Danny's La Pietà, for the Love of Art

I met Danny last month across the street from Verdi Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.He had quite a lot of nice ink, and we focused on this piece, tattooed on the inside of his upper left arm:This is based on Michelangelo's Pietà, the famous sculpture in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.Why does Danny have this, and other classic art, inked on his flesh? I'll let him explain:"To be

Holy Ship! Isaac's Vessel and a Biblical Quote

There are a few tattoo artists whose work is so good that, when I'm lucky enough to stumble upon one of their clients, I consider it a great day.Such was the case on a Monday in August on the Upper West Side, when I stopped Isaac in Trader Joe's as he walked past me. I knew, even before he told me who the artist was, that this piece was special:Isaac explained that this ship was inked by the

Three Tattoos from Sabrina

I met Sabrina on Penn Plaza back in June after stopping to admire her tattoos. She has three and talked me through them chronologically.She explained , "I like to get [a tattoo] for every place I lived," and her first one was this butterfly armband:Sabrina is from upstate New York. She went to one of the shops in Utica and spoke to the owner about getting an armband. He dismissed her initial

Michael and his Misfits Ink

I met Michael in Bay Ridge, at 92nd and 3rd Avenue, and he offered up these two tattoos on his forearm:I recognized the top piece as a Misfits tattoo and asked why he chose it.He responded:"They are my favorite band of all time and when I say the Misfits, I mean the 1977-1983 Misfits. That to me is one of the greatest bands of all time and Glenn Danzig is my favorite singer of all time."He