Henna Tattoo - A simple pattern shines with gilding.

Here is a photo of a freehand henna tattoo with just a bit of gilding added to make Saturday a bit more glamorous. If you click the photo, you will be able to see a larger image of the turquoise & green glitter gel added to highlight the henna tattoo.

Gilding paste is made with cosmetic glitters, or cosmetic powders and a stiff hair gel as the carrier for the color. Sometimes fine glitter is hard to come by, but if you have a mortar & pestle, it only takes a few moments to grind economy glitter into a shimmering powder.

I apply the gilding using a clear henna cone. (Cellophane cones hold up very well & enable clients to see just what color they will get.) I have learned to wait until the henna has dried and at least one glaze of lemon sugar has been applied.

For more photos of gilded henna tattoo, visit the Henna Jewels gallery on my site. There are other photos of gilded henna tattoo in this blog.. check the labels to the right of this post for the complete list.

Becky's Nod to Angelique Houtkamp

On Thursday, July 17, I spotted Becky outside of the Penn Plaza Borders talking to her friend Ashley.

Becky's not hard to miss, she's a striking young woman with twenty-seven tattoos. And, whereas generally Tattoosday participants are open and happy to share their ink here, both Becky and Ashley's kindness and friendly dispositions further brightened my day and reminded me why I love working on Tattoosday.

Of all Becky's work to choose from, she presented a piece on the top of her left foot. It's at the top of the post but is worth looking at again:


The tattoo is based on the artwork of Angelique Houtcamp, an artist who is often referred to as "the inspirational Dutch tattoo mademoiselle of the contemporary art world." Her artwork is much admired and both Becky, as well as her tattooist, Mohawk John.

This piece is based on Houtkamp's painting "Mata Hari":


The majority of Becky's work was inked by Mohawk John at B-52 Tattoo in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. As you can see, he did a phenomenal job recreating Houtkamp's work on Becky's skin.

Thanks to Becky and her friend Ashley (whose Tattoosday offering is in the post below) for sharing their tattoos!

More of Angelique Houtkamp's artwork here.

See Becky's friend Ashley's Tattoosday offering here.

Ashley Displays the Mark of Friendship

I met Ashley when I approached Becky (her post here) about her work. Unlike Becky, who is inked 27 times, Ashley has just four pieces, none of which are immediately visible.

However, after talking with her friend Becky, I queried Ashley about any tattoos she might have, she offered up the small piece above.

Ashley's friend Turner Walker is an aspiring tattooist who is learning the art form. Turner, with whom she had gone to school, asked if he could practice on her and, when she assented, he placed two small red hearts on either side of the middle finger on her right hand.

She laughs about it, thinking it's cool that wherever she goes, she'll have a piece of him inked on her body.

Personally, I like the fact that she has a couple of hearts inked on a finger that is often misused by humans to make an unpleasant gesture.

Thanks to Ashley for sharing her small heart with us. True friends let their friends practice tattooing them!

San Diego Tattoos Visit The Big Apple

I spotted Mike and Tracy on 34th Street on Thursday, July 17. They were the third and fourth people I photographed that day.

Mike had the logo from his favorite band, The Misfits, on the back of his left calf. It's one of his three tattoos.

Tracy liked the art for the piece she has, on her upper left arm:

It's one of her four tattoos:


Both Mike and Tracy, visiting New York from San Diego, had their work done at their local shop All-American Tattoo Company. Stevie inked the Misfits piece and "Little C" did the work on Tracy's bicep.

Thanks to both of our visitors for sharing their ink here at Tattoosday!

UPDATE: Mike sent me the link to his band's MySpace page. They have a great name, The Filthy Few. Check them out here.

Need Inspiration? Henna Patterns from India!

Pyari Pyari Henna Tattoo Booklet

Here is another of the wonderful little booklets that helped me start to think like a henna artist. Full of 25 different patterns for hands & feet as well as little doodles for fingers and toes, this small booklet is a great addition to your henna library.

This henna pattern booklet measures 4.5" x 6.75" and has a colorful cover, sure to catch the eye of the henna newcomer. The patterns are printed on a soft grey paper that seems recycled, but I can't tell.

This book as well as several others are now for sale at $4.50 each ( free shipping in the USA ). Just click the title of the book to see more choices, or to add ths lovely gem of a pattern book to your collection.

Just want to browse? Stop by Midnight Sun on Saturday and you are welcome to look through these kinds of pattern books. Who knows, you may choose to get an intricate bit of body art for yourself. See you there?

Tattoosday Record

I don't know what it was about Thursday, July 17, but I set a Tattoosday record. By the end of the day, I had shots of eight different people's ink (my previous best has always capped around 3 subjects in one day). This, after a bit of a drought and some bad luck (a beautiful but unfinished
rooster from New York Adorned, some less-than-interested dudes going to the Bon Jovi show at the Garden, and lots of inked folk walking with their kids -- I generally let them be).

Since 6 of the 8 people were hanging together in pairs, I won't break up the sets, if I don't have to. But I'm going to drop the first pair in a post right below this one.

Enjoy!

Dropping a Couple of F Bombs

I ran into Shawn and Chris from Albany outside of Penn Station on Thursday, July 17. Both were heavily inked.

Of their many tattoos, one had some additional meaning, and it was one that they both had on their lower shins. In fact, they told me, there is a group of about twenty of their friends with the same tattoo.

A while back, one of their good friends, a personable guy nicknamed "F-Bomb," passed away suddenly due to some complications from a diagnosed, but not necessarily life-threatening health condition.

It was a great shock, and not only did his large circle of friends band together to help F-Bomb's mother pay for the funeral, but they all got the same tattoo to memorialize him for the rest of their lives.

Thus, the F-Bomb:

That is a still shot on Chris and also, due to my mishandling of the camera, here are two seconds of video of the same piece on Shawn:

The tattoos are credited to artist Christian at the Dead Presidents Lounge in Albany, New York.

Thanks to Shawn and Chris for sharing a little of F-Bomb here on Tattoosday.