Neal's Foo Dog

This winter has been an especially cold one here in New York and, as any loyal reader can confirm, I haven't reported on many tattoos that I have glimpsed in the city.

However, last night at the grocery store around the corner, I met Neal, who let me take a quick snapshot of his foo dog on the left side of his neck:


Foo dogs are traditional Asian-style tattoo designs, and have various meanings and interpretations. Click here to see some other posts on the site that have featured foo dog designs.

Neal told me that this was inked by Koji at Studio Engima on Avenue U in Brooklyn many years ago. Work from Studio Engima has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Neal for sharing his foo dog with us here on Tattoosday!

Tattoos I Love: Sweethearts for My Sweetheart

So what does an inkblogger get his sweetheart on Valentine's Day?

Why, a love-themed tattoo, of course.

Lucky me, the good folks over at Thicker than Water Tattoo had a Cupid special, $14 tattoos on February 14.


A lot like the Dare Devil Tattoo Friday the 13th Special (one of which is documented here), the lucky tattoo recipient can choose from an assortment of day-themed flash.


Here's what my lovely bride Melanie had to choose from:


When we got to the shop, Melanie signed in #53, and they were averaging a dozen or so per hour, so we knew we had a little bit of a wait.

I specifically selected Shon Lindauer, since he did such an awesome job with my tiger tattoo.

It was nice that Melanie got to meet Shon and the piece she selected was one that he had drawn up.

He tattooed her in the middle of the back and took just about fifteen minutes:


She was very happy with the end result:


When we left around 3:45, the waiting list was over a hundred, so they looked like they had a long night ahead of them.

Thanks to Shon and the staff at Thicker Than Water for another great tattoo experience!