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!

Two for Tattoosday: Two Sisters Share Their Awesome Ink

Jenni estimates she is 35-40% covered in tattoos. When I stopped her and her sister Kailla, I was interested in seeing what she would offer up to Tattoosday readers.

Even though we can't see it in it's entirety, she offered up this chest piece:


Jenni, who was visiting from Philadelphia, says the tattoo honors her mother and father, whose names, Bogda and Adam , are enclosed in the heart at the center of the piece.

When I asked her what he folks thought of this, she smiled and said that they were both "flattered and horrified". Yet, they recognized that the sentiment behind the tattoo was sweet.


The piece which extends out and over the shoulders, was tattooed by Don McDonald at Bodyworks Tattoo Studio in Pittsburgh. She estimates that the whole thing took about seven hours in two sittings.

When I finished talking to Jenni, I turned to Kailla and asked if she was interested in sharing, as well. Unlike her sister, she didn't appear to be tattooed much. In fact, I'd estimate all I could see was about this much of her left bicep:


Much to my delight, she peeled her shirt back to reveal this astonishing tattoo:


Still only about two weeks old, this amazing tattoo was also done by Don McDonald in Pittsburgh (where Kailla resides).

She says the center of the tattoo is a Polish falcon which honors her family ancestry in Eastern Europe.

The whole piece took ten hours, which is evidenced by the scale and detail of this wonderful tattoo.


Both Kailla and Jenni were kind enough to take the time to chat with me about their beautiful body art, and I thank them for their contributions here on Tattoosday!

Sinner #4

Sinner #4 - XVI -

Jonathan Gives Us a Sun on a Sunday

I met Jonathan in Brooklyn Heights and he shared this, one of his four tattoos:


This tattoo, on his inner right forearm is based on artwork he found on the CD of Ofra Haza, an Israeli musician with Yemenite roots.


Jonathan believes it to be a middle-Eastern symbol that is a "stylized sun." It is ambiguous enough to cause many to take pause and ask him what it is. Some have even questioned if the outer circle is comprised of coffee beans. He appreciates the solar representation illuminating his arm.

The tattoo was inked by Steve at Artfreek Tattoo in Providence, Rhode Island.

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

Daniel's Back Piece Begins...

In my previous post, I described meeting Daniel and Katte. And, although Katte's work was what initially prompted me to stop the couple, Daniel offered up the bigger surprise.

I have yet to come up with a term for the phenomenon, but anyone who responds to an inquiry about a visible tattoo with an unprompted unveiling of a covered one, earns a place in Tattoosday lore.

(See some memorable examples here, here, here, and here).

Daniel lifted up his shirt to reveal "the start of a back piece":


He went to Chuck at Broken Heart Tattoos in Keyport, New Jersey, with a general outline and gave the artist the "freedom to shade and color" as he saw fit. Three sessions and nine hours later, Daniel had this kick-ass skull on his back to anchor what will eventually be a much larger piece.

Thanks to Daniel for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Katte's Memorial for the Artist, Gone Too Soon

I met Daniel and Katte as they were about to go into the subway station at 34th Street and 7th Avenue.

Although Katte had a lot of visible work that was interesting, she rolled up her left pant leg to show me this interesting collage on her calf:


The tattoo, along with much of her work, was inked by her step-father, who works out of his home.

The piece is a memorial for an ex-boyfriend, who was hit by a car and killed in February 2008.

He had been into Japanese art and graffiti and had drawn this on her wall. After he died, she transposed it so that it could be tattooed on her.

She wears it as a keepsake by which to remember him now that he's gone.

I thank Katte for sharing this very personal piece with us here on Tattoosday!

See what Daniel had to offer here (or just scroll up if you are reading this chronologically).

Crow and Mouse

A few minutes after talking to Brian (here), I ran into Tony, a tattoo artist at Gotham City Tattoo in Bay Ridge.

Tony estimates he is 50% covered, so choosing a nice tattoo to offer up for Tattoosday was no easy task.

Until he showed me his inner left bicep:


This incredible work was done by Simone, a visiting artist from Como, Italy, who did a guest spot at Gotham.

Tony, who has been tattooing for six years, loves crows, and this piece certainly leaves little to be desired in terms of an amazing crow tattoo.

As a postscript, Tony also shared this little Mickey Mouse tattoo:


This was inked by Bill Blood (whose knuckle tattoos I wrote about here). Bill is another artist working at Gotham City Tattoo. It is evidence of a bet that Tony lost, the details of which, he felt would be inappropriate to share here.

Thanks to Tony for sharing a couple of his many tattoos here on Tattoosday!