Tom Shares His Escher and Hokusai-Inspired Sleeves

Back in June, I rode my bike out to the Coney Island boardwalk and did a little inkspotting. One of the several tattooed individuals I met was Tom, who had some cool work to share.<br /><br />It was his <a href="http://www.mcescher.com/">M.C. Escher</a>-inspired sleeve that first caught my attention:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipilEf1KvnMRVC67MI_G1rZXQauixeuN7Zv36TLuJ4KbYa-WZZM_TgumzMY-IydIimiPVZgNdb2rM-0E9488bVA71T1WpJbJmYT1RCjhZzKDOI15BKr45lV7nD96o2fwLxLbZX50ltWmY/s615/IMG_0361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipilEf1KvnMRVC67MI_G1rZXQauixeuN7Zv36TLuJ4KbYa-WZZM_TgumzMY-IydIimiPVZgNdb2rM-0E9488bVA71T1WpJbJmYT1RCjhZzKDOI15BKr45lV7nD96o2fwLxLbZX50ltWmY/s640/IMG_0361.JPG" width="305" /></a></div><br />Among the designs from which Tom drew inspiration were Escher's "12 Birds"<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mcescher.com/Shopmain/ShopEU/facsprints-uk/data/1000/16%20Twelve%20Birds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.mcescher.com/Shopmain/ShopEU/facsprints-uk/data/1000/16%20Twelve%20Birds.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><br />and his "Lizard."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mcescher.com/Shopmain/ShopEU/facsprints-uk/data/1000/12%20Lizard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.mcescher.com/Shopmain/ShopEU/facsprints-uk/data/1000/12%20Lizard.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Tom credited his artist Haun Duong, located in Queens, with this work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">His other arm has a compilation of the works of the Japanese artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokusai">Katsushika Hokusai</a>:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1pgiiy0s7bmE1KEfIU8I-RYp07_dM3Y-bgGt6QZK8Kum-auPS_wFZFKT9luFJEUmqn4uDL33d7_IZ-3j69sxqEjTDt0Mg5vtPsUnS1Q1EN7c11ZKhLMzKykay647sSvYUg9_9Hh8fBU/s614/IMG_0362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM1pgiiy0s7bmE1KEfIU8I-RYp07_dM3Y-bgGt6QZK8Kum-auPS_wFZFKT9luFJEUmqn4uDL33d7_IZ-3j69sxqEjTDt0Mg5vtPsUnS1Q1EN7c11ZKhLMzKykay647sSvYUg9_9Hh8fBU/s640/IMG_0362.JPG" width="356" /></a></div><br />This is based primarily on his most recognizable work, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Wave_off_Kanagawa">The Great Wave of Kanagawa</a></i>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/download/attachments/75703088/KanagawaWave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/download/attachments/75703088/KanagawaWave.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Tom told me that the <i>koi </i>fish represent the fact that he is a Pisces and that he has a twin sister. And there are additional elements from the Japanese master lower on the arm that represent him and his wife, along with three turtles (not pictured) which represent his kids. And inside the bicep:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-rrANKXgfUdyJd1l7fZB1TVXUETeeGjSPQ9zNwduy9zPTrXaZZyA_Ytox9KDRPU7IjxfQjuOpW-rrfqKUq7Q2Egi5_9RvKnFX4mxGMiIpDxJbN7ad-SFAoRBEsP4EfVzUCU2U_2XtFs/s615/IMG_0365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-rrANKXgfUdyJd1l7fZB1TVXUETeeGjSPQ9zNwduy9zPTrXaZZyA_Ytox9KDRPU7IjxfQjuOpW-rrfqKUq7Q2Egi5_9RvKnFX4mxGMiIpDxJbN7ad-SFAoRBEsP4EfVzUCU2U_2XtFs/s640/IMG_0365.JPG" width="258" /></a></div><br />The falcon and the snake represent the good and the bad within him.<br /><br />Thanks to Tom for sharing his great work with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9506956902332604" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another website 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</span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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.</span></span></b>

Tom Shares His Escher and Hokusai-Inspired Sleeves

Back in June, I rode my bike out to the Coney Island boardwalk and did a little inkspotting. One of the several tattooed individuals I met w...

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Escher, Anyone?

I met Justin in Penn Station last month and snapped this quick photo of his right forearm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1h2Q4kJIIne5VfajDvIOcmlrovqeUUekZxapz7FZn31dc0JwVP87vYNtjSOqVdoOE4OtXl1fYvdCO3XeVVYFt-hDJA15Jj1AGIakjSiWkrO6QINoWWIq6kI4g35iOVqB7EyMs_wC3HE/s1600/Escher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1h2Q4kJIIne5VfajDvIOcmlrovqeUUekZxapz7FZn31dc0JwVP87vYNtjSOqVdoOE4OtXl1fYvdCO3XeVVYFt-hDJA15Jj1AGIakjSiWkrO6QINoWWIq6kI4g35iOVqB7EyMs_wC3HE/s640/Escher.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br /><br />Justin said he was familiar with Tattoosday because I had previously featured work by his friend <a href="http://www.redemptiontattoo.com/3/gallerymain.asp?GalleryID=71208&AKey=XAPSX3K7">Erick Lynch</a> at <a href="http://redemptiontattoo.com/3/artist.asp?ArtistID=28105&Akey=XAPSX3K7">Redemption Tattoo</a>. He was likely referring to this <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/05/our-1000th-post-davids-mermaid-and.html">post</a>.<br /><br />This work on his sleeve is based on the work of <a href="http://www.mcescher.com/">M.C. Escher</a>. The tattoo artist responsible is <a href="http://www.chrisdingwell.com/">Chris Dingwell</a>, whose amazing work has appeared previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/03/erikas-ink-something-old-and-something.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Justin for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />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 <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</a> 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.</span></div>

Escher, Anyone?

I met Justin in Penn Station last month and snapped this quick photo of his right forearm: Justin said he was familiar with Tattoosday becau...

Read more »