Sexy Guns tattoo

Last May, on the first day of the New York City Tattoo Convention, I was almost thirty blocks away from the Roseland Ballroom, where the three-day event takes place, when I bright flash of yellow hair caught my eye on Broadway. I was about to meet Melissa "Alabama" Graves. Her bright yellow hair was not the only thing I noticed - she was also heavily-tattooed.
I stopped to talk to her, but she was on her way to an appointment, but she seemed open to being featured on Tattoosday and she assured me she'd make time for me to interview her the next day, Saturday, at the convention. Melissa is a model and she is a striking figure - despite her tiny frame, she fills a room with her personality and she commands a great presence.

Not to mention, her bright hairstyle makes her easy to spot in a crowded tattoo convention. She was kind enough to spend a significant amount of time with me talking about her tattoos. I could have written much more, but had to pare down our conversation for brevity's sake.
Incidentally, this is my last remaining item from 2012, and I'd like to think I've saved one of the best for last. Among her tattoos, Melissa chose to share the gun inked on her right thigh:




Melissa gave me the nitty-gritty about why she had a gun, specifically this gun, inked on her thigh: “I met this guy a long time ago, his name was Blackie ... he was ripped and tattooed and rockabilly and sexy and he had this, you know, powerful thing about him … He moved away with his girlfriend, it must’ve been … five years ago and the girlfriend and him had been together for a while, and I had a crush on him for a long time …[when] him and the girlfriend are breaking up and, this must’ve been 2008 ... I went on vacation from my job at the beginning of 2009 ... He talked me into going out to California with him and ... I went out to California and we had a week-long vacation together that was probably the most ... fun time I ever had with somebody. And the best sex I ever had in my entire life. And one of the things we did together was we went to the Downtown L.A. gun range and I fired his .45 magnum in that gun range wearing a mini skirt and six-inch stiletto heels … the chunky heels ... and the guys in the gun range were like, this girl cannot fire this gun … it’s like a cannon of a gun ... it’s life size, compared to little me ... and, you know, um, I weigh a little bit more now than I did back then, but only like five pounds more, and they were like, she still can’t fire this gun. In those heels? No. And I said, Oh yeah I can fire this gun, and I was just ballsing it and I took the gun and I fired it and I asked for the most bizarre absurd targets. And I fired that gun and I hit every target. And ... he was so impressed. It turned him on. And we went back home after I fired that gun. I saved every target and we had the best sex afterwards, I mean, he was just so turned on that I could fire a gun that well. And I’ll never forget that experience. It was like, I could fire a gun and hit a target in the forehead and it was just like really exciting, girl power kind of thing and I left L.A. and he left me at the airport and said ... I’ll see you later kid.”
She added that "he was cordial enough after we broke up when I got the idea for the tattoo to scan the gun and send me the image of the gun."
Melissa praised Gene Coffey, the tattoo artist, to no end. He was responsible for the art on her left leg, which she said he had worked on while he was still an apprentice.
What's cool about the tattoo, as well, as that it circles the thigh, with a garter and a badge:

Guns N Roses Tattoos

t seems silly to not post anything when I have the time and five years of material that is wandering the ether. So, I am pledging to dredge up some oldies but goodies, should I find myself lacking new material for any given day. That said, here we have a post that originally went live on February 1, 2009. Enjoy

I met Amanda in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago on a cold day in January. She wasn't wearing gloves which, despite the cold, was a good thing, as her hands bore a couple of nifty tattoos that really flashed in the sunlight. Unfortunately for me, I was bogged down with a bag of groceries and dry cleaning, so I wasn't in any position to take pictures.
I did manage to chat with Amanda briefly, and I told her about Tattoosday. I passed her my card and asked her to email me if she was interested in sharing.
I was happy to hear from her a day or two later and, this past weekend, sat and chatted with her at a local Starbucks. It was there that I got to see her tattooed hands in all their glory:


Amanda hails from Kansas City, Missouri, and moved to New York several years back to pursue her dream of an artistic career. She estimates that her body is 30% inked, most of which was done by her home town artist Steve Drew, who works out of a shop called Irezumi Body Art.
She was looking around for an artist in New York, when she accompanied a friend to Red Rocket Tattoo in Manhattan. There, Mike Bellamy was working with her friend on a concept sleeve. Amanda liked what she saw and started working with Mr. Bellamy on her hand guns. You can see other Tattoosday-featured work by Mike Bellamy
So, why put guns on your hands, of all places? Amanda says it was an aesthetic decision, and not any sort of moral or political statement. Nor, she says, was it necessarily a nod to her roots in Kansas City.



But Amanda wanted her hand guns to be colorful and depict a feminine side, reminiscent of a weapon tucked into a saloon-girl's garter belt. The red roses, set into the handles, give the guns a softer edge. Their placement on the hands recall a childlike innocence, reminding one of the gesture kids make when they pretend their hands are toy guns.
Amanda said that she had these inked in one sitting, each gun taking about an hour and a half each. Mike Bellamy inked the outline on each hand first, then went back and did the color and shading on both. How did it feel? "The most intense pain I've ever felt," said Amanda, "especially on the knuckles".

Hide Message On Tattoo


Lettering tattoo designs are gaining in popularity. You can combine lettering with a design, you can add lettering to a previous design to change it up a little or you can have lettering tattoo designs by themselves. When you add lettering to a design you want to make sure the lettering font style matches the type of tattoo image. Everything should flow together.


Lettering tattoo designs can be just as time consuming to decide on as an image tattoo. You first have to decide what you want to say. Then you can choose to say it in your native language or another, perhaps ancient language like Greek or Chinese characters. Then you have to decide what font type you want to use. And lastly (or perhaps first, depending on you) you decide where on your body you want your lettering tattoo design.


Those are a lot of decisions to make. You have to take your time about all of them because any one can affect your tattoo greatly. A tattoo is for life and you want to be proud of your tattoo forever. Take your time and make one choice at a time. Don't be afraid to change your mind and start over. You want a tattoo that you are 200% sure that it's right for you.

I think the most important decision is what do you want your lettering tattoo designs to say. Since a tattoo is personal, this is your chance to speak to the world. If you choose a saying, it should be something that would be a lifelong commitment. If you choose a name, make sure it's a name that you will still want 20 years from now. One of the biggest sources of tattoo regret is a name of a past love. Unfortunately tattoos last longer than most relationships.


If you go to a good online tattoo gallery you can have everything you need in one place to make all your choices. You can see different lettering styles, get information on translations and see if you want to add an image to your design. One note about lettering tattoo designs in a foreign language, check with several different sources to make sure your translation says what you want it to say. 

There is nothing more horrifying than to walk around with an incorrect lettering tattoo

Sexy Leg Tattooes


When looking for a good leg tattoo design, there are two points you need to realize. Actually, they are more like tips, and I will share them with you. There are just too many websites with nothing but generic, cookie cutter designs out there and people are not finding the truly superb artwork. You might want to remember these tips when looking for the leg tattoo design you really want.
leg tattoo

Tip 1 - Always, always take your time when looking for tattoos on the internet. I have seen to many people and read too many horror stories about people getting tattooed with artwork that they end up hating. There are two main reason this happens and could happen to you when looking for a leg tattoo design.


Reason number one is because people are making rushed decisions. This is never a good idea when looking for tattoos, simply because this excitement quickly wears off, but by that time, many people have already ran to the parlor to get tattooed with that piece of art. It is these impulse decisions that come back to haunt many people.


Reason number two is because people want to get tattooed with designs that are "in" or "cool". They find tattoos (in your case it might be a leg tattoo design) that other men and women will think is cool and run to get it inked. They don't take into consideration what they truly want and instead think only about what other people might think about it. In the long run, you are always better off getting a leg tattoo design that "you" truly like and don't let outside influences alter your judgment.


Tip 2 - You are probably looking for a leg tattoo design the wrong way. You are probably saying to yourself, "What does that mean?" Well, it means that the way you are searching for tattoos is probably not leading you to places that have fresh, quality artwork. 95% of people will strictly use search engines, which is most likely the path you are taking also.


If you use them to locate a good leg tattoo design, you will instead get a list of low end galleries and all of these places usually have generic, cookie cutter tattoos. Most people don't even realize this and instead take it for what it is. They think this is all they have to choose form and end up picking one of those generic designs, because all galleries are going to have the same kind of artwork. Not all galleries are stuffed with only generic designs. It's just that this is all search engines show you.

What you need is a better way to find the good leg tattoo design you want. What's the best way to accomplish this? By using internet forums. It's the easiest, most reliable way to find all of the truly great galleries you've been failing to get a hold of. The larger forums are always going to be filled with past topics on the subject of tattoos. To find a good leg tattoo design, simply skim through some of these topics and you will be able to find link after link to some of the better galleries other people have uncovered. It's a fantastic way to work your way to the superb artwork search engines always fail to show you. It's as simple as that

Happy Tattoo Day

Actually, this post from 2012 was originally called Happy Valentine's from Tattoos day! But, it's the 13th, so we can't really use the same title now, can we?

In fact, this is a re-post of a re-post from July of 2008, and it is one of my favorite tattoos from over the years. I'm happy to be re-sharing it with new readers...
Lacking any new material for this holiday o' love, I'm re-posting an old favorite that seems to be in the theme. Well, at least there's a heart in it.
I just love the way, in this photo, that Cait's hand is positioned as she is pulling her blouse back to reveal the whole tattoo...
"I asked her if she'd be willing to share, and she did. She peeled back a little of her top to reveal this beautiful piece on the top left side of her chest:



Cait and her friend Michelle have birthdays two days apart. When they turned 18, they took a design that Michelle had crafted to Da Vinci Tattoo Studio in Wantagh, New York. The artist she remembered as "Yoshi" inked matching pieces for the two.


Cait says the heart that encases the colorful stars represents their friendship, and serves to remind them of the bond. In the event that life ever separates them, the tattoos will link them, no matter where they are.
Work from Da Vinci Tattoo Studio has appeared on Tattoosday before here.
Thanks to Cait for sharing her ink with us here at Tattoosday!
The original post is here.
Here's hoping the day is everything you expect it to be!

Marilyn Monroe Tattoo

Living in New York City, a metropolis known for its die-hard sports fans, it is not unusual to see tattoos honoring and celebrating the rich athletic tradition that exists here.

On Friday, during my lunch hour, I spotted a New York City Fire Department truck parked at the corner of 40th Street and 7th Avenue. Standing along side it was Johnny, one of New York's bravest, enjoying the warm weather, in shorts, and baring this incredible leg tattoo:


This is, of course, Marilyn Monroe, but with a twist. She is sporting the New York Yankees   jersey of one of the franchise's greatest players, Joe DiMaggio, to whom she was married for less than a year.

Johnny is a huge Yankee fan, and also loves Marilyn Monroe, one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, and among the most popular celebrities tattooed. I have featured Marilyn tattoos previously here and here.

The image is based on a lithograph that Johnny purchased at a FanFest in 1996. After having it tattooed on his right calf, he felt something was missing.

He contacted the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, and purchased an archival photograph of the original Yankee Stadium, circa 1923. This was then used as the source material to create the recognizable backdrop for Marilyn.


Johnny has a ton of tattoos, approximately 15 pieces in all. This one, along with others he has, was created by Cort Bengston at Cort's Royal Ink Tattoo Studio in Patchogue, New York.

Queen Street Tattoo

Back in 2010, Valentine's fell on a Sunday, which provided a excellent opportunity for my lovely wife Melanie to add to her tattoo collection. A lot of shops do special day promotions for the budget-minded, although the trend seems to be moving away from that. 

On this Valentine's Day, we here at Tattoosday are re-visiting that occasion three years ago. Please Note: Thicker Than Water, the shop involved, is NOT doing the promotion this year. I did find shops in San Diego (Nittis Tattoo locations) that are doing it this year, but I'm not aware of any NYC-based specials. 

So what does an inkblogger get his sweetheart on Valentine's Day?
Why, a love-themed tattoo, of course.
Lucky me, the good folks over at Thicker than Water Tattoo had a Cupid special, $14 tattoos on February 14.


A lot like the Dare Devil Tattoo Friday the 13th Special (one of which is documented here), the lucky tattoo recipient can choose from an assortment of day-themed flash.


Here's what my lovely bride Melanie had to choose from:


When we got to the shop, Melanie signed in #53, and they were averaging a dozen or so per hour, so we knew we had a little bit of a wait.
I specifically selected Shon Lindauer, since he did such an awesome job with my tiger tattoo.
It was nice that Melanie got to meet Shon and the piece she selected was one that he had drawn up.
He tattooed her in the middle of the back and took just about fifteen minutes:


She was very happy with the end result:


When we left around 3:45, the waiting list was over a hundred, so they looked like they had a long night ahead of them.
Thanks to Shon and the staff at Thicker Than Water for another great tattoo experience If you're looking for Shon, he is currently settling down at his new shop, Queen Street Tattoo in Honolulu!
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Amazing Tattoo girls


























































Although I'm not a tattoo girl myself, I'm loving these clever and charming tattoos. What do you think?

P.S. Nine awesome tattoos...
P.P.S. New Yorkers, come join me at this bike ride this Thursday! xo

19 Year Old Amina, Posted Letter Tattoos


Campaigners including Richard Dawkins have called for a day of action to support a young Tunisian woman who appeared to post pictures of herself topless as part of a feminist movement in the country, and was subsequently threatened with death by stoning.

The 19-year-old activist, identified only as Amina, posted on the Femen-Tunisian Facebook page a topless picture of herself with the words “F**k your morals” written across her chest.

Another controversial image followed, of the woman smoking a cigarette, baring her breasts, with the Arabic written across her chest: “My body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honour”.


Tunisian newspaper Kapitalis quoted the Wahabi Salafi preacher Almi Adel, who heads the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, saying: “The young lady should be punished according to sharia, with 80 to 100 lashes, but [because of] the severity of the act she has committed, she deserves be stoned to death.

“Her act could bring about an epidemic. It could be contagious and give ideas to other women. It is therefore necessary to isolate [the incident]. I wish her to be healed.”

If she committed the offense in Tunisia, Amina could be punished by up to two years in prison and a fine of 100 to 1,000 dinars [between £40 and £400], local media said.
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