David writes in about his tattoo:

Several months ago, my beautiful friend Aly sent me this image via E-mail and followed up with several text messages demanding I check my E-mail right away. I did and was totally blown away by the image that was there—a photograph of this woman (that several people claim to believe was involved with Tawapa) sitting in front of me. I knew seconds later that she was going to be be tattooed on me. I went back to Daniel Jones (of Asylum Studios in Salem, Virginia) who had done another beautiful color portrait of another indigenous person and asked him to do it. He studied the image for about a month and we scheduled the tattoo for opening day of the 15th annual Greensboro (Little John), North Carolina, tattoo convention. Daniel felt challenged and nervous but confident. His focus and dedication to this tattoo were unmatched by anything I’d seen him do and it ended up winning him first-place color tattoo of the day! This whole experience has been awesome fore me and Daniel alike. Thanks got out to Aly, Daniel, the photographer who took the original picture and everyone at the Little John tattoo convention.

With a lineup like the one here at at Tattoo Hollywood, there has been no shortage of tremendous tattoo work walking through the doors. One of the most impressive projects we’ve seen, however, belongs to David up there, who’s been steadily covering his entire body in portraiture over the last few years. Having been worked on exclusively by brothers Mikey (at Rubes Tattoo in Arcadia) and Tommy Montoya (at Inkslingers in Alhambra), the suit is as cohesive as one could hope for, even though the subject matter varies wildly from musicians to horror movie characters to comedians to inventors. When we were photographing him, some of his friends were making light fun of him for being a bit on the heavier side (”Make sure you get his nipples in there!”), but to hear David tell it, if he were smaller, he wouldn’t have room for all this excellent work. Hard to argue with that. Lots more, after the jump.

Alright, alright! So, as we’ve learned over the past week, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama are little more than common grifters, unconcerned with the welfare of their fellow humans and dedicated almost exclusively to hedonistic earthly pursuits like celebrity poker and Cirque Du Soleil. Fine. With that said, I think we’ve finally found a portrait of a man beyond reproach—a man whose life was steeped in virtue, who had respect for all living things, and who, if nothing else could be said of him, undeniably made the world a better place. Try to shit all over Archie, you meatheads.

(Tattoo by Ron Antonick at Gen X Tattoos in Willoughby, Ohio.)

Good Shabbos, ModBloggers! We all got such a kick out of Timmo’s pimp-bee the other day that we figured, hey, it’s a mitzvah, right? Luckily, he had more work in his portfolio to provide us with the means for an appropriate celebration. L’chaim! After the jump? More of Timmo’s handiwork. Compton, stand up.

Hoo boy, so, I was honestly just kidding yesterday when I mused about the possibility of Nelson Mandela being dragged through the mud by some commenters, but sure enough, it literally took only a single post before a political flame war broke out. Hey, fine. I guess Mr. Mandela is a more polarizing figure than I’d anticipated. But you know, I do so enjoy a challenge, and this gorgeous portrait of the Dalai Lama was too good not to share, but I’m curious now—what sorts of terrible, unseemly revelations will be unearthed following its posting? Did he buy an HD TV, but hasn’t yet sprung for an HD tuner? Has it been weeks since he’s emptied the dehumidifier? Is he hiding a Kenyan birth certificate? Don’t let me down, folks.

(Beautiful tattoo by Dave Allen at Preying Mantis Tattoo in Lakewood, Colorado.)

Positivity parade! This expertly rendered Nelson Mandela portrait/inspirational bust comes all the way from Cape Town, South Africa, and more specifically, from Rob Turner at Freestylers Tattoo Lounge in said city. There’s a lot to like here; this is really lovely work of a figure who’s probably one of the players on the world stage least likely to tarnish his own legacy any time soon. That said, I’m looking very forward to the revelations in the comments that he sold poison milk to schoolchildren or uses leaded gasoline or collects Jonas Brothers memorabilia or whatever.

And finally, folks, let’s end our day with this handsome portrait of, hands down, one of the baddest m.-fuckers in rock and roll history. Have we seen rock star portraits before? Of course we have. But when we get such an exceptional piece honoring a man who treated his guitar like an extension of his genitals more than anyone else we can think of, well, that gets posted, friends.

Tomorrow, we’ve got an interesting interview with a community member who’s feeling conflicted over a procedure he’s recently undergone. Until then, machine gun. Night night.

(Tattoo by Justin Jakus at Pop’s Place Tattoos in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.)

What’s that, ModBloggers? You’ve had a rough day and need a bit of a pick-me-up? Well, as luck would have it, here is the most mind-destroyingly adorable thing you’ve seen in a while. That up there would be Faye (previously), positioned next to a tattoo that looks a little familiar, wouldn’t you say?

My boy, Waldemar, made for Valentine’s Day this drawing of me (then still on paper). A couple of months later, when he was bored, he decided to tattoo his masterpiece on his upper leg.

There, isn’t that better?

Ever since Michael Jackson died/was killed/got beamed back up to the mother ship/whatever, we’ve worked tirelessly to bring you the very best in tattoo portraiture to honor, poke fun at and generally remember the man and his music. Well, with the publication of this outstanding piece by Denis Prevost of Live Once Tattoo in North Bay, Ontario (on a 50-year-old client getting her second tattoo ever, no less), we’re going to close the book on ModBlog’s dogged pursuit of King of Pop pieces; we think this is a fine note on which to go out. Wouldn’t want to become too predictable, right? Right.

And with that, we’ll leave you for this evening. See you tomorrow, folks.

Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.