Michael and The Legend of Zelda

I was walking up Seventh Avenue back in August when I spotted Michael, taking on break on the sidewalk, soaking in the summer pedestrian traffic.

He is a video game programmer who works for a firm called Atom Apps and has his own company called Broken Home Studios.

I noticed he had tattoos and, given his vocation, it made sense that the ink he shared with me had a gaming theme:

These logos are from the classic video game, The Legend of Zelda, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011.  When I asked why he had an affinity for Zelda, Michael explained:

"It helped me get through a very violent parent thing. It was like, the little boy, sent into the world, by himself, alone, to fight all the bad things coming at him. And, he didn't do this on his own. He was put into this against his will, like I was, with my situation. He was able to survive and fight and conquer and have a happy ending, and that's why I have that affinity for that character and that game - because I vicariously lived through that character to escape my own issues."

He got both Zelda pieces at Screamin' Ink Tattoo off of Route 4 in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Ian Shafer did the piece on the left

and he attributed the piece on the right to an artist he only remembered as Bob.

I'm familiar with the artists at Screamin' Ink, having witnessed their work up close at the last two NYC Tattoo Conventions. In fact, the work highlighted in this post, by Ian, is among the more amazing tattoos I have had the privilege to see up close.

Thanks to Michael for sharing these tattoos with us here on Tattoosday, and for being so forthright about the inspiration behind them as they related to his difficult childhood.

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

NYC Tattoo Convention Spotlight: Steve's Phenomenal Celtic Cross

Among the many amazing tattoos I saw last Saturday, this cross belonging to Steve was among my favorites:

There's really not much to it, other than amazing colors and craftsmanship.

Steve explained that the design is a nod to his Irish heritage, inspired by the Book of Kells, as exemplified by the Celtic knot in the center of the piece. He estimated that the half-sleeve, which circles the whole arm, represents about 30 hours of work.

He praised the work of Agent at Screamin' Ink Tattoos in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. For those familiar with our annual NYC Tattoo Convention recaps, Screamin' Ink was the shop that featured my favorite tattoo from last year (revisit it here).

Thanks to Steve for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Bryan's Memorial Rose

Bryan was around the corner from where I work with this rose on display:

Perched on his left elbow, the tattoo is identical to one that a friend of his had.

When his friend died, Bryan chose to commemorate his friend's memory by going to the artist that did the original tattoo on his friend, and asked for the same drawing be used to recreate the tattoo on himself.

The artist was Agent at Screamin' Ink Tattoo in New Jersey.

Thanks to Bryan for sharing this memorable tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Dispatch from the NYC Tattoo Convention - Greg's Amazing Back Piece

My wife Melanie and I were standing at the balcony, looking down at the floor of the Roseland Ballroom this past weekend at the New York City Tattoo Convention. This offered us a great vantage point of the stage and the mass of inked humanity in attendance.

Just to our left down below was one shop booth where a guy was standing with blue tattoos on his arms and you could tell he had color on his back, as well. Occasionally, he would turn toward our position and pull up his shirt to reveal his back to people in the booth. Camera clashes blinked and faces lit up with surprise, shock, and sheer admiration.

The first time I saw this, it piqued my curiosity, but so did a lot of things at the show. Then , we saw why he was eliciting such reactions. He turned away from us to reveal one of the more amazing back pieces I have seen. I decided that I'd love to have this as my obligatory post from the convention.

Behold, his work, up close:

Greg, the host of this astonishing tattoo, spent one and a half years having this worked on by Ian Shafer at Screamin' Ink Tattoo & Body Piercing in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Greg also has this pretty cool Jaws tattoo on his upper left arm:

and this amazing Great White shark on the inside of his biceps:

Greg explained to me that, aside from the obvious love of sharks that he has, the original film was the first movie he remembers seeing with his father. It doesn't hurt that he's a Pisces, either, one of the water-based astrological signs.

And, in case you were wondering, Greg told several of us who were admiring the work that the most painful part of this tattoo was the work on the buttocks. Ouch.

I took photos of several other tattoos that Greg had but decided they would just detract from this phenomenal tattoo.

A hearty thanks to Greg who was very cool in showing off his work on a day where I'm sure he had to remove his shirt more than a few times.