Mike's Incredible Aquatic Sleeve (and More!)

I had the good fortune of meeting Mike outside of Penn Station last week and, despite first noticing him because of his leg tattoos, he was extremely generous and unveiled an incredible sleeve that covered his right arm:


Mike is a fisherman and a loves the brightness, color and variety of oceanic life. Such things translate well to the body's canvas and make for some amazing tattoo work...


The giant octopus actually curls up over his shoulder and onto his chest, with one tentacle moving down his arm....


The deep sea diver punctuates the middle of his arm...


At the bottom of the arm are tropical motifs including a huge tiki god and a hibiscus....


On the inside of his inner bicep is this fish which is a cross between an anglerfish and a razorfish:


And we ended with this piece that was so fresh at the time, that Mike had to peel back the protective plastic covering this amazing blowfish:


The artist behind this amazing work is Steve Woison formerly of Electric Tiki Tattoo in Patchogue, and now at Studio 520 in Oakdale, on Long Island.

Thanks again to Mike for taking the time to share his amazing aquatic sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!

Behold, Quadrapus!

I met Colleen on Penn Plaza and her ankle tattoo jumped out at me from a distance. It was so unusual, I just had to stop and ask her about it.

Behold: Quadrapus!


If this four-limbed octopus-like creature looks fanciful, it's because it is based on a child's beach toy used to mold sand shapes.

Colleen explains that she and about twenty of her friends all got this same tattoo, but in different colors, to commemorate their summer where a majority of time was spent at the beach. There was a house involved, which was the epicenter of activity, and the plastic octopus beach toys were on the walls, used as decor. "Quadrapus" became a symbol and mascot for a memorable season.

This was inked by Josh at Broken Heart Tattoo in Keyport, New Jersey. Coincidentally, a tattoo from Broken Heart appeared just this past Saturday here on Tattoosday.

Incidentally, Collen has seven other tattoos, and I couldn't resist snapping a shot of this literary ink:


The quote "You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake " is from the seminal first novel Chuck Palahniuk novel Fight Club. Tyler Durden's character states:

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all a part of the same compost pile."

Palahniuk is her favorite author and she loves the meaning behind this quote, from a passage where the speaker is questioning the notion of individuality. Deep down, Collen explained, he's saying we're all the same, that no one is as special as they think they are. Juxtaposed with the snowflake, the symbol of uniqueness, this tattoo makes a bold statement.

Check out a couple other Palahniuk literary tattoos here over on the awesome site dedicated to literary ink, Contrariwise.

This was inked at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey by Chi Chi Gunz. Work from Silk City is New Jersey has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Colleen for sharing her fun and interesting tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Jill's Right Leg: One Post Leads to Another

The previous post featured the "Eld Sigul" insignia attributed to Stephen King's Gunslinger, of The Dark Tower series.

As I had mentioned, I was able to locate the artwork on which this earlier tattoo was based, but the specific source of the new design eluded me.

So I popped into the local Borders and, after wandering a bit, found the Horror section wherein the King books resided. I perused the covers but, alas, no sign. I was about to leave when a store employee named Jill popped up and started straightening books next to me.

And she had ink.

So we got to chatting. She has seven pieces in all, three of which I saw. She has designated a theme for each of her arms and legs. I had noticed the pin-up on her right forearm first, which turns out is her Celtic-themed limb. She isn't happy with the red in the dress, so that piece is technically a work-in-progress. Her left arms sports some kanji, as part of her Asian-themed limb.

Her left leg is desert-themed, as a tribute to growing up in Arizona. Which brings us to her right leg. Jill has that part of her body designated as water-themed. She went to her favorite artist Shaggy at Rings of Fire Tattoos in downtown San Antonio, Texas, and told him she wanted a tattoo to fit the theme. He had drawn this design with the octopus and she loved it. The rest is history:


I love how the octopus is staring out the eye socket of the skull. It's an amazing effect.

Thanks to Jill for sharing this awesome piece with us here on Tattoosday! Here's hoping she'll be back on these pages for a return engagement!