Let Bear Grylls Catch You Some Breakfast

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

Is there a better way to wake up than to a tattoo of Bear Grylls, the manliest Briton since, I don’t know, the Queen Mother, chowing down on some tendons? No. No there is not. And to the inevitable people who will feel the need to pipe up and claim that Man Vs. Wild is faked or exaggerated or what have you, let me just say you are a heartless cockblocker and I hope a meteor shower hits your television. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go eat a live rabbit stuffed inside a live turtle, for protein.

(Tattoo by Dustin at FX Tattoos in Asthabula, Ohio.)

See more in “Old School (and Old) Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

Don’t Bother to Get the Elevator, I’ll Just Jump Out the Window

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

We’ve posted a different rendering of this same shot of Al Bundy (né Ed O’Neill) and, my childhood (childlike?) devotion to Married … With Children aside, it’s interesting to see how drastically different two artists can approach the same subject matter (which I’m quite sure is this).

(Tattoo by Ray Lee at Blackletter Studio in Whittier, California.)

See more in “Portrait Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

Long Intervals of Horrible Sanity

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

Consider this Edgar Allen Poe portrait (by Curtis Richter from Art-n-Soul Studios in Allentown, Pennsylvania) a precursor to a wonderful interview that we’ll be putting up this afternoon, a piece that touches, among other things, on why we often “see thirty tattoos of puns, but no tattoos of poetry.” Keep an eye out for that later on.

The Cloud Fleets

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

So, when we received this photo, I just assumed it was some kind of “white trash” tattoo, whether prideful or ironic or whatever. Then I checked the image’s information and, in addition to seeing it was submitted by the excellent Johnny Stiletto at Baltimore Street in Hanover, Pennsylvania, there was a line about “Internet superstar Brian Peppers” and orders to “Google it, mo-fo!” Mercifully, I had never heard of Brian Peppers, but I figured, Hey, what’s the harm in keeping abreast of an Internet meme?

In conclusion, I hate the Internet.

Swinging in the Chariot

Posted on February 5, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

Oh hey, it’s whathisname, that terribly unpopular fella from the television, Emperor Hope Hussein? Something like that? Anyway, Tony Styles from Long Island, New York, sent in this happy rendering of the man, with Martin Luther King Jr. behind him, keeping a watchful eye. Also, nice to see this is the American version of the president, what with the flag pin and all. Crisis averted.

See more in “Tony Styles Portfolio“ (Tattoo Artist Portfolios)

A Supposedly Fun Thing

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

This is Laura’s sweet tribute tattoo for her parents, done by Wendi Ramirez at Shaman Modifications in Austin, Texas. I have to say, dad looks like a fun guy. Panama hat? Mustache? Aloha shirt? Nicely done. I’m a sucker for cruise-wear, what can I say?

See more in “Portrait Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

This is the Girl

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

Meltbanana sends in this photo of her new “Zombie Elvis” tattoo. It’s a very well done piece, so I mean absolutely no disrespect whatsoever, but I had no idea Zombie Elvis looks so much like alive David Lynch. That’s good, though, because I wasn’t planning on sleeping for the next 50 years anyway.

(Tattoo by Marco Lari at Quetzal Tattoo in Milan, Italy.)

See more in “Sci-Fi Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

A Goal is a Dream with a Deadline

Posted on January 14, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

I do not really know anything about soccer. In fact, everything I know about it, I pretty much learned from this blog post. But a cursory reading of Wikipedia will show that this impressive portrait tattoo is of Juan Sebastián Verón, an Argentine footballer currently manning the midfield for Estudiantes de La Plata. Apparently, Verón is kind of a big deal:

In 2004, he was chosen for the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as part of FIFA’s centenary observances.

Wait a second — I’m no word scientist or nothin’, but why is the FIFA 100 a list of 125 players? Man, I really don’t understand soccer at all.

(Tattoo by Andres Hurtado from La City Tattoo in La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, while doing a guest-spot at Tattoo Lou’s in Long Island, New York.)

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A Million Uppercuts

Posted on January 12, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

Despite the fact that “A Milli” makes me want to jam tuning forks into my eardrums, Lil Wayne is the best. I don’t know how he manages to maintain the incredible mainstream popularity he has while being such a goddamn weirdo at the same time, but the world is a better place for it. Anyway, this tattoo has everything you could want in a celebrity portrait. Appropriate alterations to fit the body? Check. Hilarious photo choice? Check. Exquisite grill detail? Oh god yes. Also, this is neat, because I’m pretty sure that was the first time the phrase “exquisite grill detail” has been used, at all, ever.

(Tattoo by Ryan Hadley in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.)

That Lonesome Whippoorwill

Posted on January 5, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

You know, between Jesus-Lemmy and his own private Mt. Rushmore of country music legends up there (left to right: Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and David Allan Coe), Sean is really building up quite the bad-ass collection of music tattoos, isn’t he?

A shot of the rest of the piece, after the jump.

(Tattoo by Tony “Humpty” Arias at Starlight Tattoo in Las Vegas, Nevada.)