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INKEDblog takes you beneath the skin of today's tattoo culture. Our mission is to celebrate tattooing as a modern art form which incorporates art, fashion, style, and pop culture. While paying homage and respect to the past, we look to present a contemporary take on the present and future of skin art.
Friday Sep 29, 2006
"Seen At The Clubs" - Photos by Mark The Cobrasnake
More from Mark here.
| Friday Sep 29, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Hellboy
"This is my favorite and most recent tattoo. I love how the black and white contrast ended up looking. This cartoon is from a series that I LOVE called Hellboy, by Mike Mignola. At one time, he worked for Dark Horse comics.
Mike’s style in general, is high contrast, which made it good for this tattoo. Also, I loved this particular part of the cartoon. I guess Mike’s editors asked him to do a short piece on Hellboy’s childhood. Mr. Mignola thought it wouldn’t make more than a page or two, but it ended up being a lot longer. It’s a Hilarious section.
Hellboy is being introduced to pancakes for the first time, and though he is wary, he tries them. He discovers he likes them, which leads to hell being completely screwed up.
The tattoos that I have on my upper body are all pretty serious. I wanted the ones on my lower body to be funny. I got this last July (06’), but I had planned on having comic books on my legs for a while. I have always loved comic books and I plan to do another one. My name is Jen, and I have a comic called ‘Killing Time’ that will come out on lulu.com this December or January. "
Friday Sep 29, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Orcas
"I entered a raffle at some event at my job and I won a trip to Cordova, Alaska.
I couldn't believe I won a trip to a place no one has even heard of!
But I had a great time, and one day I towards the end of the trip I was looking around this little tiny gift shop and I saw this greeting card and I instantly thought "hey, THAT is my next tattoo."
And so it was.
It reminds me I am lucky sometimes, and that a trip to Cordova Alaska is better than no trip at all."
Tuesday Sep 26, 2006
Every BODY Has A Story - Kyle
"I got this tattoo in April, I drew it up and it is quite different from my normal artwork which I liked the idea of. It is a strange abstract shape or city, the 2 boxes in the middle are up and down which represent life's highs and lows. The arrows also indicate change and movement. I really liked the idea of having a messed up isometric city on my ribs."
Tuesday Sep 26, 2006
New Episode of INKED Tonight on A&E
Here's a preview of tonight's episodes of INKED on A&E:
Tonight at 10:00pm - New Beginnings ”
Some people are so grateful for the opportunity to start over or get a second chance that they want to memorialize their gratitude with a tattoo. A young guy who is starting over after a life-altering run in with the law, a woman marking the end of a difficult divorce, and a client who has kicked a life threatening habit and is moving on all stop by H&H for tattoos.
and then...
at 10:30am ET - Honor & Respect
Paying respects can be more than remembering the deceased. Clients include a father who turns to Twig to help him further prove his love for his young child, a lady who gets a tattoo to honor the pet that saved her mother from a serial killer, and a dad who pays homage to the courage of his disabled son.
** INKED on A&E is a sponsor of INKEDblog.com
Friday Sep 22, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Walla Walla
When I was twenty-one, I was intrigued by the idea of getting a tattoo, but very aware of cultural taboos associated. I’m Jewish, and it was forbidden for Jews to get tattoos historically, though this is changing with some people.
My parents felt hesitation at the idea of my tattoo, but really most of the hesitation was from me.
I thought about it for quite a while before I decided I wanted a tattoo. Once I decided I wanted one, I chose something very quickly that was part of something I loved during that part of my life. I’ve done that with other tattoos since then as well. They are almost like souvenirs of my history.
Many Waters is the Native American name for Walla Walla. Walla Walla is the town where I went to college. For the first two years, I didn’t feel as if it was my place, but by the last two years, I really loved the town. I am a photographer, and during my senior year, I did a photo show about subjective views of Walla Walla. I wanted to capture spaces that most students never saw in Walla Walla.
This is what I chose for my first tattoo. I wanted an unusual placement, one that I could show or cover up. I know I wanted it on my ribcage, but the placement ended up being dictated by my mole. I like how it looks like a bit of punctuation before the words. My partner took a photo of this tattoo, and I used it for the title page of my photo show.
Thursday Sep 21, 2006
Life Is Terrific
Photo by Mark The Cobrasnake
Thursday Sep 21, 2006
Every BODY Has a story: My Soul Will Find You
"On 9/11 my best friend was in LA and I was in Philly. It looked like the end of the world, and I asked what would happen if one of us died and the other one didn't. She said simply "I will come and find you."
That single statement reassured me more than anything else that day, and in many days to come.
When I decided to move from Philadelphia and away from my friend, I wanted a tattoo to honor our friendship. "I will come and find you" seemed like the obvious choice.
But the place where I wanted the tattoo already had some ink of a fierce looking rabbit that was a mascot from the women's empowerment march and I thought "I will come and find you" right by such a fierce looking rabbit would look like some kind of weird revenge tattoo.
So I asked for script "my soul will find you..." which is flanked by "Vi" on one side and "Wes" on the other, which are the names of my niece and nephew, who I was also leaving behind in Philly."
Wednesday Sep 20, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Japanese Back piece
"I got this tattoo while I was living in Flagstaff, Arizona. I saw one of the artists at Burly Fish (See www.burlyfishtattoo.com) draw out this geisha for another client who ended up not getting the tattoo. This happens from time to time, but usually, if the artist has done a really great drawing, it won’t sit around for long. Someone will want it.
As soon as I saw the geisha girl, I decided I wanted this full back piece. I started it about five years ago, and it took about thirty-five hours. However, the thirty-five hours was over a period of about five years.
I started working at the shop, as a piercer. Both my back tattoo and my desire to learn to draw and tattoo were put on hold because I was so busy doing work as a piercer. I got my degree in graphic design, and have always loved making all kinds of images. In my graphic design work though, I used finished elements to create a whole piece, rather than starting with a sheet of blank paper. I needed to work a lot on how to sketch. My drawing has steadily improved since that time.
Though the geisha was already drawn when I decided I wanted it, all the surrounding elements I chose before or during the process. Japanese tattoo art is very symbolic, and I used images that were both beautiful, and meaningful.
In this piece, the geisha girl is turning into a dragon. Often, the dragon represents enlightenment. For me, the geisha girl turning into a dragon represents change and re-birth. In Japanese, the word for ‘luck’ sounds very similar to the word for ‘bat’. So it’s kind of a Japanese pun, but bats are considered very lucky. The dragon girl is surrounded by ‘lucky bats’. The cherry blossom represents the shortness of life. There is a bloom, then it’s gone. It is important to savor the moment you have. "
Tuesday Sep 19, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: The Great Lakes
"This tattoo is of the five Great Lakes of the United States. I got it in February of 05’ in San Francisco.
A woman named Annie Danger gave me the tattoo as part of a sort of benefit. She and her roommates were being kicked out of their apartment because the landlord was selling it to developers.
It’s pretty hard to find a place in San Francisco and they were in somewhat of a jam. Annie was a tattoo artist, and was raising money that way.
I had wanted a tattoo since college, and I knew I wanted the Great Lakes. When Annie offered her services, it just seemed like the right time. I’m originally from Detroit, Michigan.
Detroit is an interesting city in that there is only a river separating us from Canada, and it’s the only US city North of Canada. I like the topography of the lakes as well. Michigan forms a big peninsula. This is pretty unusual for a state too, I think. A friend of mine in college from Kansas had a tattoo that was a red and orange heart with stalks of wheat sprouting from it. She told me the tattoo expressed Kansas for her. I really liked that idea. This is different, but exactly what I wanted."
Tuesday Sep 19, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Tree of Life
"This is actually my least favorite tattoo to show; though I like it personally. It has gone through a few incarnations. It began as a serpent on my toe after I started Tae Kwon Do.
I got it done at Ghoul tattoo because it was cheap. This was about fifteen years ago and the whole experience was pretty messy. We were there for hours while the guy was sterilizing the equipment. During this time we went and had a few beers, came back, had a few more.
When he finally finished, it was midnight. I gave him my credit card, and he informed me that felons can’t use cards. Great…
I really did not like the way the serpent looked so later, I got it turned into a tree at a different studio I liked much better. This was done all in black, which showed up blue on my skin. The problem with this was that when I went hiking and took off my sock people thought it was giant veins or something. So I went back (to the same place), and had them add the henna colored details.
I am a trainer at Gold’s Gym and Missfits. The thing about the tree of life on my foot is that even if the image has been hard for other people to see the way I do, it is wonderfully helpful for me with yoga.
The way the trunk moves down into my feet is a constant reminder about balance and rootedness."
Monday Sep 18, 2006
"Seen At The Clubs" - Photos by Mark The Cobrasnake
More from Mark here.
Monday Sep 18, 2006
Every BODY has a story: Our Lady of Lourdes
"I have a lot of scars on one of my arms from my self-destructive youth, and had wanted for years to get a cover-up, but no one would touch it.
Last year, a friend I love very much got sick and we made plans to go to Lourdes, France in hopes of getting a miracle cure. Lourdes is a famous area for healing because of an appearance of the Virgin Mary about one hundred and forty years ago.
My friend got too sick to make the trip, and one day when we were sitting around, she said "you should get Our Lady of Lourdes on your arm." I told her that no one wanted to touch it, but she said, "you’ll find someone" and the next day I found out about this woman named Jackie at No Ka Oi in Philly. I went in, showed her, and she said--without hesitation-- "oh yeah, I can do that."
She designed it almost overnight and we did it all in one sitting. Then my friend got better and we made our trip to Lourdes. We joked that we should get a discount at hotels, etc for my tattoo.
We didn't get the discount, but I feel like the tattoo and the trip were miracles in themselves!'
Monday Sep 18, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Dreams
"I got this tattoo about two years ago when my youngest son was one and my older son was five. My husband and I are from the East Coast, and we were surprised by the styles on the West Coast – Everyone has a tattoo!
We had talked about the idea of getting a tattoo ourselves a few times, but nothing serious. Then for Christmas, under the tree, my husband gave me a gift certificate for a tattoo. I actually didn’t go in to get it though, until the following March…
My husband ended up getting a tattoo at the same time. He’s a novelist, and it’s his dream to work at writing fulltime. He got a tattoo that says “Once upon a time” around his ankle. I got the paint palette because my dream is to be a full time painter. My husband wrote a children’s book that I would love to illustrate some day.
I am about five months now pregnant with our third now, and it is sweet to wear our dreams on our skin."
Thursday Sep 14, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: HOPE
"I started this piece last summer, and only finished it a couple of months ago. I got all the work done by the same tattoo artist. We actually worked together in another shop before he started working in the shop he’s in now.
As we discussed this tattoo, I knew I wanted roses, and I knew I wanted the word ‘hope’.
Roses are something I’ve always loved. I don’t grow them now, but my family used too. I have other tattoos that have roses as well, so it has become a sort of theme.
As for the word ‘hope’, hope may seem like a small thing when things are going all right, but when you have difficulties your life, it’s really the only thing that can sustain you sometimes.
Like everyone, I have had my share of hard times, friends moving away, and hard break-ups. Tattoos are often very empowering when they have strong meaning for the person who got them. The word, ‘hope’ for me, is to remind myself of an optimistic outlook, and recognize the power of that tiny word."
Wednesday Sep 13, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Glowing Memories
"About three years ago, this buddy of mine told me there was this guy who was doing his apprenticeship and he needed some clients. He had a good-sized portfolio, but I still felt a little like a guinea pig…
Though the spirit of the tattoo is very meaningful to me, I didn’t tell him much when it came to design. I just said I wanted a tribal design on the back of my neck.
He did the tattoo in his living room, and drew out the picture then and there. I decided I wanted the edges to done in a kind of ink that glows in black light. At that time it was not considered totally safe, so I only had a little of it done. Now that you can get safer black light ink, I’m going to get more of it filled in.
The tribal theme stems from my heritage. I am Spanish, Sicilian and Apache. My family is very close, particularly my father and I. He showed me many Apache traditions as I grew up. For example, when I first killed a deer, my father told me to taste the animal’s blood, and eat a bit of its heart. This was to show respect for the animal. The heart is where the Apaches believe a being’s strength is kept. By having a piece of the heart, my father showed me how to respect the strength of the deer and to honor it."
Wednesday Sep 13, 2006
Every BODY Has A Story - Travis Lee Button
"My friends and I recently attended the local Garlic Festival in Little Falls, NY. It was held in an are of the city called Canal Place which consist of several galleries and the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts building. I picked up a business card in one of the galleries I stopped
in for a tattoo artist named Denise De La Cerda. She is new to the area and I had not heard of her but I immediately got a good feeling from the business card. My best friends birthday was approaching and I knew he was itching to get some more ink, so I gave her a call and scheduled an appointment for us to get inked on his birthday. We arrived and the shop was really nice and very clean, Denise is a great conversationalist and an all around awesome person and turns out she is a really really
good artist. I had her do this Tudor Rose design for me, Ive been holding on to it in my tattoo wishlist for a while. Needless to say I have already scheduled an appointment to discuss a more complex piece with her that I plan to have done in December. Again she is new to the area so I am trying to give her a hand and spread the word.
Tuesday Sep 12, 2006
Every BODY has a Story: Transformation
"This tattoo is a very powerful symbol called a rune. Runes are ancient symbols people used in magic ceremonies. Many people think that they are Irish in origin, but actually, they have Anglo-Saxon ancestry.
This rune, is the rune of transformation. I got it very recently, and it is something I want for myself. I really need the strength of transformation in order to get rid of an unhappy situation in which I have found myself.
I am still dealing with this situation, but the rune is a constant reminded to me of change, and growth, new beginnings, and old endings.
When I went in to have it done, I was going to have it done on my shoulder, but as soon as I was in the shop I realized that I Had to have it on my neck in this place. It is also a powerful place on the body, but the only place that felt right for my rune."
Monday Sep 11, 2006
Heaven Awaits
Photo by Mark The Cobrasnake
Monday Sep 11, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Classic Pan-Culture
"This tattoo is based on some traditional sailor tattoo art. Originally, I was going to get it done in the style of a puzzle, with some of the pieces missing.
Once the artist started to draw it out however, it was clear that would have been to busy with the puzzle pieces for the image I was imagining.
Sailors actually brought the art of tattooing to the United States from Asia, and I wanted a classic tattoo that would incorporate both styles.
When I talked to my artist, we discussed additions to the classic ‘Sailor Jerry” tattoo in order to add elements of Asian tattoo culture.
We decided on the snake and dagger being surrounded by cherry blossoms, and the clouds over the top are done in the Japanese ‘wind cloud’ style.
My grandfather was in the navy station in Asia, and he had some navy tattoos, I’m not sure if this influenced my choice, but I remember his tattoos well"
Friday Sep 08, 2006
Every BODY Has A Story: The Three Monkeys
"I got this tattoo about four years ago for my thirty-third birthday. It was actually a present from all my friends. My partner at the time organized it, but so many other people contributed too, including my good friend, Paul Anson from Discourage Records.
It was a time in my life where I had finally gotten clean from drugs, and this tattoo is a sort of talisman to that effect.
These monkeys are the “see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil” monkeys. I had had the idea for a while, but for my birthday I got to get the tattoo with Paul Zenk from Infinity tattoo.
Before he did the drawing, we went out together and I told him what I wanted. I saw him start the sketch while we were together and it still looks great.
Along the side of each monkey, the image corresponds to the action. Next to the “Speak no evil” monkey, there are comic book, *&%$#@-type swear words. Next to the “Hear no evil”, there are warped musical notes, and next to the “See no evil”, there are tons of staring eyeballs.
This tattoo is my totem. It speaks for itself, and gives me the feeling of balance."
Tuesday Sep 05, 2006
Every BODY Has a Story: Liechtenstein’s Gun
I was always into art, but not necessarily so great at making it, though I like doing collage work and things like that.
I grew up in a little hellhole, meth town called Lebanon, Oregon. It’s not an easy place to get out of, and definitely not the place to discover a lot of art.
I did manage to leave, and though I’m into a bunch of different artists, the one on my tattoo is just one of them. This image is from a Liechtenstein print.
The way I got this tattoo is sort of unusual. I was at a bar at a heavy metal show, and a little buzzed, I noticed that they had raffle tickets. The raffle tickets entitled the buyers to a free drink. I figured what the hell and bought one.
After I tried to get a drink with it, they informed me that the Other raffle line was for the free drink tickets that were about the same price as a drink anyway…
Whatever. I bought the free drink and the other one and hung out at the show. After a while, they called the raffle numbers. When they called my number, I had no idea what the raffle was for. Turns out that I won, and the prize was a free tattoo.
I had a week to come up with the image I wanted, I ended up with this. The eye of the gun is covering and cigarette burn from my Sid Vicious days… Now I’m playing with some people in a project called Sex Apache. Check us out."
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