John's Demon Sleeve

Under normal circumstances, I may not have stopped John, as I tend to not feature full sleeves here on Tattoosday. However, last Wednesday I was on a roll, and he gladly modeled his right arm for me:


Here's a little better look at that demonic face that dominated the bicep:


John's ink, which he estimates covers 25% of his body, has no specific meanings, the artwork is just a form of expression. He's 42, and has been getting tattooed since he turned 18.

He credits this work, along with most of his ink, to Bobby at Skin Deep Tattoo in Uniondale, New York.

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

Doug's Colorful Demon

I ran into Doug in Penn Station a couple weeks back and he offered up this, one of seven tattoos:


He said that this tattoo, which represents twelve hours worth of work, is based on a Japanese demon he spotted while poring over a book on medieval manuscripts.

There's no real specific meaning behind it, he just liked the design, especially how different it was from other demons one typically sees in Japanese art.

The tattoo was created at Cross Creek Tattoo Gallery in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Thanks to Doug for sharing this amazing piece with us here on Tattoosday!

Anger Management

It is my practice, when someone is heavily inked, and they've agreed to let me take a picture, to ask them to offer up the piece that means the most to them.

Last week I approached a guy named John in front of Madison Square Garden. He had numerous tattoos on his arms and looked like an excellent Tattoosday candidate. However, when I asked him what tattoo was the most special, he raised his right pant leg to show me this interesting design on his calf:

John described this "biomechanical" design as a shield that keeps his demons locked inside. The tribal symbol is an anchor that keeps him grounded. He was very open and acknowledged that he had anger management issues. The tattoo gives him strength to control those issues.

This tattoo is one of 15 that John has. It was inked by High Roller Tattoo, in Hicksville on Long Island, NY.

After thanking John, I asked the woman standing next to him if she had any tattoos she wanted to share. She did. Donna has two kanji characters on her lower back that I wasn't able to get complete photographs of. I asked her to, at her convenience, send me better pictures, if she was interested in joining these pages. She said the kanji meant a lot to her, so I am interested in finding out why.

Thanks John, again, for your participation. Here's hoping Donna will e-mail me about her tattoos.