Tony's Celtic Fish, Swimming Up His Calf

Last month, I spotted Tony on the R train after leaving the 14th Street/Union Square station.

About thirteen years ago, his girlfriend was getting a Celtic dog tattoo, and he decided to get inked as well:

These works of art on his left leg derive, he told me, were inspired by illustrations from the Book of Kells.

Book/Manuscript: Book of Kells
VII Century, Ireland / ScotlandPage (Folio): 188v
initial letter I with lion and fish
(from http://www.art-imagery.com/)

Tony explained that he is a SCUBA instructor, so these fish from the mackerel family are a nice link to that vocation.

Not only have these tattoos held up over the years, they are noteworthy because they were inked by Pat Fish in Santa Barbara, who is regarded as one of the premiere artists working with Celtic designs.

I also love the coincidental nature of Fish by Fish.

Thanks to Tony for sharing these amazing tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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!

Josh Slices Up a Sturgeon on His Culinary Sleeve

At the beginning of the week, I ran into Josh, a chef at an upscale restaurant in Tribeca. He was actually showing his tattoos to a couple of people standing with him, so I felt in apropos to join in the conversation.

Josh is hard at work on a culinary sleeve on his left arm, which includes a langoustine, a Red Junglefowl, and the tattoo above, a sturgeon, complete with slicing knife and roe.

The tattoo, as well as his other work, was done by Mark Harada at East Side Ink in Manhattan.

Thanks to Josh for sharing his sturgeon with us here on Tattoosday. Here's hoping he'll return to show us more. The Red Junglefowl was not completed, otherwise I would have asked to feature that piece here. It's a sweet piece (you can see a fragment of claw above the sturgeon).