This was my first tattoo. As soon as I turned 18 I new I was going to get tattooed. For years I knew I wanted to get the image of the Virgen De Guadalupe somewhere on my body for life. I grew up in a catholic family going to church and all that good stuff. I always loved catholic art and the Virgen just seemed to draw me in.

Here in Escondido, CA we have about 7 or 8 tattoo shops. I knew most of the shop owners and their staff but I chose a hispanic/aztec tattoo shop, there I met Dominic Vasquez I told about what I wanted to get and he was excited because he said that he hadnt done one in color and done one so big before. I chose to get it from my wrist to the inner bend of my elbow.

I went in for 3, 2 hour sessions and in that time Dominic and I spoke a lot about everything from then on we became friends and to this day he is the only artist I let tattoo me. I have complete confidence in him. Even though he has moved multiple times I still get my ink done by him.

-Israel

Also check out Israel’s “Kid” Memorial Tattoo

When I was 13 I really started to have problems with depression and mood swings and I was diagnosed as being Manic-Bipolar. I started struggling with school and family and friends. In my freshman year in Highschool, I hit rock bottom and turned to cutting to help relieve the stress and pain I was feeling. No one seemed to understand so it became my own secret.

Over the years, I have been working on overcoming this choice or release. I needed to find something that would help me stay away from hurting myself. I started sketching and came up with this design. I chose the star design because of my love for celestial things and the colors are my favorite, red and black. I decided to put it on my left wrist because that was my arm that is the most scarred, that way I could look at it whenever I was feeling down or depressed.

The spiral stands for the path that I don’t want to go down again. To me, it’s a downward spiral that I’ve fallen down before and I know that I’m strong enough to handle my depression. So now, if I ever get the urge to hurt myself or I get really down, I can look at my wrist and know that I can over come it.

- Asher

Tattoo artist: “M” at Aftershock Tattoo in Olathe, KS

I had the black stars tattoo added to my arm shortly after my 19th birthday in response to contacting and meeting my birth parents. The top black star represents my mum and dad who have raised me, the other 2 stars represent my birth mother and my birth father.

I’ve spent nearly 2 years getting to know them both and the siblings that I have from each of them and decided that the tattoo needed to be finished with the addition of those siblings. Each outline represents a different one. The top one being my adopted brother who I have grown up with. I chose to get his star at the top because he is the closest connection to who I am. When our parents are dead and gone he will be the person I turn to in order to help me remember them.

The four stars at the bottom represent my half brother Perry (from my birth father) my half sister Hannah (from my birth mother) and my 2 other half sisters Dana and Molly (also from my birth father)

Although my star tattoo isn’t much to look at I do get a lot of questions about it and it has an important meaning to me.

It’s Official! I have officially joined the ranks of “Cult of Mac” status.

I’ve been wanting this tattoo for 10 years now. You can also view a full set of pictures at my flickr site to see the progression from start to finish. For those of you graphic design nerds you will be proud to know that the size of my tattoo is Times New Roman, Normal at 115 points. w00t! Having said this… bring it bitches!

-Terry