Tim's Sleeve Illustrates A Vision of Life on Earth

I met Tim back in April in Penn Station and took several pictures of his left arm, which is fully-sleeved. What follows is a presentation of the work, from top to bottom:

There's a lot going on here, but Tim summed the theme of the sleeve as "Hell is the world we're living in, and we're all trying to escape Death." The top of the arm features the angel, Gabriel, watching over us.

The city that is burning is based on Boston, where Tim is from.

Tim estimates that this sleeve took twenty-seven hours, in three nine-hour sessions. Yes, you read that right, nine-hour sessions! That's commitment! He credits Dan Soule at Milltown Ink in Bondsville, Massachusetts with this incredible work.

Thanks to Tim for sharing his sleeve with us here on Tattoosday!

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Lisa's Guardian Angel

I met Lisa recently on the subway platform at West 4th Street.

She had this cool tattoo on her right forearm:

The tattoo, which took four hours to complete, is Lisa's guardian angel.

Lisa told me that this is a representation of her guardian angel, a "spiritual guide," although she emphasized that she's not religious.

She had the basic idea for the tattoo and took it to Scott Campbell at Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She pointed out that she absolutely loves the work he did with the shading in the tattoo:

Work from Saved has appeared previously on Tattoosday here. This, however, is the first work we've seen by Scott Campbell in our travels.

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

Chris Interprets Heaven and Hell

Last month I met Chris, from Malden, Massachusetts, and he shared this incredible sleeve, still in progress. He estimates that it represents 25 hours of tattooing.

The overall motif of the sleeve is heaven and hell, and Chris was kind enough to address several elements in the design, many of which are deeply personal.

Chris began this tattoo's journey to acknowledge his first year of sobriety from alcohol and drugs.

It is an omnipresent reminder that "hell is always an arm's length away". The angel resides in heaven and the gates of heaven, on the inner arm, represent the goal, or entry into heaven.

Rising up toward heaven are two figures reaching toward this goal. The pair aiming for heaven represent two of Chris' friends, both who overdosed and died, having perished in the hell of addiction.

Chris drew me attention to Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hell.

To him, the three heads of the hell-hound represent alcohol, opiates, and cocaine, the three substances to which he had been addicted.

This sleeve is the work of the tattoo artist Rafael Serrano, formerly of The Painted Bird, in Medford, MA.

Thanks to Chris for sharing this deeply personal tattoo in progress with us. We're hoping to get updates in the future when more work is done.

We appreciate Chris' forthrightness and strength, and wish for his continued recovery.

Tom's Sleeve is Based on Faith

I don't know what it was about March, but this final post of the month is the third featuring ink from a member of our Armed Forces.

Tom is eventually going to have a full sleeve that accentuates his faith. The top of the arm is done, with the main focus on the guardian angel on his bicep:


His grandfather passed before he was born and he has always thought of him as the guardian angel that watched over him.

This piece was inked at Aces & Eights Tattoo in Augusta, Georgia.

He also has a couple of tattoos featuring angels on the inside of his bicep and on the outer section of his upper arm as well:


These were done at Third Dimension Tattoos in Marshalls Creek, Pennsylvania

Tom is a member of HHC 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division.

Thanks to Tom for sharing his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Devil Angel

I spotted this tattoo on the left arm of a guy hanging out in Starbucks on Monday, October 8.

I was doing some laundry, and saw him smoking a cigarette a little later outside the store. I went up and introduced myself and Tattoosday.

The owner of this tattoo is Steven. He refers to it as "D.A.," which stands for Devil Angel. She was inked around 1998 at Studio Enigma on Avenue U in Brooklyn. The artist was a guy named Michael, who is no longer listed with the shop.

Steven said the tattoo is based on a design that was on the wall of the shop and, like many tattoos, a few adjustments were made, and this was the final product. There was really no inspiration behind this particular design, there's no real life person behind the Devil-Angel persona.

This tattoo is showing some age, but it still is a nice piece that was intriguing to see peeking out from Starbucks.

Thanks to Steven for sharing D.A. with all of us here at Tattoosday.