I’ve always had a pet bird of some kind. Currently, we’ve got 2 budgies named Eric and Bill. They are loud and annoying but still cute. This budgie tattoo, appropriately titled “Parakeet Dork” bears a striking resemblance to Bill! A little humour does a body good. This one was inked by Nick Friederich of Shelton Tattoo in Shelton, CT.
Maybe that horrible screeching noise the birds keep making is actually them calling me a dork…
It’s time for yet another fantastic piece by Michael from Kipod Tattoo Studio in Tel Aviv. The first image is just a small part of a much larger piece that combines so many different elements.
While I’ve never seen a 3-eyed horned owl before, I imagine it would probably look something like that. Keep reading to see where the dragonflies come into play.
Moving around the leg, you can see the dragonflies coming into play, as well as a glimpse of the skull the owl is resting on.
To see the rest of the piece, head on over to the Kipod tattoo portfolio, you won’t be disappointed.
The gang from Kipod Tattoo Studio in Tel Aviv have done it again. Last time we saw something from them it was a large bio-mech peice. This time we’ve got a pretty big tribal-ish snake that looks a little angry.
Now I know what you’re thinking, “big deal, he’s got a snake on his ribs and chest, I’ve seen bigger snakes than that in my backyard.” Well you honestly don’t think this is the entire snake do you? Keep on reading to see just how big this cobra is.
I’m not sure exactly which artist did this particular piece, as they’ve got a bunch of excellent artists there. They’ve all been busy the past couple of weeks as well, as they’ve uploaded a significant number of images recently. You can check out the rest of their latest tattoos over in the Kipod Tattoo Portfolio.
This late summer piece is by none other than Fabrizio Divari, from Toronto. This work in progress features apples, poppies, as well as a couple of bees. The time when the apples in an orchard are changing color, and those big lazy bumblebees are flying around, spreading the last of the pollen for the season.
Head over to the nature and wildlife galleries to check out more images like this one.
Remember, ModBlog relies on images submitted by you, the reader. So if you have something you’d like to share, upload it to BMEzine.com, fill in all the boxes so the artist can get credit, and who knows, it may appear on ModBlog one day.
Many people credit Walt Disney as the man behind bringing animation to the masses. Sure Walt did a lot to create an empire based on a whistling mouse, and has brought smiles to the faces of countless people all over the world, but there was always something lacking with his cartoons, they were missing a little bite.
Thankfully Tex Avery stepped up to the plate, and brought the world Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the Looney Toons characters. The cartoons Tex created weren’t just for kids, in fact quite a few of his works were “banned” for a while because they were deemed too risqué for some audiences. It was these cartoons that really paved the way for many animators to see that animated movies and shorts could be targeted to a larger audience. So while the big mouse was carving out his slice of the pie, Tex and those who came after him skipped the pie and went right for the devil’s food cake.
Cartoons didn’t need to be all flowers and rainbows, they could raunchy, violent, and sarcastic. Is it any wonder so many people love his cartoons?
So while browsing the old school tattoo galleries I came across this take on Tex’s “Wolf” character uploaded by Thakkrad. The leering, catcalling, oversexed cartoon character that was created as part of a re-telling of the Red Riding Hood story, appropriately named “Red Hot Riding Hood”. The one thing I noticed though was in some of the details. I really like how the artist took the classic Tex wolf, and infused some aspects from the works of Ed Roth (of Rat Fink fame). The exaggerated tongue and the bold colors in the hair really work well with the iconic image of Avery’s wolf.
Were you a Looney Toons fan, or was Mickey and company more your tastes?
Missmarymac graciously submitted the following image to our nature and wildlife galleries the other day. I wish I could provide more information on the tattoo, unfortunately all I have to work with is her name.
Which is what I’d like to talk about. BME’s galleries are all user generated, which means we rely on you, the members to send us in images of your modifications. You’ll notice after every ModBlog post a link to submit pictures. If you’ve never submitted an image before, there are a number of different boxes you can fill out when uploading your pictures. The one in particular you should pay attention to is the artist information. We feature quite few images on ModBlog every week and the question I get asked most often is “who performed that modification”. Sometimes the answer is right there next to the photo, other times the artists submit the images themselves so it’s easy to guess, if its an IAM member I can check their page to see if they wrote about it, but a lot of the times I don’t have the information to share.
So next time you go to upload an image, remember to think of your practitioner, I’m sure they would love to credited for their work, especially if it’s being seen all over the world.
One final thing before I get to the image. When BMEzine.com switched over to the new gallery format, a new feature was added; The ability to add comments to an image. So if you see an image you like, feel free to say something about it on the gallery page. Users are able to see the comments people add about their mods, so go ahead and let them know what you think. So if you happen to like Missmarymac’s moth tattoo, just add a comment here.
Sometimes I like to get introspective and thoughtful about the posts I make here. Other times, I just like to post something that is just bright and cheery to liven up my day.
Foxmommy23 uploaded these images of her feet and the seahorses on them to the nature and wildlife tattoo galleries. From the description she provided, these are dedicated to her siblings, and I would assume the numbers are birthdates.
There’s just something about these little guys that screams “CUTE!!!”. I know, I’m a guy, I’m supposed to like beer and monster trucks and tattoos of skulls and daggers. So what? So much of our lives are taken up by living up to others expectations. We need to perform as best we can at work, not because we love our jobs, but because that is what is expected of us. In relationships there are times where we need to step up and do something we may not want or need to do, just so we can meet the expectations of our loved ones.
Of course this doesn’t apply to everyone. I love my job because I get to share with the ModBlog readers things they may not have thought about in a given day. Sure I could just throw up a picture and say “Hey, look at this!”, but I think you guys and gals and others deserve more than that. Sometimes doing something for yourself can become the most satisfying feeling possible. Heck, looking at it from a mod standpoint, when we get modded we’re doing it for ourselves, and I’m willing to bet most of you get some degree of satisfaction by doing it. So, go. Be selfish for a day. Treat yourself to something, or do something no matter the consequence. Just do it for you.
Think about it, when was the last time you went out an exceeded someone’s expectations just for yourself?. You were given a task to do, and instead of just doing the basics, you went out and made it something that you love and something more than what could ever be asked of you. That’s what I want you to do, do something for you!
So, what are you thinking of doing?
So picture this: You’re sitting at home, thinking to yourself, “Self, I think I want to save some animals today”. Now you’re stuck because it’s not like you can just run outside and physically protect an endangered animal, especially if the animal is one of those cute fuzzy ones that can rip your throat out in a heartbeat. So what can you possibly do?
Well, donating money is definitely a great way to help out, and heck, for most donations you get a tax write-off. So you should probably do that. But what if that doesn’t satisfy you? There must be something you can do that wouldn’t take you to a far away country living in the wilderness.
Well what about getting a tattoo? I’m sure one or two ModBlog readers have some of those. Actually I’d hope so, or else all the tattoo pictures I’ve posted are going to waste.
Back to the helping animals thing. It turns out two separate organizations on opposite sides of the globe have found a way to turn getting a tattoo into something that can help the planet.
First, there’s TATZOO, an eco-contest that promises free tattoos in exchange for help protecting endangered species! Fifteen finalists were selected on Aug. 5 based on their ideas for raising awareness about the leatherback turtle, California condor, or other endangered species local to the Bay area. Those tattoo-loving finalists now need to engage at least 100 people with their idea — for which they’ll be rewarded with a free tattoo of their endangered species, inked by locally famous tattoo artists.
And farther away in Melbourne, a three-day tattoo convention called Rites of Passage Festival calls all tattoo-loving environmentalists to enjoy art and music along with environmental education (via The Green Life). According to the website, the festival will showcase eco-friendly tattoo supplies — and raise funds for rain forests
In the case of the Rites of Passage Festival (not to be confused with the lovely boys and girls in the suspension crew), 100% of their proceeds go towards the charity. So if you happen to be in or around Melbourne at the end of January, head on over. You never know, you could save a spider monkey from being run over by clear cutting operation.
Personally, I’ve donated money to a couple of charities over the years. I know the WWF has a program where you can buy a stuffed animal with the money going to save the real version of the animal. I hope George “The Animal” Steele got the money ok. That green tongue of his won’t change color on its own. Do any of you have a favorite charity you help out when you can? Is there a reason why you chose that one in particular?
There’s something inherently beautiful about a greyscale tattoo. Especially one as well done as this lion that Metalmegan uploaded, which was done by Kyzer from Mainstreet Tattoo in Ohio.
The shading, particularly around the mouth is incredible.
I think part of the appeal of a well done portrait/greyscale tattoo, is the ability to really capture the essence of the subject matter. It’s often possible to see a portrait done that appears to have been done with charcoal, and not a needle. Obviously in the close-up of the middle image you can see the stippling from the needle, but in the image on the right they’ve disappeared as it healed.
Now we’ve all seen those bad tattoo blogs where there’s the image of a portrait side by side with a picture of the subject and they look nothing alike, or worse, they look like the subject only made ugly. Thankfully this isn’t the case here. It does make me wonder though, what would happen if I got a portrait done, and it turned out horrible. As is the case with a tattoo like this, it really is in the hands of the artists to bring the image to life. It’s one thing to look at the stencil in the mirror and see it look like a perfect outline of the picture, but it all depends on the artist to really bring it to life. The shading and detail work are the things that really matter, and by the looks of the image, it’s something Kyzer has managed to pull off.
If you head over to the nature and wildlife galleries you can take a look at the full sized image, to get a closer look at some of the finer details.
The lovely Ms.Book uploaded this picture yesterday and I couldn’t get it onto ModBlog fast enough. The piece, by Damian Campagnaro, is still in process, but the photo is incredible. I’m actually just going to leave it here for you to enjoy. No witty commentary, just a fantastic picture.
If you have some time today, check out the Wildlife and Nature tattoo galleries. There’s a lot of brilliant images in there.
