Egyptian Tattoos

Egyptian tattoos are very beautiful in nature and with such a variety of artwork to choose from, it can be difficult deciding on simply one design.

Some of the most common Egyptian tattoos include, The eye of Horus (sound eye, Wadjet) which is believed by many to possess power, prosperity, protection and wisdom.

Other popular Egyptian god tattoos include, Hathor the Goddess of love, music, dance and is represented by cow horns and a sundisk on the head. Anubis is know as the god of embalming and is represented by the head of a jackal. Ma'at is known as the goddess of justice and is seen with an ostrich feather in her hair along with winged armed.

Enjoy these beautiful pictures of wonderful tattoo ideas.


Cats were highly regarded by many ancient Egyptians and were better known by the name "mau". Its quite common to see Egyptian themed cat tattoos.



These type of tattoos are seen on various locations of the body, with the back and arms being the most common areas.



Other Egyptian tattoo designs that are quite popular is the Scarab Beetle, which is often seen in the form of an amulet. And of course the very common Ankh (Cross) which is perhaps the most recognizable symbol of ancient Egypt, along with the mysteriously intriguing hieroglyphics.

BEHIND THE LEGEND

Machete Star Danny Trejo Mini-Doc by Estevan Oriol from SA Studios Global on Vimeo.

Two Segements of Renae's Arm

I spotted a whole lot going on with Renae's left forearm, while browsing at the Chelsea Salvation Army store, so I just had to ask.

Let's deconstruct:

The first part of this tattoo is the dark heart on the inner part of the forearm. Renae attributes this to Rob at the Orlando branch of Hart and Huntington. In over three years of inkspotting, this is the first piece on Tattoosday that has been credited to one of their shops.

Renae, who has "no idea" how many tattoos she has (which is synonymous for "too many to count"), wanted to add to her arm, so she headed to Brooklyn Ink in Bay Ridge.

Alex Franklin was given free reign, according to Renae. Her exact quote was "use your imagination and run," which must be music to many a tattooists ears.

Alex did the flourishes around the original tattoo, along with the phrase "gutta cavat lapidem," a Latin phrase by Ovid which translates to "dripping water hollows out a stone," which is a shortened version of the line "Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence." This quote is known to many New Yorkers who have seen it inscribed underground here (with a broader description here).




And he tattooed the piece on the other side of the arm:

Work from Brooklyn Ink (and a lot by Alex) has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

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

OVER SEAS

We just touched down in Thailand.. Look out for more fliks from the Asia tour.

Eagle Tattoos

As we mentioned before, if you are an animal lover and seeking a bird tattoo of any type, you are in for a treat, because bird tattoos are hands down some of the most captivatingly beautiful works of art on the market.

Not surprisingly eagle tattoos are perhaps the most common of all bird designs, which comes naturally for those of us in America, when you consider that eagles go hand in hand with the American flag and are symbolic of freedom, prosperity and patriotism towards the United States.

Enjoy this picture gallery of fantastic eagle artwork which will most certainly help you come up with a few ideas.



The most common location for an eagle tattoo includes the back, chest, bicep and calf area.



As for the details of the actual design, it seems that many people like to have the eagle donning open wings to appear in flight or perhaps swooping or striking its prey.



Some people choose to combined multiple designs into one piece of art, however unlike many other tattoo ideas, an eagle is such a prominently beautiful creature they look exceptionally bold as a stand along piece of artwork.

PHOTO, FLASH, FOCUS, RECORD

Here are a couple more images of the Machete Screening courtesy of EribertoOriol.com.

John's Root People

At the end of July, I coincidentally exited the A train at 14th Street at the same time as John, who was visiting from Nevada.

I had been admiring his sleeve on the train, but didn't have the opportunity to speak to him about it until after he got off the subway.

He referred to these creatures as "Root People":

It's an abstract collaboration with the artist, Rickett, at The Ruby Lantern in Carson City, Nevada.

They started working together in January of this year, and they're not yet finished with the whole sleeve. As you can tell, it's very unusual and has a very unique approach.

These designs are all on John's right arm, and I am particular to the female tree person above on his inner forearm.

Thanks to John for sharing his Root People here with us on Tattoosday!

Gina's Phoenix

In late June, I ran into Gina in Penn Station and complimented her on a tattoo she had on her back. At the time, she was wearing something with straps that covered part of the design. I gave her a flier and she remarked that she had just recently discovered the site through this post on the tattoo of Julie Powell.

Alas, like so many folks to whom I give fliers, I didn't receive any emails or photos. But a month passed and one day I was pleasantly surprised to see an email from Gina, with the following photos of her phoenix tattoo:

I'll let her explain the rest:

"... I had completely forgotten [about sending in the photo] until I found the picture I took for you on my camera... This was done by Junii at the Diamond Club in San Francisco. [Bill Salmon, Junii's husband, is the studio owner]. She does amazing line work.  She's also incredibly conscientious about design and her clients.  For both my tattoos, she spend a lot of time talking with me, looking at the 20 pictures I had brought in of bits or aspects of what I wanted, then went off and did her own research, always coming back with exactly the right drawing.

This one - I got it after a really, really difficult year. So, obviously, not the deepest symbolism - just wanted to remind myself of the possibility of renewal."

Thanks to Gina for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

SOUL SUNDAY

Here is the Original of a song that was remade by Mayer Hawthorne on his latest album.

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

<

If you dont know who you are going to go see this film with, you better get it together.

It will be in theaters in 7days.

Alex Shares a Floral Tattoo, Roots and All

Sometimes I see tattoos before I see people.

Back in July, for example, I approached a guy on the West 4th Street subway platform to ask him about this tattoo on his right forearm:

It was only after I said hello to him that I realized he was someone named Alex who lives in my neighborhood in Brooklyn.

In fact, Alex had a tattoo featured here back in 2009, after I stopped  him in the laundromat.

This floral tattoo is a representation of how a flower overcomes obstacles and pain to lay down roots, rises up, and blooms.

He draws the comparison to life, as nothing comes without hard work and bypassing obstacles.

The tattoo was created by Shon Lindauer at Thicker Than Water in Manhattan. Shon is the same artist that did the tiger on my calf. Other work from Thicker Than Water has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Alex for once again sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!

Dragonfly Tattoos

The dragonfly is an exceptionally beautiful creature which seem to possess a certain mystical quality, perhaps because of their resemblance to what a fairy is imagined to look like, or maybe its because of the ancient Asian myth that a dragonfly represents virtues including happiness, success and victory among other positive aspects.

Dragonfly tattoos are also enjoyed by both men and women, unlike butterfly and fairy artwork which is most commonly seen on women alone.

Checkout these cool pictures which will most certainly give you some great ideas for your dragonfly tattoo masterpiece.



Dragonfly tattoos are very rangy in both style and size, as we see a few of excellent designs above, one being a large back piece and another much smaller ankle pic.



Some other common locations include the foot, which is perfect for very small tattoos, and the hip which is popular among girls.



The is no color restrictions for this type of tattoo, in fact we've seen just about every color under the sun, but perhaps more commonly, blue, purple, green and black ink are used.