Tattoos by Lango at Skull and Sword Tattoo: San Francisco, CA

See more at www.langotatoo.com and www.theskullandswordtattoo.com

Murals by Lango at Skull and Sword Tattoo: San Francisco, CA

steel , the mac (L) lango (R) and reyes



See more at www.langotattoo.com

A Quartet of Tattoos from Greg

I met Greg outside of Madison Square Garden last fall, and he happily shared several of his tattoos, inspired by magic and mythology. On his upper left arm is this wizard:

On his upper right arm, he shared this dragon:

Below that, on his forearm, is this fiery skull:

And, in a tribute to his Irish heritage, is this coat of arms, with the Irish colors:

Greg credited Eddie and Ray, at Lucky Hearts Tattoo in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the artists responsible for his work.

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

Tattoorism: Sean Returns, Part 2

Last week, I shared more of reader Sean's vast tat-alog here. It's time to finish off our inventory of this very generous fan o' the site. Let's see what we have:

...I got a clipper ship on my upper arm.  The ship is navigating through a background of clouds and lightning bolts and has a banner underneath reading “Hope.”  Its meaning follows the same idea behind my anchor tattoo.  Hope is a huge part of having a positive mental attitude, which I try (sometimes with little luck, of course) to hold at all times.  It’s a reminder that you can make it through stormy parts of your life, no matter how bad they get.  It’s also done in the traditional style I love so much.  The tattoo was done by Mike Schweigert at Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ.

While attending [the 2010] Philadelphia Tattoo Arts Convention, I decided to get a tattoo to commemorate my first convention.  For as many years as tattoos have been a part of my life, this was my first convention...I got a blue rose with a candle spouting out of it in between my sparrows and flower on my outer elbow. 

I’m a firm believer in everyone having a different reasoning for getting tattoos.  Some are used as place markers in one’s life, some are used to remember an event, some have deep profound meanings and some are just aesthetically pleasing. I could probably come up with some in depth meaning behind the tattoo, but in the end, I got it to commemorate my first tattoo convention and that’s pretty much the only reason.  Done by Rocco at Death or Glory Tattoos in Westbrook, Maine.

Finally, I got my outer elbow to forearm done with a snake coiling through a skull and dagger and impaling itself on the dagger’s blade.  

I usually try to go out of my way to ensure that my friends/family/other people in general are happy, more often than I would like to admit, putting their happiness before my well-being.  This tattoo serves as a reminder for me not to do that so much, and to focus on myself sometimes.  The snake can be viewed as a protection figure, coiling around and through the rest of the tattoo, but has also caused injury to itself by doing so.  Basically, its my reminder that as much as I would like to help others, I need to keep my own happiness and well being in mind before I choose which action to take or I’ll end up injuring myself in the process.  Done by Mike Schweigert at Electric Tattoo in Bradley Beach, NJ.

A hearty thanks to Sean for continuing to share his tattoos with us over the years!

Chris's Tattoos Motivate and Inspire

I met Chris earlier this month in Penn Station and he shared his 3/4-sleeve. He is the owner/operator of the Muscle Maker Grill at 92 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea.

His sleeve is a collage of designs that motivate and inspire him, with a skull design thrown in, to boot.

He has the phrase "Live Now. Shoot for the Stars" inked on his biceps. This motto is a nod to his ambition as a business owner.

The three pawprints tattooed below the elbow, on the left side of the photo, above, represent his three dogs (2 Cocker Spaniels and a mutt).

The cross and the prayer, "Lord, Protect Me" are based on his Catholic faith.

In all, Chris figures he's had about 10 hours of work done.

He also gave me permission to share this photo from his Facebook page:

Photo Courtesy of Christopher Almazan

I had hoped to show a better shot of the peacock that is on his back, with feathers that come up over his shoulder, but could not get a clear enough picture. The shot above gives a great idea, however, of his tattoos.

All work is credited to Rick Schreck at the House of 1000 Tattoos in Middlesex, New Jersey. A piece from Rick appeared earlier this Fall on the site here.

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

Visit the Muscle Maker Grill website here.

They Call Him Mr. Spades

I met Matt in Penn Station last month and he was happy to share a couple of his eight tattoos. The coolest one was this heart on his left arm:

A closer look shows just how intricate this design is:

Matt explained that the idea behind this tattoo is simply that there are two sides to everything. He collaborated on the design with the tattoo artist Sean Malone, who works out of Rose City Tattoos in Rahway, New Jersey.

Readers may notice that, in the top photo, there is a distinct outline of another tattoo on Matt's arm in the shape of a playing card spade. What started out as a random tattoo of another spade ended up giving Matt the nickname "Mr. Spades" and it stuck. Here's a shot of the coolest Spades tattoo, straddling both of Matt's inner forearms:

Thanks to Matt for sharing these great tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Matt's Golden Silence

I met Matt one afternoon as he stood among the masses at the southwest corner of Madison Square Garden, waiting for a bus out of town.

This is his tattoo which he shared with us, covering his upper right arm:

The message is simple: silence is golden. I love how the side skulls spill off of the front skull, and how the teeth of the primary jaw are fused together.

Matt attributes this piece to "deep life experiences" and how it serves as a reminder to keep his head on straight.

He told me he's "been low and wants to stay higher" and that "keeping what I've done to myself has given me the ability to achieve what I have in life".

This tattoo was inked by Loki M. LaChapelle when he was at Kaleidoscope Tattoo & Art Gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Loki now works out of Mazel Custom Tattoo & Piercing in Everett, Massachusetts.

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

Orphans: A Native-American Sleeve on Seventh Avenue

A few weeks ago, I was walking up Seventh Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets, when I spotted this peeking out of a guy's shirt sleeve:

I stopped to ask him about the tattoo. Or rather, asked him if I could take a picture, when he revealed that it was much larger than it appeared poking out of the sleeve on his left arm:

Sadly, I gave him the Tattoosday flier and asked him to e-mail me so we could discuss it further and he a) lost the flier or b) decided to forgo contacting me. So, I have no idea who he is, nor can I credit the artist, whose work is pretty darn impressive.

When this happens, I dub it an "orphan" post, but obviously, despite the lack of details, it's still worth sharing.

Thanks to the anonymous contributor who allowed me to take photos of this great tattoo and share it with us here on Tattoosday!

Nick Remembers Billy, I Remember Siki

My first tattoo was modified from a piece of flash at Body Art Studios by an artist who goes by the moniker "Siki". Shortly thereafter, Siki left the shop and went on his way.

My friend Pete knows who he is but, until recently, I hadn't met anyone with ink from Siki, other than myself.

Then, I met Nick on the R train one day after work and, while discussing his many tattoos (he "lost count after 45," they've all connected) , I heard him talking about Siki.

So today's tattoo is by Siki and was, like my lynx, modified from an old piece of flash. Although he adapted it a lot more fully and developed a more unique tattoo.

Siki and Nick had a mutual friend named Billy, who Nick would often go with to get tattooed. When he passed away, they added Billy's name to the bottom of the tattoo as a tribute to their departed friend.

Thanks to Nick for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!