Bigfoot and a Bowl of Fruit

I stopped Tony and Emily, an Australian couple, as they were crossing 33rd Street near Eighth Avenue late last month. No offense to Tony, but Emily's half-sleeve really jumped out at me from across the street, so I was thrilled when they agreed to stop and talk tattoos with me.

First, here's a collage of Emily's upper right arm:

Emily explained she wanted a colorful tattoo, and she loves fruit, so this was the path she chose. What I like is that, since she is Australian, we get some more exotic fruit here, like dragon fruit and passion fruit in the culinary collage.

This is one of seven tattoos Emily has and was inked by Josh Plum at Yakuza Tattoo in Sydney, Australia.

When I showed the photos to my wife, Melanie, she wanted to know more. Aside from being colorful, why the fruit basket? I e-mailed Tony and he sent the following reply:

"...She said she wanted fruit for a few other reasons other than colourfullness....1) she is really into nutrition and a healthy living style; 2) she had never seen anybody else with a fruit basket tattoo; 3) fish, flowers, etc. are way too common (which is true when you think about it, everyone has koi fish..."

Speaking of Tony, let's not forget him. He had nine tattoos when I met him. He may have another now from New York, I'm not sure. SO, of course I asked him if he would share, as well. He offered up this rendition of Bigfoot on his right forearm:

This tattoo was the artist's rendering of Bigfoot, as interpreted by Sanchez at Steel Lotus Body Arts in Darlinghurst, in Eastern Sydney.

Why Bigfoot? Tony is a huge fan of cryptozoology.The tattoo took about four and a half hours to complete.

Thanks to both Tony and Emily for taking the time to share their tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Geisha Tattoo Design

Contrary to popular western notions, the Japanese geisha is not generally a woman of ill repute. The word literally means “art person” and a geisha is a highly trained professional woman whose traditional occupation is to entertain men. Singing, dancing, playing music, knowledge of history and current events, the ability to make conversation and to create an atmosphere of relaxation and entertainment are the essential skills of the geisha. Skills specific to Japanese culture would include being able to perform the tea ceremony or perhaps even being skilled at flower arrangement or calligraphy.

Geishas are immaculately and sumptuously dressed in ornate and expensive kimonos. Not a strand of hair is out of place, their white facial make-up is perfect. Their manners are not only impeccable but delicate and calm, in keeping with the ideals of feminine beauty that they embody.

In modern Japan, geishas have been transformed into symbols of traditional values. In the west, the geisha has become a symbol of the exotic grace and beauty of the East.

In this tattoo design, the wind has ruffled her kimono and set some pieces of paper loose, perhaps from the sheaf tucked near her arm.

The wind has also loosed some petals of cherry blossoms which are beginning to swirl past her. They echo the cherry blossom design of the lower part of her kimono while the upper part makes use of the chrysanthemum. Both flowers are frequently used in Japanese art and in Japanese tattoos.

Japanese Tattoo in UK

In the UK there is also Japanese Tattoo

Japanese Samurai Tattoo Design

A tatooed parishoner of the Samukawa Shrine looks at a portable shrine on July 20, 2002 in Chigasaki City, Japan during the Hamaori Festival.

Tattoo Church Studio in Tokyo, Japan

Carlos aka Captain is a Brazilian born tattoo artist who runs Tattoo Church Studio in Tokyo, Japan. Tattoo Church has invited some of the top international tattoo artists to appear there and have built up such a good reputation that people from all over the world go there to be inked. Let Carlos give you the word up on life as a tattoo artist…

Carlos can you give me a little background about yourself?

I was born and raised in Brazil and moved to Japan when I was 20. I was never really interested in getting tattooed or tattoos themselves until I discovered tattooing in Japan.

What made you decide to become a tattoo artist?

When first I started to live here, the language was a huge barrier even my parents though were Japanese, but I never really studied the language seriously to the point of using it in dialogue. So, I started to watch
videos to learn the language and then I found a big section of Yakuza movies in the video store. Since I started to watch those, all the tattoos painted on the actor’s bodies just caught my eye!

Did you apprentice under a sensei or master?

No unfortunately. I started to get tattooed right after I saw these movies by myself (not a thing people should do at home!) and later found tattooists doing their trade. At that time more than 10 years ago,
tattooists didn’t have shops or never advertised on magazines. The more I got tattooed, the more my interest grew. Finally I ended up buying my own equipment and starting to tattoo at home again (never learn!)

How has your style of tattooing developed over the years and who are your main influences?

My style developed naturally, always trying to answer the clients requeststhe best I could. I was fortunate enough to have a chance to work in Japan and abroad in various shops with different artists. They are the
ones who gave me the help I needed and inspired my work like Russo (Brazil), Shad (Belgium), Sabinne Gaffron (Germany), Shiryu(Niigata-Japan), Houryu (Tokyo-Japan) and many others. Also the clients I met always asked for different stuff, so I suppose they encouraged me to open my eyes and always keep myself open to different styles.

What is your preferred style of tattoo for example Japanese, Traditional, old-school etc?

I mainly work with tribal and Japanese but as I said it is the client decides what they wish to get and my work is to answer these requests the best I can, I guess.

I noticed when I was in Japan that it was mostly females who had visible tattoos. What would you say is most popular style of tattoos you do in Tattoo Church?

Mostly tribal and Japanese. Now I have an apprentice named Harley Davidson (real name!) and he’s a young
gun from Brazil as well, specializing in the chicano/pachuco black & gray style. We have many guests coming from all the corners of the globe, so I guess we have a good variation of artists and styles to
the demand of the clients.

How would you compare the Japanese style of tattoos to the Western way of tattooing?

It is different the way we treat the clients I guess. In the places I worked in the West, I felt like the relationship was more like friends. Here in Japan the clients kinda look up to the tattooists…that is not
a bad thing but we ‘re trying to break down any barriers that may build between both parties so we can create an environment were people don’t feel intimidated to ask questions or place requests.

Dragon Tattoo on Heavy Arm

Girls with Japanese Dragon Tattoo on Back Body

3 Sexy Girls with Japanese Dragon Tattoo, like a Yakuza Girl... hehehehe.....

Chest Tattoo

This masculine Japanese tattoo is typical of warrior imagery. Using dark shading and red, it symbolises war and fighting.

Japanese Ko'i Tattoo on Arm

This light coloured full upper arm tattoo is very Japanese and symblises aspiration and advancement.