A Drop Of Tanya

Name: Tanya

Age: 30

Tell me about yourself: I work in the financial services industry for our insurance division. It's a job, and pays well (so I can get tattoos!) I feel like this is some dating website survey. I love long walks on the beach, my friends and family are super important to me, I love going to all the amazing restaurants has to offer. I consider myself a bit of a foodie. I'm inspired by people's compassion, loyalty and support. My friends accept me for who I am and still love me, even though sometimes I might not always do the right thing. I have a cat, he’s a crazy, special little guy. Seriously I don’t think he’s normal, but I love him anyway and he is my companion. Even when the little guy wakes me up in the middle of the night trying to start a fight with me.

How many tattoos do you have:
6

Age when you got your first tattoo:
18

Do you have a favourite tattoo
Not one favourite, they all have meaning to me

Any more tattoos planned?
Yes my back, no idea what I want, I keep changing my mind, I'm looking for an amazing artist that will just draw something for me, I’d like it to have some meaning but mainly I'm looking for a really feminine piece that suits my body and incorporates the other tattoos I have on my back already. Sounds easier than it actually is...struggling to find someone to collaborate with

Favourite style of tattooing?
I like them all, honestly. They each have their history and background and I find it all fascinating.


Have you ever felt judged, prejudiced against because of your tattoos?
A few guys have turned their noses up, but I don’t really care what other people think.


What is your tattoo story?
The arrow, aka my star sign (Sagittarius) was my first, I thought about it for SSSOOOO long, I honestly agonised over it, it's placement, it's meaning. EVERYTHING! I went and got it done at Highline Tattoo’s (St Kilda Junction) by this big gruff looking biker dude who was the sweetest person you ever met. A girlfriend of mine from high school came with me and I thought I was so cool and tough. At the time, I never thought I would get any more, and if I could do it again, I probably wouldn’t get the same thing. My family hated it, and my grandmother would have disowned me if she ever knew.


The female symbol was my next one, in my head I wanted the curvature of the tattoo to match the arrow, but it didn’t turn out that way. I went back to Highline Tattoo and the same guy to get it, this time my boyfriend came with me. The tattoo was to symbolise the women in my life and how much they mean to me.

The hearts on my wrist are for my grandmother who has passed away, her maiden name was Heart and she was born on the 4^th July so that's why there is four. This tattoo also didn’t turn out like the drawing I had, I kinda wish he had told me it was too small for the detail my drawing had, but now I like that it's not perfect. I love the location and the tattoo as a whole, every time I look at it, I laugh because my Grandmother would HATE it and the rebel in me finds it amusing to dedicate a tattoo to her.

The writing I got a few years ago, I got it backwards because it's a tattoo for me and not anyone else. Basically it's all the things I stand for, believe and are me.

The kisses on my shoulder, or as I so devastatingly realised after I got it done, Four X....FAIL!!! I have only had this a little while and was completely last minute and not thought out (clearly) I’ll probably get this covered or incorporated into my big back piece I plan on getting done. But it was meant to be from my favourite Jeff Buckley song, Lover, you should have come over. My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder, originally it was going to be one, higher up on my neck, but the chick didn’t want to do it so high, and I'm grateful for her guidance, but somehow it morphed into four of them. It has started my love affair with colour tattoos.

The writing on my foot; "begin with a single step", or as I lovingly refer to it "gin with sing e step". I love the location, it's a pity it's already fucked, I only got this in December last year for my 30^th so it's only 5mths old. I’ll be getting it touched up when I get my back done, and probably try and get it a bit higher so it doesn’t fade so quick (or at all). This one hurt like hell, plus I have a thing about people touching my feet, so it was a massive psychological battle for me to let this guy hold down my foot and then tattoo it...i got a nickname out of this one...Ole One Shoe, because afterwards we went to get a cider at a pub around the corner and I couldn’t put my shoe on, so I walked around the streets of Perth and into this pub with one shoe on and no one cared. God I love Perth!

Tattoos For The Screen

Tattoos are as prevalent in current society as they are not only because of the hundreds of people who used their skin to pioneer and parade tattoos, who forced society out of its comfort zone and compelled it to view tattoos as something more than a freakshow attraction.

In the way that it does, TV and cinema have thrust an idea upon the general public and forced people to look upon their idols, and teenage idols adorned with artwork that adds to their character, makes them tougher, rougher round the edges. Gives them more believability and their performance more clout. The prevalence of tattooing in mass media has ingrained a feeling to a large percentage of people, not least my generation that tattooing is sexy. We're not entirely sure why we find it so attractive. Its not necessarily the fact that going through the pain of tattooing make you tough, different people's pain thresholds allow for different kinds of pain and some of the most delicate people I know have ink. It would not be absurd to suggest that the images in our minds of beautiful people displaying intricate and beautiful art on the perfectly toned bodies lay in the recess of our brains popping their tattooed selves our of our subconscious every time tattooing is mentioned. 

These people are our own examples of how tattooing can be beautiful, spectacular and character building so I give you some of the best tattoos given to us by the big and small screen.

Wentworth Miller as Michael Scofield in Prison Break.

Brad Pitt as Mickey O'Neil in Snatch

Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai Luzhin in Eastern Promises

Russell Brand as Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Angelina Jolie as Fox in Wanted

Matthew McConaughey as Denton Van Zan in Reign of Fire

Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery as Connor and Murphy MacManus in the Boondock Saints

Eric Bana as Nero in Star Trek

Cinema.com, Fyeah Hollywood, dreamgirldiaries, IMDB, Google Images,

Celebrity Ink - Freja Beha Erichsen

r"This world tonight is mine" PJ Harvey quote around right wrist.

"Serendipity Is Me" on back of right upper arm.

"this too shall pass" on right inner bicep.

"redemption" below left inner elbow.

Colt "Peacemaker" revolver on left inner bicep.

3 yellow filled circles on left inner wrist.

Solid inverted triangle behind the neck.

"float" on left side of neck.

Small solid star on left upper ribs.

"M" later covered with a lightning bolt on upper right ribs.

Outline of a circle in dashes behind right ear.

Cross on right earlobe.

Lines around left middle finger.

"sorry" on left ring fingertip (unconfirmed)

"Nobody has minded so far, I don't think," Erichsen says, "but then they weren't in obvious places at the beginning. They were easily covered. Still, I did make a deal with my agent about a year ago: she said I could get as many tattoos as I wanted as long as I didn't cut my hair."

 "this world tonight is mine", which comes from a PJ Harvey song ("My version of carpe diem"), and the phrase "this too shall pass" ("Obviously I was going through some stuff when I had that done." What stuff? "Just personal stuff"), as well as the word "float" ("as in float through life, don't sink") on the side of her neck. "I just like getting them done," Erichsen explains. "I like the whole process, especially coming up with something you want, which never takes me long. Like the revolver. That's not a heavy symbol for me. I like guns and I think the design is pretty, and once I have an idea I have to go there. I'm definitely hooked on getting tattoos."

Font used in "float" and"redemption" tattoos is Windsong


Source: Google Images

Celebrity Ink - David Beckham

Guardian Angel upper centre back.

Winged crucifix on back of neck.

Jesus on lower right ribs taken from the painting The Man Of Sorrows by Matthew R Brooks.

Angel on right shoulder with text, "in the face of adversity" - a memorial to his grandfather.

Sons names, Romeo, Cruz and Brooklyn on back.

VII Roman numerals for the number 7 jersey he wore at Man. United.

"Victoria" on inner left forearm in Hindi.

Left forearm comprising 10 roses, an image of wife, Victoria as a topless angel surrounded by stars.

“Ut Amem Et Foveam” which translates to “so that I love and cherish on inner left forearm

"Pray for me" on right inner wrist

Left upper arm, Renaissance image of a Cupid carrying his wife Psyche to Heaven.

Full sleeve on right arm, religiously themed featuring cherubs, crucifix, a Templar Knight clouds, number 23 (LA Galaxy jersey number).

"Let them hate as long as they fear" on right outer forearm.

Chinese proverb on ribs, translating to "Death and life have determined appointments. Riches and honour depend upon heaven."

Hebrew quote from the Song of Solomon 6.3 "I am my love’s and my love is mine, who browses among the lilies" on left forearm.

Latin phrase on left forearm "Perfectio in Spiritu" meaning "spiritual perfection."

Hebrew phrase, "My son, do not forget my teaching but keep my commands in your heart." on left arm.

"I think everybody's got a way of expressing their feelings, and mine is through my tattoos."

"The idea to get tattooed came to me a little while after Brooklyn was born. I was talking to Mel B and her then-husband, Jimmy Gulzar, and the subject of tattoos came up. I ended up going to this Dutch guy who'd done all of Jimmy's. I'd finally realized what I wanted a tattoo to represent. Mine are all about the people in my life, my wife and sons, who I want with me always. When you see me, you see the tattoos. You see an expression of how I feel about Victoria and the boys. They're part of me." 

"I don't plan on having a tattoo, it's just sometimes I wake up and I think, you know, I've got an idea of an image I would like on me.

"Some people love tattoos, some people don't. It's just something that I have always found can kind of express how I'm feeling, or the thoughts that I have or memories...most of my tattoos are memories and things that mean things to me...there's not one tattoo that I've got on me that doesn't mean something."

Most of David Beckham's work done by Louis Malloy most recent chest piece by Matt Mahoney.

A Drop Of Isaac

Name: Isaac, Izzy. 

Age: 24

Tell me about yourself : I'm a cabinet maker by trade but am currently in the Australian Army. I love music and the beach and travelling.

How many tattoos do you have: 6

Age when you got your first tattoo: 16

Do you have a favourite tattoo: The one with the girls names crossed out.

Any more tattoos planned? : i want to get a piece on my ribs. i really want something done by Derek Hess.

Favourite style of tattooing…background?: whatever looks good to be honest.

Any other modifications?: ive had my eyebrow, labret, tragus, tongue, nipple and the top of my left ear pierced. I also used to have 8mm stretchers in both ears.

What is your tattoo story? The orca on my shoulder means the souls rebirth after death, I was 16 and a massive stoner so it seemed good at the time lol. The little picture on my back is just a piece off the wall at Sharky's in Byron, just wanted to prove i could get tattooed in a shop under age haha. 

The writing that stretches from my bicep over onto my back is latin for ' the eagle dosnt capture the flies ' so pretty much dont worry bout the small things in life :-) 

Established 1986 is just the start of me getting smart arse tattoos cos i really dont take anything serious. Same goes for the  "ex-girlfriends" crossed off on my side. It's really just a piss take for those losers who actually do get their partners names tattooed on them and for the ppl who procastinate about getting tattoos because they are worried about what they will look like when they are older...people just take things too seriously, live for now!! 

The rifle at Gallipoli I got when I first joined the army, it is a tribute to the sacrifice made by those who came before me.

Celebrity Ink - Marc Jacobs

Red M & M character on right shoulder.

3 different coloured stars on left shoulder.

5 stars on right shoulder.

Spongebob Square Pants on right outer bicep.

Small red heart on left shoulder.

Simpson cartoon version of himself on left outer bicep.

Simple portrait of his 2 dogs on left shoulder.

"oui" on right upper forearm.

"lui" on left upper forearm.

"Shameless" on left upper chest.

"Bros Before Hos" on left outer wrist.

Scene from Poltergeist on upper back.

"Perfect" on right inner wrist.

Outline  of a midcentury style couch above right hip.

Clyde Frog,the stuffed toy of Southpark's Eric Cartman.

Couple of bears above right elbow.

Letter "J" on left lower hip.

Chocolate bunny on left outer ankle.

Iced donut around left elbow.

PB/BB above right elbow.

"George and Martha" a nod to "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf" on right upper arm.

Screaming woman wearing 3D glasses on left inner arm.

pin up style girl with text behind left arm.

"I really have a good attitude about tattooing. When I first got one, two years ago, I was like, I'm not going to overthink this or what it means, or what it's going to be like when I'm 80. I want to get tattooed today, and in five weeks, I'll get a Sponge Bob tattoo. Will I regret it someday? I don't know, but I'm not going to deny myself this pleasure today because of what I don't know in the future."

About his "shameless" chest tattoo Jacobs says. "That's what I think everyone should aspire to in life: being shameless.

On his "perfect" tattoo - I put it there to remind me, for when I'm looking at myself and wishing that I could be stronger in this way or better at that thing, and I can just go, "No. I'm exactly how I need to be." 


"Well I have a lot of tattoos. My first tattoo I had when I was a teenager was just a little heart. I am very friendly with a great artist Scott Campbell and I started going to him to get tattoos. I'm very spontaneous about what I get. There is a story behind each one of them but they were all very spontaneous thoughts. They are permanent but I don't give it that kind of importance. They are just things I felt like doing at that time - if anything they are like my diary of where I was at that particular moment and there was a reason for each one."

Most of Marc Jacob's tattoos done by Scott Campbell.

Sources: Scott Campbell, Google Images