Happy New Year 2008 !!

Immortal Tattoos wishes everyone a very Happy New Year !!

2007 has been a great year for Immortal Tattoos and hopefully 2008 will be much better. Once again, I thank everyone who have been through this rough ride with me and I thank all my clients for helping me to discover what I have to give you guys the best !!

Love ya'all !!

New Year's Resolution

For those who are seeking suggestions on new year's resolution, may I suggest stop getting tattoos from these templates?



Especially the infamous "Asian Font" seen here, aka. English alphabet in gibberish Chinese.

Abstract Rose

A old friend of mine came in one day with a design which she wanted, taken from a newpaper cutting. After days of preparation, we finally made it happen.

Putting in the Line Work...

Undertone and adding in the Green...

Almost done with the stalk...

Here comes in the Red...

With some Pink highlights....

After close to 2hrs, we were done !!

Back shot with a lowerback tattoo ( Which was also done by me ). Signing off from 2007 !! See you all in 2008 with a bang !!

Merry X'Mas

Immortal Tattoos wishes everyone a beautiful Merry X'Mas !!

I would like to thank all my friends, my family, my clients and everyone who have supported me. You guys ROCK !!

Maori Hand

Another Polynesian Styled piece....

Joanne Raine's "Supermarket" Tattoo

Apparently the big story across the pond in UK is a girl's tattoo. A young girl named Joanne Raine got her boyfriend's nickname tattooed on her with Chinese characters at a dodgy tattoo shop. Of course, they have since then broke up & the tattoo is not exactly the boy's name.


News links via BBC, The Northern Echo, & video via LiveLeak



The phrase "supermarket" is 超級市場 or abbreviated to 超市 in Chinese. I have no idea how and why 盟联行 was interpreted as "supermarket" in the news clips.


Update: Dec. 13, 2007 - I have emailed BBC regarding the error of interpreting 盟联行 as "supermarket" .

The Tattooist

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, the Addicts of Ink !!

I have not been updating much recently in my blog. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Its not been a busy month recently, so just as to take a break from work, I decided to catch a movie after a long time.

Yes, you guessed it !! I did watch "The Tattooist".

Before I carry on with the comments I have to make about the movie, I would like to make an announcement.

"By continuing to read on to what Immortal Tattoos, or the Tattoo Artist (Myself) have to say, you have agreed to lose all political powers and legal rights against Immortal Tattoos, or the Tattoo Artist (Myself). If you don't agree to MY terms, please fuck off NOW!! But if you don't agree and still want to carry on reading, please be advised that you are automatically registered as an asswipe - In other words, you still lose all political powers and legal rights against Immortal Tattoos!!" - Thank You -

So lets, get back to my story about the movie.

I saw the trailers and it was very captivating and I told myself, "Man I have to watch it!" I also got calls from my friends asking me to go watch it, since it was good. ( In their opinion that is. )

So, there I was, in my seat, watching the movie and then... I FELL ASLEEP !! Boys and Gals and children of all ages, "The Tattooist" - SUCKED !!

If you are going to watch the movie, please don't waste your money. Donate it to the poor and the needy (Maybe to the guys who made that movie? I don't think so !!). If you have already watched it and think its good, I am happy for you.

Let me summarize how the movie went, even though I fell asleep.

The movie begins, with the "hero" on bed, having nightmares about the tattoo he got when he was a kid. And how his dad was religious and cut off the skin where the tattoo was. "Hero" wakes up and walks butt naked to the window and stands there, looking. (Maybe he was wondering where he left his clothes).

Some parts of the movie was taken in Singapore,and they had to show the Merlion. "Hero" will be in a car, and he will reach to a big house out of nowhere. A butler opens the door and welcomes the "hero" in. The owner of the house, walks down the stairs and talks crap to the "Hero" and brings him up to a room, where the owner's son is. ( This is not Brokeback Mountain, so no gay shit, ok? )

Next scene shows the boy who looked sick and seems to have asthma attack or something. The owner turned to the "hero" and said "No monk want to mark him". The owner gives the "Hero" and envelope, probably containg the cheque and asked him to tattoo the kid.

(Thing is, the "Hero" gives everyone the impression that his tattoos can heal people, and therefore he was asked to the house to tattoo the sick kid, hoping it would save the kid's life.)

"Hero" will take out his dirty case, takes out the machine and the grips and place them nicely. He puts the grip to the machine, (without even putting in the needle), goes over to the boy, ( who looked 10-12yrs of age ), and starts tattooing, without freehanding anything or even putting on a stencil. Everything in that scene was screwed up !!

"Hero" then leaves after doing the thai chakra/mantra on the kid. "Hero" will then be in a Tattoo Expo in some building called "CAPITAL or CAPITOL" with the letter "L" blinking. Tattoo Expo in a rundown building?

"Hero" then steals the handmade needle from the Saomans and leave the building. And guess what?! The owner of the big house comes up to him and says his son is dead and that the tattoo did not work and threatens the "Hero".

Lets rewind here, shall we? The guy in the big house, who is rich and powerful, said that no monk wants to mark his son. Then why would he trust this guy who tattoos by machine?! Since it was given the impression all these was in Singapore, which monk in Singapore actually tattoos anyone?!! What an idiot ! He could have paid some monk to fly in from Thailand instead to help his son. And, what kind of Tattoo Artist would tattoo a small boy who is so sick? Its against the code of Tattoo Industry.

In my opinion, the boy did not die because he was sick. Let alone if the tattoo worked in healing or not. He died from infection from the unsterilised equiptments used. The grips were not even in a sealed pack, neither was it disposable ones if you have noticed.

"Hero" gets cut by the handmade needle used by the Samon. The wound was like 3-5cm on his palm. Next couple of scenes later, his wound would be like 8-10cm long, then after couple of scene, the wound would become smaller again to the original size. Come on !! Can't they decide how big they want the blady wound to be?

Whoever get tattooed by the "Hero" would die, because some demon tattoos behind the scene on the clients. The demon looks nowhere like what they want to portray it to be. The demon is suppose to be a Saoman who was killed because his tattoos were not done right. But honestly, it looked more like he was a native from the African Tribe. Again, they can't decide on what they want !!

I just can go on and on about the movie, but when the dust is settled, all I can say is, the movie was VERY BAD. It was very degrading to the tattoo industry and tattoo artist around the world. Especially to the Saomans and their traditional tattoos.

When I looked at the trailers, I saw a scene where the "Hero" and a girl would make out and clothes come off. I did not see any of that in the movie in real time !! They probably censored a R21 movie, make it NC16, so more kids can go and watch.

Since they made it like that, why do Singaporeans complain about kids getting tattooed? Controvesy, controvesy, controvesy !! Again, they can't decide !! Asswipes, I should say...

Out of 100 stars, I would give only 1 star to it. Reason, there will be a scene where this chick will die in the hospital and the ink will be flowing through her body, pass her neck, skin opens and blood drips and it flows up to her eye and the eyeball bursts and blood flows out. I would give it up to the effects !! Other than that, the movie sucked.

So, boys and gals, just stick to Miami Ink. Love Ya All !!

Kanjix

Johan and I had a good laugh at this website called Kanjix, where its motto is "A good KANJI name for you."



Besides the Engrish plastered all over the site, their kanji examples are not what I would call professional quality.

We are both curious who would pay $19 for 800 pixel size jpeg & additional $9.50 for PDF (Why not just use PDFCreator, it is FREE!).

I suggest their slogan should be changed to:

(Engrish + Eihongo) * $ = Kanjix!


Update: I find it to be very ironic that Google Adsense is posting an ad about Kanjix.

Sasha from New York in Miami Ink

An anonymous reader emailed me this screen capture from episode 12 in season 4 of Miami Ink.



It starts at 38:30, some person telling her story:

"Hello. I'm Sasha from New York and I've got this really cool tattoo on my back of a crescent moon surrounded a kanji, which is Japanese symbol and it's all me, it's my initial. And crescent moon is there basically to protect me, to make..."

Another sucker of the "Asian font".

"Kyan"

My friend Jon Rahoi (who runs a fantastic site about mangled English spotted in Hong Kong and various locations in China) has recently sent me a photo of his personal trainer's tattoo.



Jon says:

Hi Tian - my personal trainer showed me his tat today. He thinks it says "Kyan" which is his son's name. He said his Taiwanese-Okinawan friend wrote it for him. In Cantonese I think it says, "hei nguk mo" (happy house fight or brawl or something) and I'm guessing it would also be at least three syllables in Japanese, too. So I thought he was on crack. BUT when I put them into Google

喜屋武

I get 76,000 pages - mostly of a girl named Chiaki Kyan, who is a cosplay idol. I'm stumped as to where they're getting "Kyan," though. It's a mystery to this poor gwailo...

anyway, thought I'd share.

Red Maori

Another polynesian tattoo to add up to the list. But this time, its not the traditional black but full red. This is the very first time I ever did something so red !

I have related a topic on Polynesian/Maori tattoos in my previous post ( Sunday, August 26, 2007 )

As there is no writing in the Polynesian culture, the Polynesians used this art full of distinctive signs to express their identity and personality. Tattoos would indicate status in a hierarchy society: sexual maturity, genealogy and one's rank within society. Nearly everyone in ancient Polynesian society was tattooed.

Go check out : http://www.tahititatou.com/history.html

Koi

According to Japanese legend if a koi succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River it would be transformed into a dragon. Based on that legend, it became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement.

More generally, the Japanese associate koi (also known as carp) with perserverance in adversity and strength of purpose. Because of its strength and determination to overcome obstacles, it stands for courage and the ability to attain high goals.

Others say it means good fortune or luck.

The Koi Fish is symbolic in the Buddhist Religion, representing courage. Humans 'swim' through the 'ocean of suffering' without fear, just like a fish swims through water.

It is also one of the most popular and beautiful of Japanese tattoo symbols – a beauty which belives its symbolic meaning. Although Chinese in origin, the carp is now widely celebrated in Japan, particularly for its manly qualities.

In tattoo imagery, especially in combination with flowing water, it symbolizes much the same: courage, the ability to attain high goals, and overcoming life's difficulties

There are fourteen classifications that koi fish can be broken down into, separated by color and markings. One of which is the : Bekko. Bekko can be red, white, or yellow, but will have black markings, like the one I did.

DeadlyViper.org

Sacha G. has emailed me about a website called DeadlyViper.org. I tried to understand what the site is about by reading its About US section, then quickly got bored by all the vague catchy phrases.


http://deadlyviper.org/

However, both Sacha and I were curious about the significance of all the characters plastered on the site. For example, 加西生學由天誼 does not even form a sentence, but random characters placed together.

Luckily, after I emailed them, Bryce Green replied and confirming that "the characters are just random. They were selected by our designer because they looked compositionally cool."

Peony Flower

It was a very quiet day today at Immortal Tattoos. Everyone seems to be busy shopping due to the festive season around the corner. So, I carried on doing my own things around the shop, basically lazing around.

Just then, I had a lovely lady walk in today, wanting a Peony on her hip. She wanted to have it in black and grey but I talked her out of it and have it coloured instead.

The Peony is a flower with a history of cultivation and veneration that goes back thousands of years. In Japan and China, the peony is a floral symbol with meaning on par with the Chrysanthemum, the Lotus and the Cherry Blossom The Peony is regarded as a symbol of wealth.

As a tattoo design, the peony symbolizes wealth, prosperity, and good fortune. According to Japanese tattooing tradition, peonies also symbolize daring, risk taking and the gambler's or Samurai's devil-may-care approach to life. A gambler's next bet may be his last, a true Samurai according to the Code of Bushido, or The Way of the Warrior, lives each day as if it may be his last.

The peony is a potent symbol of beauty, of the fragility and fleeting nature of existence and the knowledge that acquiring great rewards comes only by taking great risks.

Tatt's ink-redibly unfunny

The Sun recently printed an article about a man named Vince Mattingley and his tattoo. Since The Sun is a tabloid newspaper, I don't really believe the story. Then again, look at all the people I have documented here in my own site.


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article369654.ece

According to the article, 屈臣 means "Coca-Cola".

That is absolutely nonsense.

The two-character phrase actually mean "crooked official".

Plus, Coca-Cola is 可口可樂 in Chinese & コカ・コーラ in Japanese.

Lion tattoos have two primary meanings - one is a simple appreciation of a beautiful animal; and a second is an image of fierceness, pride, and strength.

Your lion’s pose will say a lot about the thought behind your tattoo.

A lion at peace suggests confident, quiet strength.
A roaring lion shows a desire to make your power known.
A lion in battle can represent a willingness to fight for what you believe in.
A lion paired with a gentler animal, such as a lamb, shows a desire for peace.

Credits to : http://tattoos.lovetoknow.com/Lion_Tattoos

Kala - Borneo Scorpion

The Iban scorpion symbol, also sometimes known as kala, was noted particularly in Iban tattoo designs by Charles Hose (a civil officer who worked in Borneo over twenty years) and William McDougall (an English anthropologist) in their 1912 publication The Pagan Tribes of Borneo.

However, the authors note that the “scorpion” design is actually based on the highly stylized image of the aso, the mythical dog/dragon associated with protection from malevolent spirits. Hose and McDougall suggest that the Iban adopted their tattoo designs from other subgroups on the island and created their own interpretations afterwards.

In the kala design, the claws of the scorpion were originally the back end of the dog while the hooked ends at the back of the scorpion design were originally the open jaws of the mouth of the dog. Although it has no particular significance in the scorpion design, even the rosette-like eye of the dog still persists in the center.

Kala is also a protective symbol widely used in Iban Art.

More at TattooSymbol.com

Good Tattoos Ain't Cheap

I am dedicating this article to the 2 different kinda people in the world. The first, those who want to have a good tattoo but at cheap cost. The second, to the scratchers who tattoo at home and think they are the best in the world and think that they are so undergound and everyone worships them because of some linework done which looks like a 5 yr old kid has done it.

All I can say to them is, "You can go and fuck yourself."

There is a saying, "The bitterness of a poor-quality tattoo will linger long after the sweetness of a cheap price is forgotten." Or in other words, " Good Tattoos Ain't Cheap, Cheap Tattoos Ain't Good".

I am sure everyone is aware of that phrase or have seen it in tattoo parlours everywhere. But I still wonder, why is that everyone wants a cheap tattoo.

I have encountered 100s of them walking in over the past few months, bargaining the price of tattoos like they are bargaining for fish in the market. This is a Tattoo Parlour for God's Sake!! And to those who don't know what that means, You need to wake up !!

I know I sound kinda pissed off at this issue. Well, every professional tattoo artist should be, and would agree with everything I have to say in here.

Quote by Karen Hudson

"If you really want a tattoo from a particular artist, why are you going to let a price tag hold you back? You do realize you'll be wearing this tattoo for the rest of your life, right? If you don't think that's worth a few extra dollars, don't get it! "But I can get the same tattoo from my buddy for half that price!" Fine - you go see your buddy and don't come looking for a shoulder to cry on when you end up with a lousy tattoo or get some kind of disease or infection from improper sterilization."

I have customers who wanna bargain a $100 tattoo, all the way down to $20 !! Are they high on some cheap drug which cost them only 5cents? God !! There are even some who show off their badly done tattoo, ( probably done free by some scratcher cum junkie ) and say, "This big one only cost me $10". Damn right, its only $10 because it comes along with HIV, HEP B, Permanent Disfigurement to the skin that bloats up. "3D EFFECT", Literally. Man, You really got a good deal !!

"Don't choose any artist based on price alone. Look at the portfolio. Ask around to see if they have a good reputation for good work. Check out the competition and compare quality, not prices!"

You only get what you pay for. Don't expect a good quality tattoo even if its a professional when you bargain prices all the way to the ground. You piss us off, we will make you pay for the rest of your life. I am very sure you don't want to be tattooed by a pissed off tattoo artist do you? And don't come running back saying the tattoo is badly done. Don't expect the whole cake when you only pay for a slice.

But on the other hand, there are also artist who charge alot for a tiny tattoo where you can get triple the size elsewhere, still with good workmanship. Why is this so? Number one reason - We all have rents to pay !! Some places have higher rents - They have to charge higher for the tattoos too. And seriously, I have seen some bad tattoos (Not once, but many times) which cost a bomb, done at "famous" tattoo shops.

The best part - Tattoo Artist Wanna-bes, have their own shop, acting all professional but charging more than half the price lesser, than that I am charging. I have 2 kinda people in this kinda situations.

Firstly - Comparing prices. Saying, "I did this in that shop, the guy only quote me $80". Where I would charge maybe, $150 for the size and design but I would do it free if I were to do in that quality !

Secondly - People who regret. Saying, "I did this in that shop, the guy spoilt it. Can you do something bout it?". I would be pleased to do what I can do to the badly done tattoo, but sometimes I do turn them down, cause they are way beyond coverups at times.

If a person can pay so much for something which is not permanent, why not pay for tattoos which will follow you till grave.

By now, I am very sure to piss alot of people off who read this article.

Remember - Only those who are guilty gets pissed off. So, if you are pissed off, get off my fucking blog !! Hehe !!

Kanye West Sucks Stronger & Harder

Kanye "George Bush Does Not Care About Black People" West has just released a new album called Graduation.


video

Alan and I both have watched the video, and he has documented the following errors:

Tian,

That's pretty funny. Some of it seems to make sense, but it is all written in katakana, which is rather hard to read, especially as it flashes by so quickly. It is also sort of like reading a children's story written for preschoolers, who would not be assumed to be able to read kanji. Somehow the "baby talk" style of writing clashes with the "tough guy" image of the video.

Sometimes katakana is used to convey a robotic style of speaking, though.

I was initially optimistic that the katakana flashing on the screen might make some sense, since one of the first ones appeared to be ストロンガ which is in fact the transliteration of "Stronger," the name of the tune and this is flashed on the screen when Kanye sings the word. But my optimism did not hold out long.



This was followed by ヨリナガク which is the katakana version of より長く or the translation of "longer." This is not quite right because "I can't wait much longer" is sung, and the grammar doesn't match in context. And it seems odd that one of the words "stronger" would be transliterated as if it were a name, and the other word "longer" would be translated.



The first katakana bit in the video コセロ [kosero] at first didn't make any sense. It is flashed when the lyrics "that which don't kill me" are sung, so I can only assume it is supposed to mean "kill" but this would be 殺せ [korose] and would be written コロセ [korose] instead of コセロ [kosero] in katakana. So evidently they had some editing problems or a dyslexic typist. Anyway, the katakana doesn't match the lyrics because 殺せ is the imperative form, as in the order "Kill!"

The next one isn't too bad. He sings "right now" and イマスグ appears. This is the katakana version of 今直ぐ, which is in fact a good translation of "right now."

Then we see イマオマエガヒツヨウダ (ima omae ga hitsuyou da = 今おまえが必要だ) which is a good translation of "I need you right now."



But things went downhill from there. Some bits like ガンバレ (ganbare) are presumably supposed to be real words in Japanese, but this is misspelled so that it actually reads ガソバレ (gasobare), which makes no sense. I also can't see why it appears there.

Other katakana looks just like gibberish, but it flashes by so quickly I can't read it properly. The single characters ネ (ne), ギ (gi), テ (te), ザ (za) and ヨ (yo) appear for seemingly no reason.

At one point I saw キガクルウ (ki ga kuruu = 気が狂う) or "to go crazy" which seems to match the lyric "go ape."



I am mystified by some bits like タツセイシロ (tatsuseishiro). What is this supposed to mean? Is this an error for タッセイシロ (note the small ッ)? If so, it would be 達成しろ or "achieve it!" (But achieve what?) This mistake of using ツ instead of ッ appears to be typical of typing by a non-Japanese typist that cannot tell the difference.

Another bit オレハコロサレナイ (ore ha korosarenai = 俺は殺されない) appears when the lyric "don't kill me" is sung, but the Japanese literally means "I cannot be killed." It is followed by …ハオレヲツヨクスルダケダ… (...ha ore wo tsuyoku suru dake da... = は俺を強くするだけだ) which does mean "... will only make me stronger..."

The lyric "I need you to hurry up" is appropriately accompanied by イマスグイソグンダ (ima sugu isogunda = 今直ぐ急ぐんだ).

In one scene, the nurse looks into a room and screams and "タスケテ!"appears as a sort of subtitle. This is a literal translation of "Help!" the phrase usually used where someone is captured and needs to be rescued -- the damsel in distress's classic cry. But it seems a bit incongruous for a professional nurse to call for security this way.

One bit レダケオマエヲ (re dake omae wo) seems to have been part of a longer phrase with both ends cut off for some reason.

The subtitles for the security guards' lines -- ウゴクナ！ (ugoku na! = 動くな！) (Don't move!), トマレ！ (tomare! = 止まれ!) (Stop!) and ナンダコレハ…？ (nanda kore ha...?) (What the...?) -- appear to be fine, except that the typist continues to confuse ン with ソ. So ナンダ [nanda] actually is the nonsensical ナソダ [nasoda].

Anyway, overall it seems like they did actually have a real translator translate some bits, but probably they gave the translator only extremely short bits of text to translate, which were translated out of context. And then they had a non-Japanese typist create the titles, so additional errors were introduced at that stage.

By the way, I like Daft Punk's version of this song much better than Kanye West's.

Alan

And I like this version as well.

Sun Ray - Dot Work

For many millennia the Sun was believed to be at the center of the Universe, around which all other heavenly bodies radiated. The Sun was a symbol of both royal and divine powers, adopted by both secular and religious authorities.

Nearly every culture has a creation myth that explains how the sun came into being, and often times an accompanying apocalypse myth that details the end of the world, as we know it, when the sun is destroyed or devoured in some manner. Many cultures have myths that explain the rising and the setting of the sun, and this repeating cycle of light and dark has come to symbolize life and death, regeneration and reincarnation.

I had a customer walking in, asking for the "Rays" of the sun, to be done on his arm. Sounds easy. But as he elaborated further, he actually wanted it to be done in "Dot Work". Meaning? Basically the design does not consist of any outlines or shading, but its purely done by just dots. Nothing else, just plain DOTS !!

After pricking in 1000s of dots in his arm, it was done. Of course, he felt every dot tat was done on him - Each and Every dot !!

ESPN & Matt Roth of Miami Dolphins

Dustin Chinn of Comedy Central (All Hail to Jon Stewart) spotted this giant 春 (spring) on ESPN's website.


http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/index

Neither of us understood what ESPN's intention of plastering this particular character on their site, especially when Spring is NFL's offseason.

After reading the site, the only I can think of is the "haiku" theme. Even with that, why didn't ESPN just use 俳句?

Later Stacy emailed me this photo of Miami Dolphins' Matt Roth.


larger view

According to a 2005 interview with Pro Football Weekly, Roth claimed "I got some Chinese writing — my last name."

Roth is correct about they are simplified Chinese characters, however I really doubt his last name is 疼闹扑权.

Sailor Boyz

Hey Everyone !! Let me introduce to you, 2 of the coolest people I have ever met !! Won't leak out their profession though. But a little secret - ( One of them works as a superhero ) Haha !! Lets call him Kelvin - "The Man with a Shape of a Bear's Head on His Chest" .

Don't Mess with me. Kelvin -"The Man with a Shape of a Bear's Head on His Chest" by my side !!

Saint

Sinner

And also introducing - Shawn or Sean,(However you spell the name) AKA "John Cena Lookalike" Giving you both sides of mankind. Either be a Saint or a Sinner !! Dig It?

Showoff !! Haha !!

Nice having you guys in my studio. Do hope to see you again. I kept my promise !!

Tiger Coverup

Did this tattoo as a coverup of a ex-lover's name....

No explaination needed...Sometimes I run out of words to say too ya know? Haha !!

Maori

Maori tattooing is a distinct school of patterns and graphic designs within Polynesian tattooing. While much of Polynesian tattooing is derived from straight-line geometric patterns (and thought to originate with patterns found on ancient Lapita pottery shards such as have been discovered in Samoa), a design fact which rose in part because the traditional Polynesian tattoo combs are best suited to linear designs, Maori tattooing is essentially curvilinear, and the mainstay of Maori designs are based on the spiral. It should be noted that renowned traditional Hawaiian artist Keone Nunes has demonstrated that it is possible to reproduce complex curved designs using traditional Polynesian tattooing implements.

Traditionally Maori tattoo artists followed very specific rules laid out for facial "moko" or tattoos. It is important to note that because of the tremendous cultural complexity of New Zealand's many tribes and clans, these rules often had local variations. But the idea that the tattoos followed a set of prescribed rules was widespread, and tattoos were specific to individuals, family, clans and tribes. Maori tattoos follow the contours of the face, and are meant to enhance the natural contours and expressions of an individual's face. A well-executed tattoo would trace the natural "geography" of an individual's facial features, for example lines along the brow ridge; the major design motifs are symmetrically placed within opposed design fields: lines are used in certain areas where spirals are not used; two types of spiral are used -- the koru, which is not rolled up and has a "clubbed" end, and the rolled spiral. (Ta Moko: The Art of Maori Tattoo, By D.R.Simmons)

Read More at : http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoos_designs_symbols_maori_polynesian.htm

Return of the Dragon

Been days since I updated anything up in here. Seems like some kinda voodoo spell has been casted on Immortal Tattoos !! Where have the human canvases disappeared to? Have they turned to dust? Hehe !! Well, I can't blame bad times can I?

But, on exception, there are few survivors who got away from the curse and fell right into the studio...

Here are 2 of the works done...

Tribal Dragon ( Making a Comeback )

Orchid and Aum

The orchid symbolizes perfection, wisdom, and thoughtfulness in some cultures; in other cultures it symbolizes virtue and morality. That's all I pretty much know about Orchids...Hehe !!

Joyful Life

Jason V. from Brazil has sent me two photos of work done by Stanley of STATTOO in Minas Gerais.

The first one was just three characters thrown together, but the second one was terrible:


http://sp2.fotologs.net/photo/50/59/58/stattoo/1174402499_f.jpg

Not only these five characters are randomly thrown together, the second one does not even exist, and fourth one 喜 is upside down!

Amber's Tattoo from Big Brother 8

I don't watch reality television shows, therefore I have no idea who Amber is. Apparently she is one of the house guests in Big Brother 8.

HS reader & Big Brother 8 watcher Jenn G. emailed me this screen shot of Amber's tattoo,



According to Jenn G., in one of the previous episodes, Amber claimed her tattoos are:

Family
Strength
Honor
Wisdom

If anyone has seen the particular episode, please confirm if Amber has made such claim.

Traditional Tattoo Videos

As promised, here are the videos taken during the 2nd International Borneo Tattoo Convention,of me getting tattooed traditonally..

Day 1

Day 2

The Banta Family

This person went to Charlie at Asylum Tattoo of Covington, Kentucky and got some names tattooed, assuming they are family members names. The end result is posted in BMEzine's gallery dated Aug. 4, 2007.


http://bmeink.com/A70804/high/bmepb577039.jpg

My fellow katakana tattoo connoisseur Alan has this to say:

As these things go, I guess this one is not so bad. It appears to be the names of people in a family, with the family name バンタ [Banta] written horizontally and the given names ジム [Jim], アネット [Annette] and タナー [Tanner] written vertically under it.

The tattoo artist did make a mistake in that the final stroke ー in the name Tanner should be vertical instead of horizontal. This appears to be a common mistake that we also saw on Kimberley's tattoo.

Pocket-Sized Book

Reader Lynn sent me this photo of a pair men's swimming shorts from Wal-Mart. Since she is a Japanese major, it was odd to her to see hiragana characters meaning "pocket-sized book" printed on the shorts.




I confirmed this with Alan, and he says:

The hiragana is clearly しゅうちんぼん [shuuchinbon], which is the Japanese reading of 袖珍本, meaning a "pocket-sized book" which was perhaps the size of today's paperback books, a handy size for carrying in the sleeves of kimono.

But as to why someone would want to have this written on their swimming trunks, I have no idea. Bizarre!

Of course, we both think it was meant to be a jab at the wearer's testicle size or the popular sport of pocket pool.


P.s. why do people still shop at Wal-Mart?!

Foot Tribal

Another foot tattoo done to add up to the collection, within a week !!

Inspired by fateark.com, I made some minor changes to the original design and came up with this. Its the beginning stage, starting from the foot , which will end at the knee.

So here it is...

One in Ten Thousand

Both Alan and I have spotted this tattoo submitted in BMEzine's gallery on July 23 by "CW351".


http://www.bmeink.com/A70723/high/bmegl565820.jpg

Its caption read:

Rest In Peace Bro!
Kanji reads "One In A Million", I hope.
(by Brooke, Eye Of The Beholder, Vernon, BC)

Alan writes:

Unfortunately, 万が一 in Japanese does not mean “One In A Million.” It really means “in the worst case” or “in case of emergency.” The saying is used in the sense of out of 10,000 (万) times something might happen, a really bad thing will happen in only one (一) instance. Chinese dictionaries suggest that 万一 (or 萬一) in Chinese means roughly the same as 万が一 or 万一 in Japanese.

It does not have any positive connotations at all. This is hardly the sort of sentiment that someone would want to express to remember a dear friend after their passing, but the poor schmuck has gotten this tattooed on his shoulder.

Anyhow, I still think it is very much a mistranslation and nothing even close to the intended meaning of "one in a million." And it is pretty sad that this is how the guy is trying to honor the memory of his friend.

Perhaps he has “push the emergency stop button” tattooed on the other shoulder.

"The Name is KiKi"

Fresh from BMEzine's gallery is this piece:


http://www.bmeink.com/A70722/high/bmegl562457.jpg

The owner claims this is name for "KiKi" and it is done by Flecha (Arrow in Spanish) in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Sure, if the tattoo is based on the gibberish font downloaded from the internet. However, the "i" are not even correct.

Roses and Names

Rose tattoos have been popular for the past couple of decades. They can be both a masculine and a feminine tattoo. They were once the preserve of sailors back in the day but have since become increasingly popular amongst females as more and more females started getting tattooed.

Roses originated in ancient Persia and were historically viewed as a masculine flower, however several thousand years of cultivation produced many exquisite and beautiful variations associating it with females and love.

I did this for a male customer who wanted to have his kids name around it as well and it came out pretty sweet...

Red roses can mean love, romantic love, and respect.
White roses signify spiritual love, purity, innocence or secrecy.
Bridal white means happy love.
Yellow roses signify joy, gladness, friendship and devotion.
Coral roses imply desire.
Light peach roses signify modesty or friendship
Orange roses say fascination.
Light pink roses imply grace, gentility and admiration.
Dark pink roses say "thank you."
Red and yellow roses mixed together can mean congratulations
Yellow and orange roses together imply passionate thoughts.
Red and white roses signify unity

Greeks mythology described roses as being white until the goddess Aphrodite pricked herself on the thorns, and her blood drops turned the blossoms red. Even today people attach meaning and emotional qualities to roses.

Credits to : http://www.tao-of-tattoos.com/rose-tattoos

Stupid Shorts

Hanzi Smatter reader and frequent commenter Ulas has snapped a photo of this pair of boxer shorts.



There are two characters, 馬鹿, clearly printed above the English word "Dragon".

馬鹿 literally means "horse & deer", however in Japanese, they mean "stupid" or "idiot/fool".

Froggy Day !!

Hey there everyone!! It has been awhile since I updated the blog as I was caught up with shitloads of work after returning from the Tattoo Convention. Work, Work, Work !!

Anyway, I was asked to do a tattoo of a frog by one of my customers. And honestly, never have I, tattooed frogs on anyone in my life. But hey, like they all say, there is a first time for everything...

The frog is a tattoo design that cuts across many cultures. As a member of the animal clan, the Frog is seen as a teacher. A lunar creature that resonates with water, it also lives on land.

A cold-blooded creature, the Frog possesses an extremely sensitive skin which shamans consider magical. In many cultures, the Frog is associated with the ability to jump from one state of consciousness to another.

The frog is a symbol of generation, rebirth and fertility. The Egyptian frog goddess was named Heket.