Author Archives: Shannon Larratt

Betty Boop Tattoo

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Candy got this skeletal Betty Boop tattoo done by Kris Roberts at Shipwreck Tattoo in Corpus Christi, Texas. She explains,

I grew to love Betty Boop as a child and now that I’m older, I have a passion for animation because of her creator, Max Fleischer. I wanted to commemorate Betty as she represents not only loves of mine, but also female history as well as the history of animation. I did not want to just get a straight up portrait of Betty because her image has been strewed over the years. Modern Betty has a stereotype of Harley Davidson and Playboy which I didn’t want to portray on my body.

I was browsing the internet one day and came across the online portfolio of artist Michael Paulus who had drafted skeletons for a bunch of cartoon characters, including Betty. I thought his designers were soooo clever! As soon as I saw his Betty, I knew it was the perfect imagery. I emailed him asking for permission, which he granted!

I took these images to my tattoo artist and asked him to come up with something “neo-traditional” and 1930s themed and to have Betty’s skull decorated dia de los muertos style (to celebrate her death*). Kris came up with this amazing composition and the rest is history! One thing that I think is really amazing is that when Kris drew up the design, he put a sacred jaw on her forehead because he noticed that she did not have a jaw. It was funny because when Micheal e-mailed me granting permission for the tattoo, he included this little tidbit: “You might have noticed that I omitted the lower jaw of Betty. Was never sure if she indeed have a jaw, although she does obviously talk!”

Funny how that worked out!

* Betty’s death = her censorship. ‘America’ forced her to move into a small apartment with a small pet dog and lengthened her skirt. Betty was no longer free to be the independent sexy women she once was. Weveral of her cartoons were banned as well.

“My first, his second”

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I sure like these suspension portraits that Chris Asadian took of this suspension of Josh and MissPiss, assisted by J.C. from Pangea Piercing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She writes,

The first time you suspend is like the first time you have sex; nervous beforehand, feelings of excitement and yet complete vulnerability, indecisions, and of course…pain. I’ve built up suspension in my head for so long. I’ve read a million different experiences and articles and I could barely watch a video of someone suspending without aching with jealousy. So it would obviously come to pass that I would be super excited about finally getting my chance to suspend. I saw the look on my boyfriend Josh’s face when he got down from the hooks for the first time so long ago. I saw the satisfaction in someone’s eyes when they were finally able to get off the ground in their two-point chest suspension. I wanted that. I wanted a million different things out of my suspension and I wasn’t even sure what I was in for yet. I’ve done a flesh pull once before and had an amazing time. People, places, attitudes… It just fit and I had an absolute blast. Suspensions can’t be that much harder, can they?

The familiar feeling of the needles piercing my back sent me into my first tizzy. Four hooks were finally in and it was time for a breather. I was already shaking. A little bit of energy drink to bump up my sugar a bit and it was time to lace me up to the rig. Getting off of my feet was incredibly difficult. Not just the way it screws with your head with the concept of everything, but the pain was extreme. I held tightly to Josh with my legs around him as he urged me forward and upward. I closed my eyes and tried to relax per his requests. Everything started to tingle… I wondered… was this the endorphin rush? And then it hit me; I knew that feeling. I was passing out. I forced my eyes open because I knew that nothing good could come out of passing out under these kind of extreme circumstances.

“Don’t let go… don’t let go…”

I kept saying that, panicked, looking at Josh who was standing in front me and holding my hands. I was lifted higher… higher… I started getting dizzy… and then…

“You have to let go… you have to do this alone.”

A deep breath and… I was off. My feet dangled a foot above the ground. My arms were completely immobilized, shoulders up to my ears practically with the weight of my form on the hooks. I had done it. I was suspending! J.C. and Josh were spouting things at me about how great I was doing and cheering me on but I could barely focus. And then… sweat… dizzy… intense pain. I felt like I was going to pass out another time and I tried to push it away and out of my head. Then the nausea hit, and it hit hard. It was at that point that I knew I was done.

My body had been through enough and mind-over-matter just wasn’t cutting it anymore. I whimpered for them to quickly bring me down and that I was feeling ill. Getting down from there was a terrible feeling, honestly. I hadn’t done everything I came to do. I suspended… but… I just expected more out of myself. With my overwhelmingly good response from the flesh pull, I figured that this wouldn’t be too much different. Boy was I wrong. I immediately burst into tears. They weren’t just tears of disappointment.. they were tears of pure emotion and raw… “raw me”, I guess.

Corporate Logos

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I suspect that this is the only time you’ll see a HOME DEPOT tattoo. This was done, I assume on someone on their racing team, by Stan Hanewich at Scorpion Tattooing in Derry, NH.

In terms of corporate tattoos, the Kool-Aid guy is quite a bit more common… Here he is by Thomas at Baby Blues Tattoos in Bradenton, FL, full of sweet tea.

Connection-Tattoo Irony

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Of the et tu, Brute tattoo below, the wearers explain, “it’s a tribute to the future demise of our relationship.”

Well, at least they’ll only have to get tattooed once… KC at Under Your Skin Tattoo in Cedar Bluff, Alabama did this “VOID” tattoo over an ex-wife’s name, a theme I’ve seen more than once twice thrice.

Team Christ

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Yeah, I really hope that Natalie gets kicked off BB9 tonight. But anyway…

The script in this tattoo by Brian at Atomic Age in Mechanicsburgh, PA, reads “This I Know”, like the song, explains the wearer…

I was on a plane leaving the French West Indies after a month-long cross cultural college course. We were headed for Philadelphia, but there was an electrical short in the cockpit when the plane was somewhere over the Bermuda Triangle. The smell of melting plastic and smoke filled the cabin and we thought we were going down for a watery death in the Atlantic. I was terrified with most of the other passengers. One man even wrote up his will a few seats ahead of me.

The college group I was with from Messiah College started singing “Jesus loves me, this i know, for the Bible tells me so.” Hearing that song reaffirmed my faith and brought me a solace I never thought I could feel in a time like that. I told myself that if I lived through the experience, I was going to get that tattooed. That song states such a foundational understanding of my Christianity and because the whole experience tested my faith, I realize how vital my relationship is with my Creator. God brought me through that, and now I have a permanent reminder that I know I am loved.

I’ve heard of plenty of people promising God they’d be good Christians if they survived whatever, but this might be the first time I’ve heard of someone promising God they’d get tattooed if they survived!

See more in “Lettering Tattoos“ (Tattoos)