Summer is almost here which means that bikini season is only a few short weeks away. Modified mom Phantomlolita here is already taking advantage of the warmer weather and went down to the beach to soak up some sun.
Tattoos by Stan Finchem from Ocean Mystique’s Ink Gallery in Virginia Beach, VA
Hard to believe it’s been 14 years since Biggie was killed. His music still lives on, and as long as someone can make money off his memory, there will still be “new” songs published. He’ll also live on in this portrait that Kevin Gordon from Inkaholics in Monroe, NC did on JosephGutshall’s foot.
Not surprisingly you can find this and other portraits that Kevin has done in the portrait tattoo gallery.
Those of us that were around in the 80s might remember Duran Duran’s single “Girls on Film”. It’s a safe bet that if you’ve seen the video, you’ll never forget the song. So when a BMEGirl sends in some photos including a heart with the chorus for Girls on Film you know you’re in for a treat.
Those legs belong to lavenderbrown, who is the BMEGirl in question. To see the rest of her, you’ll have to keep on reading.
Credit for the heart goes to Loz from Westside in Brisbane, Aus, while the 80s cartoon inspired sleeve in progress is a collaborative piece from the artists at Illicit Tattoo in Auckland, NZ. If you look close you can see the outlines of Jem and Rainbow Brite.
You can see more photos of this lovely BMEGirl in the BMEGirls gallery. As well, you can check out more heart tattoos here, and cartoon tattoos here.
This eyebrow raising young man submitted his photos under the name “withoutmer”, and said that his tattoos include Silver Mt Zion neck tattoos, and a quote from The Crow on his chest.
Thanks to how the new galleries work, his photo can be found in several galleries, all relevant to his mods. So look for him in the face and neck tattoo, lettering tattoo, music tattoo, and ear stretching galleries.
Sebhudson proposed a challenge to his tattoo artist. Recreate the first 12 bars of Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in C sharp minor, Op. 3, No. 2″ completely freehand on his arm. Not an easy task considering he wanted it note perfect, in addition to having it look fantastic. Well Warren Gladwin from SRT Studios in Semaphore, South Australia stepped up to the conductor’s podium and delivered a tattoo that is exquisite both in execution and aesthetically.
And for those who aren’t familiar with this particular piece of music, you can hear it in the video below.
Picture yourself on a seat in a studio,
With tangerine inks and needles in your skin.
Somebody asks you, you answer quite proudly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.
Chris Lowe from Naked Art Tattoo in Odenton, MD is responsible for this wonderful interpretation of the classic Beatles song that was sent in by Deus_ex_machina.
Its an interesting mix of styles working in the piece. You have the soft blending of colours for the girl and the tangerines, but the river, bridge and fountain take on the artistic style from the Sgt. Pepper era. You can check out more of the details in the tangerines in the additional photos found in the music tattoo gallery.
Looking down at the last post, you can see just how powerful a modification can be. Trash’s facial branding is both a testament to his faith, but also his dedication to modifying himself.
Yet sometimes something small can have just as powerful an impact on a person as something large.
Take music for example, when you think of a song, so many emotions can be evoked. Happiness, sadness, the entire emotional spectrum is covered by some form of music. Yet when it comes down to the basics, music can simply be described as an arrangement of notes. Think of your favorite song, more than likely it would only take one or two notes for you to recognize it if you heard it on the radio. Those one or two notes is all it can take for you to not only recognize the song, but to also evoke whatever feelings you have when listening to it. Now try to imagine that same piece of music, but with a single note changed. Depending on the note and the arrangement, that single note can transform a song into something completely new, which in turn can evoke an entirely different emotional reaction.
To some, those single notes can affect them so deeply that the music can become part of their identity as a person. IAM: Sado_Erotique entitled this photo “Identity”, which shows just how much music, even a single note, is important to some of us.
This particular image is from the music tattoo gallery.
When looking for a video to open this post with I came to understand exactly why I’ve always thought Prince Rogers Nelson is one of the greatest musicians of all time. There isn’t anything he can’t do. Although to be fair, I’ve never seen him cook an omelet. Think about it, this little dude from Minnesota has over the course of his life (so far) has put out 10 platinum albums and over 30 top40 singles, not to mention the hundreds of awards he’s got lining his walls.
Granted The Artist hasn’t gone without his share of controversy. In the early 80s it was his song Darling Nikki that prompted Tipper Gore to push for explicit lyrics sticker that everyone who has owned a CD should be familiar with. Of course nobody can forget when he changed his name to 
which caused writers everywhere to go crazy trying to figure out how to spell his new name. His record label troubles made front pages everywhere, especially after he started appearing in public with the word “SLAVE” written on his face. There was also the rumors that always circulated about him. How he would change his clothes 20 times a day, how he has this vault of thousands of songs that are locked away, and of course his “awakening” (his words) which led him to become a Jehovah’s Witness, which Kevin Smith mocked mercilessly during one of his Q&A videos.
So is it any wonder that his fans are so passionate about him? The Purple Yoda has consistently produced incredible works of music, and in 2007 performed that Superbowl half-time show in the video that people describe as the best show ever. While some may only think of him for his pop songs from the 80s and 90s, others for his soul albums, some admire his films, and well, some just love The Bat Dance, many people tend to forget that he is consistently rated one of the top 10 guitarists ever to perform.
IAM: mook is one such fan of Prince, and recently got a tattoo that shows her love of His Purple Badness.
I’ll admit I did giggle a little when I saw it next to the bat symbol.
But mook here does show her passion for one of her favorite artists. Music is a powerful thing, it can bring about feelings of love, sadness, anger, and more, simply by listening to it. If tattoos are meant to be an external representation of our inner feelings, to identify with a particular artist is something that can seem natural to some people. I can’t count the number of Nine Inch Nails, Misfits, or Tool tattoos I’ve seen over the years, so the band tattoo is hardly a new thing. Just take a look at the music galleries on BME and you’ll see artists and musicians from all genres represented.
I suppose the question that could be asked it, what is it about a specific band or artist that can touch your soul to the point that you need to have them become one with your skin?
First things first. Take a minute to enjoy the Al Green. Now think to yourself, how does one mend a broken heart. The sarcastic ones out there will naturally say “bypass surgery”, but to anyone who has ever suffered having a broken heart, there is no one single answer. Some people find solace in food. Others in the company of friends and family. A lot just need the passage of time to help heal their wounds. But for a great many, music is the cure for their ails. If you think about how many songs have been written about lost loves and heartbreak, you’ll spend months trying to finish the list. I’m pretty sure the entire country music industry wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for heartbreak.
So when I saw this tattoo in the galleries I thought to myself, what music do I turn to when I’m down? I couldn’t really pinpoint a single song, but I’m pretty sure it’s something loud and obnoxious. For others, it could be a soft pop song from the 80s that John Hughes used in one of his films. I’m sure those who enjoy country music have an ample supply. The point is, everyone deals with heartbreak differently. To mtpchick18, music is what helps her through a breakup.
What about you? What music do you listen to when your heart is lying shattered on the floor?
While perusing the tattoo portrait galleries looking for potential modblog features I saw a TON of amazing portraits done by Javier (Jade) Campos at Arte Sagrado Tattoo in Lima, Peru. Seriously check out the gallery, then check out the shops web site. In the gallery there were portraits of Jim Morrison, Scott Weiland and about a dozen others. I of course, picked my personal favorite artist of the bunch, Mike Ness to feature here.
