditional gypsy profile tattoos that are much more common. The vividness of the colors also helps the tattoo pop, and you can almost feel the texture of her scarf.

Mark says the piece was completed in about four hours over two sessions. He estimates that his body is about 30% covered in ink.

Feel free to check out Mark's website here.

Thanks to Mark for sharing this great gypsy tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!