TATTO MODERN

Marcus Korling

Tattoo Topeng Jepang - Japanese Mask Tattoo (Album 1)
Tattoo Topeng Jepang - Japanese Mask Tattoo (Album 3)

Another tattooist submission from Daniel Herlihy,

Tattooist submission from Elliot Bowes.

And a third tattooist submission for today, this one from AJ Ruin.

Tattoo Topeng Jepang - Japanese Mask Tattoo (Album 1)
Tattoo Topeng Jepang - Japanese Mask Tattoo (Album 2)

Johnny Jackson

A quick reader roundup - I'm almost catching up with submissions! woo!

William submitted the above, the artist is Pat Brabham from Perkins Road Parlour in Baton Rouge, La.


Ryan's owl was done by Ron @ Lone Wolf Tattoo in Bellmore, NY


Hilary + owl chestpiece, by Travis White in Albany, GA.

There's something about this tattoo I absolutely love - it was a tattooist submission from Karla Hansen, who writes:

"Hi my name is Karla and I am a tattoo artist from Auckland, New Zealand, I recently did this tattoo on my husband Alex. It's a Chris Sanders design, the director/art director/character designer for movies sucjh as "Lilo and Stitch" and "How to train your Dragon" hope you and your followers like!!"

Thanks Karla!

nb. 'How To Train Your Dragon' is awesome. Pixar-level awesome.

Kate Mackay Gill

I met Ashley in the New Jersey Transit section of Penn Station last week after I spotted this tattoo on her right foot:

Now, if you've not read the Harry Potter series, perhaps it is best to skip the rest of the post, because it might not make a lot of sense.



Those in the know will understand what I mean when I explain that the ghostly creature on the top of Ashley's foot is the patronus of Severus Snape, as described in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installment of the seven-part series by J.K. Rowling. The patronus takes the shape of a doe.







The quote above the doe is "It's real for us..." as remembered by Snape when speaking with Lily Evans, the girl at Hogwarts who became Harry's mother. Identical creatures appear when they cast the patronus charm.



Ashley's friend drew it up and she had the piece done at Tattoo Nation in Wayne, New Jersey by Matt "Monty" Montleon.



This is one of two tattoos that Ashley has. The other resides on her left foot:





The snowflake was also inked by Monty and is a memorial to Ashley's grandmother, whose last name was Snow.



Thanks to Ashley for sharing her two tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

A trip to the laundromat on Saturday yielded a meeting with a young lady who had a couple visible tattoos on one of her feet and an ankle. Fortunately, my curiosity got the better of me because, when I asked her about them, she revealed much better work, namely this phenomenal Marilyn Monroe portrait on her inner right forearm:

This stunning work was created by the incomparable Virginia Elwood at New York Adorned. I have been fortunate to encounter Ms. Elwood's work previously here and here.



Melanie is a huge fan of Marilyn Monroe and she is proud to wear this icon on her sleeve. Clicking on the tag for Marilyn Monrow below will reveal other Marilyn tattoos that have appeared previously on Tattoosday.



Thanks to Melanie for sharing this phenomenal portrait with us here on Tattoosday!

January was a bleak month here in New York City. The second snowiest month ever did not bode well for inkspotting, but on the last day of the month, I met Jenny, a graphic designer, at my local bookstore.



Jenny had two tattoos visible, but has nine others as well. She offered up this cool skeleton key tattoo on her inner left forearm:

She told me that the tattoo's orientation on her arm is, if you'll pardon the pun, key. It points toward her heart and represents the fact that she makes her own decisions in her life, or in her own words, "I open my own doors".



She had this done by Mumia at Omega Tattoos in Queens. She added that all her tattoos are in black and gray, saying it is a matter of personal preference and that colors don't translate well on her skin.



Check out Jenny's website here to see some of her design work. I especially like this example of her design for a tattoo shop.



Thanks to Jenny for sharing this special key with us here on Tattoosday!

A few weeks back, I popped in at my wife's workplace, and she introduced me to Miguel, the husband of one of her colleagues. In warmer weather, she had seen that Miguel had a tattoo, and she thought I would be interested in talking to him about it. Unfortunately, at the moment, it was in the high 20's outside and Miguel had on layers of clothing, which covered the artwork on his upper right arm. I did, however, ask him to send me a photo when he got the chance.



Miguel was good to his word and e-mailed me the following photo:

Miguel told me that, one night, a couple of years ago, during a difficult time in his life, he had a dream about the tattoo and, when he awoke, he drew up the image he had seen in his mind. The vision, to him, "represents the evil that people have inside". He took the idea to Sunset Tattoo in Brooklyn, and one of the artists  created the piece.



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

Last month I enviously watched as the good folks over at TattooSnob had a contest in which they gave away some really cool items from Bonafide Bags. I reached out to the good people at Bonafide and asked if they'd like to do something with our readers, and they were very receptive to the idea.



So check these out:

Bonafide's Japanese Koi (left) and Traditional (right) Designs

Bonafide's American Pride (left) and Day of the Dead (right) Designs

They're very sturdy and look really cool - perfect for a trip to the supermarket or the beach. They're made from recycled plastic and my lovely bride is already rocking her Japanese Koi bag. There are two sizes of each design. Check out Bonafide's website here for more product specifics, including close-up views, as well.



How do you win a set? Leave a comment on the post below and winners will be randomly selected and receive a matching set of these Bonafide Bags. That's one large all purpose bag and its matching lunch/gift bag counterpart, or a $15.00 value. I have three sets of each of the four designs, so that's twelve winners in all.



Now, let's see if we can outdo the readers at TattooSnob. They garnered 63 comments/entries in their giveaway, so our goal is 70 reader comments by Saturday, February 19, at 11:59 PM, EST. Tell us which one is your favorite design, or any other related comment, and you'll be eligible to win!



Note: I have a filter on comments so if you don't see it right away, it's because I need to approve each submission to make sure it's not spam.