Aberration Pro Custom Tattoo Opening November 3rd at new South Beloit Location

We've completed the move from Belvidere and were setting up the shop at the new location at 611 BlawkHawk Blvd in South Beloit. We will reopen on November 3rd at noon. We still have the same great artist and the same great prices. Come on down and see us as we bring our ink slinging skills to the South Beloit Area.

Happy Halloween from Tattoosday!

Here at Tattoosday, we're celebrating Halloween by posting the spookiest tattoo seen in the last month or so. Well, maybe not the spookiest, but certainly the most holiday-related tattoo:

This was offered up by Robert, who I met in Borders Penn Plaza last month. And yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, that is Frankenstein driving a Chevy (that's the stick shift he's gripping). Robert credits Adel at Addiction NYC with this tattoo.

Thanks to Robert for helping us celebrate Halloween here on Tattoosday!

Death of Fangs

DiamondFangs passed away this morning on 31st October 2010 @ 06:06am. He left a suicide note saying the Demon has come to take him away. He will be greatly missed by his friends and his Sinners who got inked by him. Immortal Tattoos, Singapore will now be taken over by Kugan.

-For tattoo appointments, please EMAIL - tattoos@diamondfangs.com
-MSN only for Kugan - Kugan@diamondfangs.com
-MSN/EMAIL for female models - Models@diamondfangs.com

(for more works of Kugan, pls look at immortal-tattoos.blogspot.com)

His final Note :

Dear World,

I am not some psychotic fuck or pathetic loser trying to end my torturous existence. I am not one of those faggots, using suicide as a cry for help. I have a very good reason.

I am not drunk, upset or lonely. I am not doing this to protest against anything. I tried to adapt in this scorched World that is filled with nothing but lies. But, The Demon has come to claim what is his.

I lost my bet with The Devil Himself. I told him I would sacrifice Sinners to fulfill his hunger but I was too late. I failed and I will take it like a champion.

I am at the top of the mountain pissing down on the rest of you. Unfortunately, the days ahead of me will never be as good as tonight. So I have nothing to look forward to.

I have done what I had to in the past and I have no regrets today as I write this note. I will surrender to The Devil and face whatever punishment that will be placed on me, while in Hell.

It is truly the best night that could and will ever be, which is why my life must end tonight. Life can now only get worse. Nothing is left for me here in this horrid World.

-Diamond Fangs-

P.S. Tell everyone I'm not psychotic.

Ashlee Channels Snow White

This work in progress is on Ashlee's arm:

The tattoo features Snow White at the top of the arm, with the witch's hand proffering an apple, wrapping around the arm:

Ashlee explained that the tattoo is commenting on how superficial the world is and how the idea of Beauty was the downfall of the title character, at least until she was rescued from her poison-induced slumber.

The tattoo is the work of Eric at King Pin Tattoos in Harker Heights, Texas. Work from Kingpin appeared previously in August 2008 on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Ashlee for sharing her work with us here on Tattoosday!

Maori Samoan tattoo design for the shoulder

Hi,

As mentioned yesterday, I worked on a new flash design that you can order on this blog. I just finished it today and it's a combination of a Maori inspired tribal with some Samoan elements/shapes added to it.
On a rainy afternoon (one of the many in Holland ;)) I just started sketching when watching television, so not really paying attention to what I was drawing, just doodling around.
To my surprise it really just came out of my hands.

Here's the sketch I'm talking about:

This was a good quick tattoo sketch to start a final design from. So I set up my work table, took my pencil box and redrew the design on a sheet of A3 paper.

I started with the swirl of spearheads, because that is the main theme in this tatoo.
Then I added the koru shape below the shoulder which is overlapped a little to create a depth/dimension.
I really enjoy to create flowing lines, with a flawless curve.
Finally I added the right side of the tattoo and made some Samoan inspired patterns with triangles, fish shapes and overlapping strokes.

Once the sketch was finished I traced it with a black marker and scanned it.
Finally I added the shading of the different areas and retouched some small blemishes and spots in Photoshop.

Here's the final shoulder tattoo.

The original size is 29 x 21,5 cm (11 x 8,5 inches), but it can be scaled to adjust it to your arm/shoulder.

Price for this design is 41,65 euro (58 US dollar)

If you wish to order it, simply press the "Buy now" button and you will be redirected to the Paypal site for the payment.

Any questions? Just let me know.

Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com

Nesting Dolls and a Zombie, Courtesy of Kristin

Last month, I ran into Kristin at the Penn Plaza Borders store.

She has ten tattoos, but the piece on her shin was the first one I spotted:

These Russian nesting dolls represents the friendship Kristin has with her friend Kyle (thus, the merging of their names into "Kryle").

It was tattooed by Bret from Electric Tattoo in Pasadena, Maryland.

Kristin also shared another tattoo, one certainly more appropriate for our current season. Check out this amazing tattoo:

This cool zombie piece was inked by Kike Castillo at Timmy Tattoo in Huntington, New York.

Kristin says that Kike is one of her favorite artists and she is happy for him to provide her with great body art. "He needed someone," she told me, referring to this particular tattoo, and "I'm always game". Tattoo artists love clients that let them do their thing, and you can tell with this great piece of art.

Thanks to Kristin for sharing her cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

ibite

Fancy a ghoulish ink for the Darkest Night of the year?

S$6.66 for Vampyre Bite Tattoo on any part of your body !!

Be Immortalized by Diamond Fangs.

(Please bring exact change - cuz we don't want to piss The Devil off)

- Spread the plague to your friends !! -

Come and support us !! --------------------iBite--------------------

Some updates by me! I just had the time to sort some pictures out, apologise for that. Do enjoy! If you like something done, i am contactable via mobile +65 93388479 or email inkedz@hotmail.com

Weihao's 3/4 Sleeve. The shading is all done up... Gonna start on the colors soon!



Jay! He did 2 thighs in a short time. Respect him! My MOST CONSISTENT customer!!!
Sorry for the dragon, it was taken by my mobile...



Lastly, this customer was flew in from somewhere to get a cover up. Was finished in 2 weeks. Thank you Lawrence. We will see us real soon again! :)




-Gabriel

Amanda's Phoenix

Amanda has two tattoos, one of which she shared with me at the end of August in the Penn Plaza Borders store.

This is the tattoo she designed:

Amanda was inspired by the "compelling mythology of phoenixes" and had Bobby at Modern Age Tattoo in Nanuet, New York, translate the design into the final product.

The quote, in Latin, "post tenebras lux" means "After darkness, light". This mirrors the life cycle of the mythological phoenix who dies, bound in flame, only to be reborn from the ashes. Clicking here will display the vast array of phoenixes that have appeared on Tattoosday previously.

In other words, even when things appear their darkest, affirmation is just within reach.

Thanks to Amanda for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Silver fern storm3d style tattoo

Hi there,

Another nice project today, a client asked me to draw a New Zealand/Maori silver fern in my own "storm3d" style.

The tattoo would be placed just below his arm to just above the hip, around 30 cm in height, quite a large tatoo.

First I made a sketch:



















You can see a row of spearheads and some abstract leaves in a repetitive rythm.
I added a curve to the fern so it would flow nicely on the clients body.
The first sketch was approved, so I could trace the design with a marker, scan it and add some nice shadings to the leaves and arrowheads.
The high quality picture looks like this:





I'm working on a new design that will be for sale on this blog, a Maori inspired design with a touch of Samoan elements.
Tomorrow I will add some pictures and maybe I have finished it by that time.

Just check back soon!

Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com

Gary's Three Knuckles Speak Volumes

I spotted Gary standing at the top of some escalators in Penn Station. As I passed him, I noticed he had knuckle tattoos so I stopped to ask him about them:

Gary explained that they are Korean characters

that translate to "Soo Bahk Do," or "The Way of the Striking Hand".

Soo Bahk Do is a form of martial arts that originated in Korea.

This unassuming gentleman has studied the form for seventeen years and is a third degree black belt. Gary studied at East Winds Karate in Port St. John, Florida.

The tattoo was inked at a shop on Eight Avenue in Bayonne, New Jersey.

Thanks to Gary for sharing his "striking" tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Maori design on my powerkite

Hi,

As a hobby next to designing tattoos, I really like to fly powerkites. These kites have 4 lines, two for steering and two for braking.
I bought my first powerkite a year ago, a 4m2 Peter Lynn Twister, which has a really good lift.
This kite can lift me of the ground, sometimes even 2 meters in strong winds.

Some people create their own kites, so I would like to try that. First I started with a 1.7 square meters, small kite.
This really was a great experience, from printing the template panels (around 160 A4 sheets), sticking it together, cutting the panels (around 100 pieces in total) to sewing them together with my "new" Pfaff 1221 sewing machine:











This was the model I created in the program "Surfplan", which is ideal for creating your own foils and power kites.











Here are a few pictures of the process and the completed kite:





















Any questions? Just send me a message!

Kind regards, Mark Storm

The Tattoosday Book Review: Kat Von D's The Tattoo Chronicles

You can say a lot of things about Kat Von D. She is arguably one of the most well-known tattoo artists in the United States, if not the world. This fact, to old school tattoo enthusiasts, is not necessarily a good thing. She is the star of the hit "reality" series, L.A. Ink, has her own make-up line at Sephora, and on October 26, her second book, The Tattoo Chronicles, is being released by HarperCollins Design. And whether you love her or hate her, it's hard to argue the fact that this book, like its predecessor High Voltage Tattoo, is a lovely effort that looks and feels amazing.

Like her first book (reviewed last year on Tattoosday here), Kat Von D lets you into her world, with glossy detailed photos of her work and clients. But whereas her first book shows mostly her public persona, the new effort gives us an inside look at the inner thoughts and feelings of someone who is portrayed very much as a "character" on her television show.

It is L.A. Ink that has brought her fame, yet also the scorn and scrutiny of her detractors. The new book lets us peek behind the scenes and, if you didn't realize this already, the Kat Von D you see on the show is not the whole package. Through a diary/journal format, the reader is granted greater access to Kat's true emotions and feelings. We finally get to peek behind the character Kat Von D and meet the person.

It was on Page 44 where I first felt the facade truly come down. She talks about getting booed in the shop by "fans" who resent that she won't drop what she's doing to pose for photos for them, and there is the matter of the stalker who freaked everyone out in the shop. Granted, these are consequences nowadays for success of her order, but you certainly believe that such consequences were not anticipated when she headed down the road to fame.

It is also fascinating to read Kat's frustration with the onset of another season of L.A. Ink. If you're looking for validation that the only thing real on the show is the tattoos, it's here. I was reminded of Charles Bukowski's strong aversion to poetry readings. He despised them, yet they were often necessary as sources of income. The spectacle often outshone the poems. Similarly, L.A. Ink's forced drama often swallows up the tattoos, yet the drama drives ratings, which lets the series continue to showcase tattoos, which is why many of us tune in in the first place.

Whereas I found her journal entries fascinating, as I am sure most readers who are fans of the show will as well, there are still pages and pages of photographs featuring her work (drawings, sketches, and of course, tattoos) that are breath-taking in their beauty.

Viewers of the show  know that this book has been in the making for a while and it has found its way into plot points as well. Fans will also note that the author's relationship with Nikki Sixx, bassist for Mötley Crüe, runs throughout the volume (as it has in the reality series). However, 2010 has been a tumultuous year for the couple, having broken up, and then, quite recently, reportedly gotten back together. All that said, it's very interesting to read about the relationship with a future perspective.

Or, it isn't. If you're not interested in Kat's "personal" life, then perhaps you should pass on this book. I can see her detractors poring over the text, looking for evidence that reinforces their negative image of the artist, one that has been honed by the one-dimensional portrayal of her reality show and the tabloids.

For fans however, and the followers of Kat Von D's career, The Tattoo Chronicles, will be a treat, to be savored, an all-access pass to a window of her life, with a stunning visual guidebook to pore over, with evidence enough to back up her on-air claim of being so busy all the time.

My one criticism would be that we don't see enough of her tattoos, which is really what she is all about. I mean, sure it's interesting to see a full-page shot of her stuffed albino squirrels, but is it really necessary? I would have rather seen more art that she created, rather than collected.

However, in the end, I was delighted with the book. It really adds dimensions to one of the more dynamic celebrities in the tattoo industry. I doubt that it will turn detractors into fans, or fans into detractors, but it certainly provides those who admire Kat Von D for her art, a little more validation that she is a talented, complicated individual that can not only create amazing body art, but knows how to wow us with her pen, as well.

maori design on a spinning wheel

Hi there,

A few months ago I made several tattoo designs for a spinning wheel. The designs where lasered in the wood. Today I received the photos of the wheel with the design on it.
It looks really nice, especially the round wheel with the spiral koru design.













Kind regards, Mark Storm
info@storm3d.com
www.storm3d.com

Missy's Initials, Illustrated by Gorey

I met Missy on the corner of 23rd and 7th back in the beginning of September and she shared her two tattoos, on both biceps.Her right arm bears this piece:

and her left shoulder hosts this cool image:

 

These images may seem familiar, because they are based on Edward Gorey's Alphabet.

Missy has the two pieces representing her initials, M and N. The right arm represents "M": 

And the left arm represents the "N" for her last initial:

Missy got these tattoos in Santa Cruz about ten years ago.

Thanks to Missy for sharing her cool Gorey tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Heart Not Time

"I do not like the concept of linear time," Fredrika said to me, "moments and feelings should be more important".

This was her thought behind this tattoo:

I met Fredrika in Penn Station last month and she was kind enough to share this tattoo on her forearm.

She has a lot of ink, but this is her favorite piece.

Fredrika hails from Hamburg, where she is lead singer for a band called Jaguar of My Dreams.

Thanks to Fredrika for sharing with us here on Tattoosday!

Rune's Viking Reflects His Cultural Pride

On a Friday last month, I ran into a couple from Denmark near Herald Square in the pedestrian median between Broadway and 6th Avenue.

The gentleman had a lot of work done on his legs, so I approached and introduced myself. Rune was kind enough to not only share a tattoo, but to pull up his shorts a bit to reveal this tattoo that ran from his mid-thigh down to his calf:

 

Rune explained that this Viking tattoo reflects the pride he has in the old history of the Norsemen that inhabited Scandinavia in the earliest part of the last millenium.

Rune credits Frans at Hugo Tattoo with this wonderful work.

Thanks to Rune for sharing this cool tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Cindy's updates from Gimmelove1 @ 40b Sago Street

Despite taking a super long break from tattooing, Cindy improved at such a tremendous speed that amazed all of us every single day! Here's the testament to my words...Be amazed...







-Baldwin-