Two Birds for Tuesday, Celebrating Ten Years in New York City

Back in September, I met Daniel on Broad Street in downtown Manhattan. It was his New York City pigeon that first grabbed my eye:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TWa19c2X40q7DrdHcZCs8EOWwIcKoh9cwWKbhzYTwgjZ0H-V2dirslQ5iKmpfHOBeOQDcctNQ5hVp5ULXOSI-5QYRSXIZsuNT2ki2xWJ2JsKq2VUnJmBOUb4zeJ-9GD6J4QDc28qV0I/s1600/Pigeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2TWa19c2X40q7DrdHcZCs8EOWwIcKoh9cwWKbhzYTwgjZ0H-V2dirslQ5iKmpfHOBeOQDcctNQ5hVp5ULXOSI-5QYRSXIZsuNT2ki2xWJ2JsKq2VUnJmBOUb4zeJ-9GD6J4QDc28qV0I/s1600/Pigeon.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Daniel explained, “It’s my ten-years-in-New York Tattoo. It’s my New York bird."<br /><br />Representing his country of birth, he added, "I have a Mexican bird on the other side:”<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1nn4s6rqwGwjEJ_tNxaPY6IuCehEo6sQ4bRs_tSwg8r_u6P6MfYVSaAXrpJkKBE4KijE5F2M4tMJznb8DcO1mWivhxzzMeEM-Ez2vj7iYwNrI_mtTv7OteCCA9KA52hrQFIqVh2WKBL0/s1600/Quetzal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1nn4s6rqwGwjEJ_tNxaPY6IuCehEo6sQ4bRs_tSwg8r_u6P6MfYVSaAXrpJkKBE4KijE5F2M4tMJznb8DcO1mWivhxzzMeEM-Ez2vj7iYwNrI_mtTv7OteCCA9KA52hrQFIqVh2WKBL0/s1600/Quetzal.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br />That is the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzal">quetzal</a></i>.<br /><br />Every once in a while, I am fortunate enough to stumble on the work of simply amazing artists. Both of these phenomenal tattoos were done by the talented <a href="http://invisiblenyc.com/artists/regino_gonzales/">Regino Gonzales</a> from <a href="http://invisiblenyc.com/">Invisible NYC</a>. Work from Regino has appeared previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/05/danielles-beautiful-gypsytattoo.html">here</a>, <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/07/tommys-geisha.html">here</a>, <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/06/mikes-tribute-to-his-thai-heritage.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2008/07/monas-pocket-watch-honors-her.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Daniel for sharing his two awesome bird tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-4129709c-d891-8e06-52f5-39540f104aa7"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2014 Tattoosday.</span></div></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are seeing 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/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: underline; 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>

Two Birds for Tuesday, Celebrating Ten Years in New York City

Back in September, I met Daniel on Broad Street in downtown Manhattan. It was his New York City pigeon that first grabbed my eye: Daniel exp...

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Danielle's Beautiful Gypsy Tattoo

Well, we're back after a month-long hiatus of regular inkspotting while we celebrated <a href="http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41">National Poetry Month </a>with the <a href="http://tattooedpoets.blogspot.com/">Tattooed Poets Project</a>. It was actually on my way back from interviewing one of our poets, <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-alicia-adams.html">Alicia Adams</a>, in Union Square, when I ran into a woman on the uptown subway platform who had some incredible tattoos.<br /><br />We discussed her ink for a couple of stops and, when we got off the train, I snapped this phenomenal tattoo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIFMpZbx0J-lN0_xPaGhXp7ytvoPQEVvnRvz9g9TdB7-G0G3ZHbPHuFQJzpWVUZqmCoXzHQnMzxXryOIUg4fPYyVtxPqaJhji9UALa1MmyEBOE-bAg0sxtvlzXv2oUkAQLfwkn1pnZo0/s1600/Peacock+head+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIFMpZbx0J-lN0_xPaGhXp7ytvoPQEVvnRvz9g9TdB7-G0G3ZHbPHuFQJzpWVUZqmCoXzHQnMzxXryOIUg4fPYyVtxPqaJhji9UALa1MmyEBOE-bAg0sxtvlzXv2oUkAQLfwkn1pnZo0/s640/Peacock+head+dress.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><br />Oh, and let me tell you, dear readers, how tough it was to hold on to this picture through the entire month of April. But, as they say, good things come to those who wait.<br /><br />This incredible piece was inked by <a href="http://www.regnyc.com/">Regino Gonzales</a> at <a href="http://invisiblenyc.com/">Invisible NYC</a>. Danielle recalls, "I wish I had some amazing story about  the tattoo we picked. When I was at InvisibleNYC to talk with another artist, I fell in love with the gypsy woman that Regino designed. Then I made my appointment with him!" <br /><br />I have been fortunate to come across Regino's work in the streets, by chance, three times before. You can read about those encounters, and see the tattoos, <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/search/label/Invisible%20NYC">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Danielle for sharing her awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. </span><br /><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 </span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><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><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>

Danielle's Beautiful Gypsy Tattoo

Well, we're back after a month-long hiatus of regular inkspotting while we celebrated National Poetry Month with the Tattooed Poets Proj...

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Tommy's Geisha

Last week I met Tommy, who has six tattoos, one of which he shared with us:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmr2v7KberkyyHO2bxOrBpZBRZ1URyADqvnWGpHMlrcOsi9N3A98Ca-P_PJ98ECFDBAFmXqbeTAoD-jF2KIgxTGf4Qwg27axGwVkKT3x-GLcud3PpEWpFcJCYDct76ZXmp6WOeyK8z/s1600/tommy's+geisha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmr2v7KberkyyHO2bxOrBpZBRZ1URyADqvnWGpHMlrcOsi9N3A98Ca-P_PJ98ECFDBAFmXqbeTAoD-jF2KIgxTGf4Qwg27axGwVkKT3x-GLcud3PpEWpFcJCYDct76ZXmp6WOeyK8z/s640/tommy's+geisha.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><br />He brought three or four pictures into <a href="http://www.regnyc.com/">Regino Gonzales</a> when he was at <a href="http://www.inkstoptattoonyc.com/">Inkstop Tattoo</a> and he came up with this design. Regino is now at <a href="http://invisiblenyc.com/">Invisible NYC</a>.<br /><br />The line work took two and a half to three hours but he had to stop because, in Tommy's words, "I'm a bleeder". He came back after he healed for another two and a half hours of shading.<br /><br />Tommy had a lot of nice protrait work and this piece seemed to just jump off of his left arm.<br /><br />Regino's work has appeared previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/06/mikes-tribute-to-his-thai-heritage.html">here</a> and <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2008/07/monas-pocket-watch-honors-her.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Tommy for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Tommy's Geisha

Last week I met Tommy, who has six tattoos, one of which he shared with us: He brought three or four pictures into Regino Gonzales when he ...

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Mike's Tribute to His Thai Heritage

There are generally two kinds of Tattoosday subjects (and by subjects I mean people):<br /><br />Those that let me take a picture or two and I never hear from them again, and those that send me nice messages and a correspondence more or less develops.<br /><br />Last weekend I met a guy named Mike at the laundromat (which is turning out to be quite a lucky locale for inkspotting) and he falls in the latter category.<br /><br />Not only was Mike friendly and interested in the site when I met him, but he has followed up our initial conversation with e-mails that have helped me create a much more thorough and well-rounded post than many readers may be used to.<br /><br />Mike's tattoo is a tribute to his heritage. His father is from Thailand, so he considers himself "50% Thai". Check this out:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42-hCpYrzj_mEDzUt8qaWk48wWa_kpKtBrXq2K6Jbsdf7vuapNyBCS9m-YLNnq_cfPZq2qX3P_nbIW3oUc87rKC-4HtoHbnq2zEueTI7aqvRZ6OYCZNGgS4YEcQWmf83lP1OEi1MLC0M/s1600-h/Mike's+Temple.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346851758734900898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42-hCpYrzj_mEDzUt8qaWk48wWa_kpKtBrXq2K6Jbsdf7vuapNyBCS9m-YLNnq_cfPZq2qX3P_nbIW3oUc87rKC-4HtoHbnq2zEueTI7aqvRZ6OYCZNGgS4YEcQWmf83lP1OEi1MLC0M/s400/Mike's+Temple.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 242px;" /></a><br />This piece does wrap around the left bicep, and on either side of the elephantine temple, there are "<span style="font-style: italic;">singha</span>" lions:<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm0NQLq1rirZPZlvazsVpCZ4ttQffnz2cwggexoLDcf4bIri4yp_zM7JsRRVw4OLoYI9p5rfVSNnvI1FIeDtam0hly0jNAw7EpMvcYmuseSFXWBlEzchHhm-NIjlxAtnUX8605FeZ2mpA/s1600-h/left+singha.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346851135394992530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm0NQLq1rirZPZlvazsVpCZ4ttQffnz2cwggexoLDcf4bIri4yp_zM7JsRRVw4OLoYI9p5rfVSNnvI1FIeDtam0hly0jNAw7EpMvcYmuseSFXWBlEzchHhm-NIjlxAtnUX8605FeZ2mpA/s200/left+singha.jpg" style="float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 245px;" width="153" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_A16MNro38OLYqXdNiNMwYf5WQ6VUW9QXC0pF6HtpsrQwIcv95kujI6zj5c_ZA0Eg-V5Ru5QRcJsV0mtsRjqw71jL4l3rjgyF5OQeigvR0xdrLcPuve3g5Kd6HFC9ZPsZDvBukui_O2w/s1600-h/right+singha.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346851228370002914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_A16MNro38OLYqXdNiNMwYf5WQ6VUW9QXC0pF6HtpsrQwIcv95kujI6zj5c_ZA0Eg-V5Ru5QRcJsV0mtsRjqw71jL4l3rjgyF5OQeigvR0xdrLcPuve3g5Kd6HFC9ZPsZDvBukui_O2w/s200/right+singha.jpg" style="float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 219px;" width="136" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The idea for this tattoo started with a concept and evolved into the finished work in flesh above.<br /><br />Mike started with the basic images, found online in the form of the elephant and lion masks, and the photo of a Thai temple:<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikEq0HWxXcGPuFvCHdEAlapIbqi_aYrD1M2NgwQroRi2nNSUiSSu1-0crt7cWNBhMwokPk_GHqmaUDQ7KNRRzBsYNuIQWh7X7U7TkIv0v979ZlPW2CVjqPdtUXZ3SOMhh-eu2anPBeq0/s1600-h/LionEleph_Originals.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346852013188019858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhikEq0HWxXcGPuFvCHdEAlapIbqi_aYrD1M2NgwQroRi2nNSUiSSu1-0crt7cWNBhMwokPk_GHqmaUDQ7KNRRzBsYNuIQWh7X7U7TkIv0v979ZlPW2CVjqPdtUXZ3SOMhh-eu2anPBeq0/s400/LionEleph_Originals.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 309px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghndWV1iRWR9YdG3m9Ar4HGqTa17hoqan_S6XUn3Zc-PhL2kACnb7J0I5My1GMlTaxz0YUnQDFn2nsMcnCMCP9Vomwma9DWxRTI79TPeQwzyJwiaitmLU_56Hl7xThehGThnt06HdAC4k/s1600-h/Temple.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346852067351593474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghndWV1iRWR9YdG3m9Ar4HGqTa17hoqan_S6XUn3Zc-PhL2kACnb7J0I5My1GMlTaxz0YUnQDFn2nsMcnCMCP9Vomwma9DWxRTI79TPeQwzyJwiaitmLU_56Hl7xThehGThnt06HdAC4k/s400/Temple.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 278px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />He notes that he wanted to use the Tribal elephant mask "because the Elephant is a national symbol of Thailand, they [were] used ... in wars and ... represent strength. I chose the Tribal 'wood' look mainly because it looks great and I thought it represented the 'old/history' of Thailand." He added that he finds Thai temples "amazingly beautiful" and that the two Singha lions on either side of the temple in the design "represent protection, and they usually are at the entrance ways of many Thai buildings".<br /><br />He then tinkered with these images in Photoshop and came up with this rudimentary design:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oElWeLPwsG7dPA13R5vpC1WhPVscSDmToU19BeVeurAi2SOUmsWrg2jAKl9OVKeP8CVOsvhsfx-cEslOY8qw6mGT_Vg2KZOlTbzKmtq5lIX4z2p2VE4NGLIJWOOZ1a13Wke6pix0gEc/s1600-h/Tattoo_photoShop.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346852119949299330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oElWeLPwsG7dPA13R5vpC1WhPVscSDmToU19BeVeurAi2SOUmsWrg2jAKl9OVKeP8CVOsvhsfx-cEslOY8qw6mGT_Vg2KZOlTbzKmtq5lIX4z2p2VE4NGLIJWOOZ1a13Wke6pix0gEc/s400/Tattoo_photoShop.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 332px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 309px;" /></a>He took this artwork to <a href="http://www.regnyc.com/">Regino Gonzalez</a> at <a href="http://www.troydenningtattoo.com/">Invisible NYC</a>. Mike explains, "I showed him my idea and he actually kinda chuckled a bit. I told him I realized [that] this was a real shitty representation of what I want and that I hoped that he could do ANYTHING with it."<br /><br />Mike continues, "...And then literally three days later, he called me into the shop and when I walked in, he had this HUGE AMAZING piece of art...I just turned to him and said, 'Let's do it' [and] I ... sat down right then and there for four hours and had the outline done ... I ... went back about three weeks later and had the black color and shading done, and then about three more weeks later I had the final color done."<br /><br />What Mike explains is typical of great tattoo work. So many novices to tattooing are surprised that a nice piece takes a while, unlike it does on the reality tattoo shows, when an eight-hour piece often is edited down to a few minutes of air time. It's also the recommended way to get a great tattoo: bring in the framework of an idea and let the artist go to town.<br /><br />And, if you have a good artist (which you should have, if you've done you're homework), you should put your absolute faith and trust in them. Case in point, Mike recalls "I asked Regino how he was going to color it and I was pretty nervous ... he looked at me and pointed to his head and said <span style="font-style: italic;">'Trust me, I have a plan'</span>. And that was it ... I walked away with what I think is an amazing piece of work ... I have since recommended Regino to anyone who asks my opinion, and I will continue to [do so] ....".<br /><br />Incidentally, work from Regino has appeared previously on this site <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2008/07/monas-pocket-watch-honors-her.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Mike for sharing his incredible work with us here on Tattoosday!

Mike's Tribute to His Thai Heritage

There are generally two kinds of Tattoosday subjects (and by subjects I mean people): Those that let me take a picture or two and I never he...

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Mona's Pocket Watch Honors her Grandfather's Memory

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsD9y3kxJ8AJcQvn3ENJ9S7K9FV1jJH5iqn4odRHYh7hNnbfjcvM9JWAvkyeL_CxsDeOXTCZDTncVYpFLTVwj7DrN9tI96pp7HFPASzrM8KIx9tfiyYp8l8ZqG9L03wTey92MTdAHW_oSM/s1600-h/PICT0276.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229132612751435538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsD9y3kxJ8AJcQvn3ENJ9S7K9FV1jJH5iqn4odRHYh7hNnbfjcvM9JWAvkyeL_CxsDeOXTCZDTncVYpFLTVwj7DrN9tI96pp7HFPASzrM8KIx9tfiyYp8l8ZqG9L03wTey92MTdAHW_oSM/s400/PICT0276.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />On Monday, I ran into two hair stylists walking west on 23rd Street. Both were inked, and both graciously agreed to share one of their tattoos with us here in the blogosphere.<br /><br />The photo above is one of three pieces that Mona has. She currently has a sleeve in progress. This pocket watch will eventually be part of a unified sleeve, but Mona explained how this stands apart from the rest of the design.<br /><br />She identifies the pocket watch with her grandfather, who she always remembers had one on him at all times. His surname was Baltazar and, despite being adopted, she shares his family name. The (time) piece is dedicated to him.<br /><br />This tattoo was inked by <a href="http://www.regnyc.com/">Regino Gonzales</a> at <a href="http://www.troydenningtattoo.com/">Invisible NYC</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Mona for sharing her tattoo, along with her memories of her grandfather, here on Tattoosday.<br /><br />See below (or <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2008/07/karas-astrological-ink.html">here</a>) for her friend Kara's tattoo.

Mona's Pocket Watch Honors her Grandfather's Memory

On Monday, I ran into two hair stylists walking west on 23rd Street. Both were inked, and both graciously agreed to share one of their tatt...

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