Liesl’s Japanese Kanji Tattoo on her Back

Wolf Print Tattoo on Her Ankle

I got my first tattoo of 3 Japanese kanji’s. They say Spirit, Wolf, and Eagle. They are on my back so I can draw great strength from knowing that the 3 of them are always behind me.

My next tattoo is of a wolfs paw on my right ankle. This symbolizes the wolf always walking with me.

All my tattoos have a deep spiritual meaning to me.

-Liesl

Tattoo artist: Jumbo
Tattoo Studio: Jumbos Tattoos

More Japanese Tattoos
More Tattoos on Backs
More Tattoos on Ankles

I got my tattoo on my 18th birthday from my father. It was a big deal to get this tattoo because I had picked it out so many years ago. I was severely depressed and suicidal. I was kicked out of school and there was nothing out there in the world for me and it really got to me. My life then revolved around reading my vampire novels, writing, drugs and music. Especially music. It was what helped me out the most.

I didn’t go on the internet very much and one day I was just aimlessly looking around and found this picture. It had a wonderful quote with it but that’s not what caught my eye. I immediately saved the picture. I kept a print out of the picture in one of my many notebooks and finally got it tattooed last year. I felt that soon after was the turning point in my life. I stopped being so depressed and realized life isn’t all that bad and not everything is out to get me.

Thank you daddy you have no clue how much this means to me.

-Tina

Tattoo artist: Eric Johnson
Tattoo Studio: Firehouse Tattoo, Quesnel, BC Canada

More Fairy Tattoos
More Tattoos of Women
More Back Tattoos

Danny’s Fish Pin Tattoo Story

This tattoo is an image of a silver pin (a Georg Jensen design) that my great aunt got in Denmark in the 1930s. She had it made into a money clip which she gave my to my dad – who carried all through France & Germany during WWII and back home again until he lost it.

When I was born (1952) my mom found a duplicate pin at the Georg Jensen store in NYC and had it made into a money clip which she gave to my dad – when I was two he bought an identical pin and gave it (somewhat O’Henry-like) to mom. He carried that money clip until he died in 1992 – and then it was mine. I carried it until 2005 until I lost it. Last year mom gave me her pin — which we turned into a money clip that I carry with me today.

I got the tattoo to keep my dad close and so as to never lose it again. I just recently bought the very same pin on ebay and plan to give it to mom for Xmas this year.

-Danny

Tattoo Artist: The design was drawn and executed by João Paulo Rodrigues at Rising Dragon Tattoos. It was at 230 W. 23rd St. btwn 7th & 8th Aves. in NYC but that’s now Chelsea Tattoo Co. Rising Dragon is now at 51 West 14th St. 2nd Floor, btwn 5 & 6 Aves.
Tattoo Studio: Rising Dragon Tattoos

More Fish Tattoos
More Shoulder Tattoos
More Blackwork Tattoos

Agamid’s Tolkien Cleavage Tattoo

My third tat (the symbol between my breasts) is the Tolkien symbol – if you don’t know what that is, please go to your local library, pick up a copy of one of his books and look for it. It’s his signature. I’ve always loved Tolkien’s books. I grew up hearing them as bedtime stories. To me, he was the best writer ever born and the father of the fantasy genre as we know it. He’s my hero.

This tat is the first of what are going to be several Tolkien themed tats. I want a couple of original Tolkien illustrated dragons to flank the symbol and the tree of Gondor on my back. Lucky for me my tattoo artist is a massive Tolkien fan too.

- agamid

Tattoo Artist: Loz
Tattoo Studio: Westside Tattoo, Westend, Brisbane, Australia

Agamid’s Other Tattoos: Lizard Arm Tattoo Story, Lizard Leg Tattoo Story

More Cleavage Tattoos
More Fantasy Tattoos

Jack’s Mother Tattoo

This is a tattoo I recently got. It’s not all the way done and I am now considering turning it into a 1/2 sleeve. It’s a photo of my mom when she was 20 years old and getting married for the first time.

The reason I got it is just because it’s my mom, it’s an awesome picture and she’s an awesome person and has always been there for me and always helped me when I needed it. It’s on my right forearm. I plan on getting my dad and grandma tattooed on me as well, but that will have to wait.

-Jack

Tattoo Artist: Karl Otto
Tattoo Shop: Twisted Images in Louisville, KY

Elliot’s Serenity Prayer Tattoo Story

I got this tattoo in Casa Grande, Arizona. It is a tattoo of a prayer called “The Serenity Prayer.” The prayer reads as follows.. God grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change, the courage to change the things i can, and the wisdom to know the difference between the two. The name of the Shop is called Aces and Eights.

The motivation for me to get this tattoo was that i have had a problem with
drug addiction since i was about 16 yrs old. I pretty much was using cocaine about 4-5 times a week thru all 4 years of college. I managed to graduate from college (took me an extra year, so i graduated in 5 years)and all while being on a full athletic scholarship. My senior year with about 2 weeks left before winter break i got busted by campus security(luckily not police) and i od’ed and got kicked off campus and almost lost everything but i managed to work out a deal where if i could complete 60 days in a treatment center and then pass random drug tests and do outpatient 3 hours a week for rest of my senior year i would be able to stay in school and continue to play on the athletic team i was on.

Every day in treatment at least 3-4 times a day we had to recite that prayer and it just started to stick with me. I got the tattoo a week after i graduated and have been drug free since the day i got it. The tattoo stands for my sobriety and the commitment i have to myself and everyone that cares about me to stay that way.

- Elliot

Is that the coolest buffalo-on-a-bike tattoo you’ve ever seen, or what?!?

My new tattoo based on my buffalo-on-a-bike design, which is also uploaded a few pictures back. Why a buffalo on a bike? Do you really have to ask?

I’ve had this design idea in my head for at least a year. I had a guy I know draw a slightly different version of it a while ago, but this version I made myself by combining a buffalo silhouette that I found on the interweb with the bike symbol from a bike path sign. I had to stretch the buffalo’s legs a bit to fit them onto the pedals (buffalo aren’t exactly easy to anthropomorphise), and I angled the buffalo’s tail back with the wind, and then angled the front legs to rest them on the handlebars. It was fun. And now it’s permanently tattooed on my left shoulder.

I got it done at Shamus McInky’s in South Buffalo. The tattoo below it is from 1993.

-Thomas – Bike Blog

Meghan’s Burning Man Tattoo

I went to Burning Man in 2003 and 2004. My first year (2003) I was only 16 years old. It was a life changing experience for me. Burning Man taught me that I was an independent women who shouldn’t allow herself to be controlled by people around her. My second year was a chance at freedom and I built my first Art Project called “Freedom to Peace”.

The symbol of the “man” in my tattoo is the Burning Man symbol. The ring around the man stands for Unity among the human race and the sun over the man is my Native American Tribal sign.

I didn’t get the tattoo until 2006. I was in a relationship with a very controlling person and I wasn’t allowed to get one. Once I finally broke free the first thing I did I was get a tattoo, for me the tattoo is more than just a reminder of Burning Man but also a reminder that I am strong and can stand on my own two feet, it is a constant reminder that I am powerful.

My Step Dad David Breen hand designed it for me.

- Meghan

Inked by Angel at Tat Magic in Fairfield California

Samantha’s Dragonfly Tattoo

From the time I was 3 until I was about 13 my stepfather sexually molested me almost every night. In 7th grade I finally told someone and it seemed as if my life would always revolve around him and what I went through as a child. 5 years later I decided that it was time to put it all behind me and start with a clean slate.

I live in NY, but I got this tattoo in Canada, 2 months after my 18th birthday. My dad designed it for me with the tattoo artist that day. It means so much more to me because of that.

The dragonfly symbolizes endurance and my mental and emotional growth and maturity. It is said that people who have the dragonfly as their totem have had passionate and emotional early years, but as they grow older they achieve emotional and mental clarity and control. That’s me.

The character to the dragonfly’s left is the kanji symbol for “LIFE.” The symbol is a reminder to me that I have so much to live for, that the life I lead for last ten years does not have to be the one that leads me for the next ten.

And if you look closely there is an “S” where the dragonfly’s body should be because I am that creature and that creature is me.

I GOT THIS TATTOO SO THAT WHENEVER I LOOK OVER MY SHOULDER AND TO THE PAST I CAN REMEMBER THAT I HAVE ENDURED, THAT I HAVE GROWN, AND THAT THAT PART OF MY LIFE IS BEHIND ME…

- Samantha

Tattoo Artist: Sergei
Lower East Side Tattoo and Body Peircing – Toronto, Ontario, Canada

More Dragonfly Tattoos
More Tattoos on Shoulders

Lizzie’s Forearm Star Tattoos

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.