Monthly Archives: August 2010

custom freehand chest piece

client gets a custom freehand koi tattoo design representing his two sons, done in morbid tattoo parlor in cash and carry mall makati manila.

butterflies on her back

client gets a 3 butterflies representing her kids and her mom done in morbid tattoo parlor in cash and carry mall makati manila.

 One of the most popular tattoo design choices for women, the Butterfly reveals the feminine influence in tattoo culture. Generally speaking, butterflies are an overwhelmingly female tattoo design. Because of the butterfly’s short life span, many ancient peoples saw it as emblematic of the impermanent. It’s physical beauty and its fluttering from flower to flower seeking nectar have made it synonymous with the more unstable and superficial aspects of the human soul.

Butterfly goddesses have emerged in places as far apart as Minoan Crete and Toltec Mexico. Some of these deities were believed to be the personification of certain butterflies, and were regarded as symbols of beauty, love, flowers, and the spirits of the dead. They were also looked upon as the patrons of women who died in childbirth and warriors who fell in battle. At the other end of the spectrum, one of the Butterfly deities in ancient Mexico was the goddess of war and human sacrifice.

cover up work

God’s favourite flower the lotus has earned such a reputation by appearing front and centre in religious myths around the world. Considered to be perfection in form, the lotus has been associated with many creation myths. With its radiating petals, the lotus connotes the “divine vulva” that gave birth to the gods and goddesses of ancient religions. These deities are often depicted in the company of this pristine flower. It became a sacred symbol for all that is beautiful on earth, and a reflection of divinity, purity and eternity.

grim reaper tattoo sleeves

american client gets a grim reaper tattoo sleeves done in morbid tattoo parlor in cash and carry mall makati manila.

The Grim Reaper and the Skull were often used as symbols in medieval and renaissance art as a stark reminder of the fact that life is finite and hints powerfully at the afterlife that awaits us. Many paintings of saints in particular prominently feature skulls, and art that depicted famine and disease often contain the cloaked and hooded figure of the Grim Reaper, skull peeking out, scythe in hand to better harvest human souls.

The Grim Reaper is often associated as an agent of Satan or the Devil, but this is not necessarily the case. The Grim Reaper is Death. Whether the Soul goes to Heaven or Hell or ends up in purgatory depends on the kind of life lived by the recently deceased. This tattoo is not for the faint of heart.

medieval sleeves

american client gets a medieval sleeves tattoo done in morbid tattoo parlor in cash and carry mall makati manila.

jesus christ tattoo

The image of Jesus as a tattoo design is the most “Christian” of all religious tattoos. Jesus is often depicted hanging on the cross. As well many times the tattoo is a close up of his face with a halo (or faint glow) over him and a crown of thorns placed upon his head during the crucifixion.

When it comes to modern Christian tattoo, it can most likely be traced back to the times of the counterculture movement of the 60’s and 70’s. While sex, drugs, and rock and roll were waging a war against Christian culture, devoted Christians emerged who wanted to claim back lost Christian territory. One of the ways that they did this was to reclaim the practice of tattoo for God and Jesus, by getting tattoos that were inspired by Christian and religious symbols and images. With a tattoo depicting Jesus himself being the ultimate inspiration.

lotus flower

God’s favourite flower the lotus has earned such a reputation by appearing front and centre in religious myths around the world. Considered to be perfection in form, the lotus has been associated with many creation myths. With its radiating petals, the lotus connotes the “divine vulva” that gave birth to the gods and goddesses of ancient religions. These deities are often depicted in the company of this pristine flower. It became a sacred symbol for all that is beautiful on earth, and a reflection of divinity, purity and eternity.

In India, the “thousand-petaled lotus” (padma) was visualized as the mouth or doorway of the universe, so it’s not surprising that it was thought of as the idealized vulva through which all life was delivered. And no surprise that all the primary deities in the Hindu pantheon are depicted with the lotus. Some sit at its centre, some stand or recline, and they’re usually shown holding another lotus. Lord Vishnu, one of the three gods of the Hindu triad (trimurti), is described as having the lotus springing from his navel, from which Brahma was born. Lord Krishna was called the “lotus-eyed one”, a reference to his divine beauty.

For ancient Egyptians, the lotus was a solar symbol. The spread and span of its petals were the sun’s rays, the giver of light and life. With each dawn, the petals opened, closed at night and opened again with the rising sun, representing rebirth and renewal. The blue lotus (also known as the blue lily of the Nile) was considered the most sacred. It was the symbol of modesty and cleanliness. The seeds of the lotus can remain dormant in dry riverbeds for 200 years waiting for the rains, at which time the blossoms emerge from the mud radiant and unsullied. The lotus was regarded by early Egyptians as symbols of resurrection and life eternal.

shopping for tattoos

japan based client gets a black and gray biomechanical and a tradiotional oriental koi tattoo design done in morbid tattoo parlor in cash and carry mall makati manila.

Bio-mechanical tattoos are realistic, three-dimensional impressions of a robotic bio-realm beneath the skin. It’s a ‘tromp l’oeil’, or ‘trick of the eye’, since the skin often appears to be peeled back to reveal what you’re truly made of – an improbable (but somehow sublime) combination of mechanics and flesh. Where there should be a mess of blood and bone, tendons and sinew, we might see mechanical components – gears, tubes, and levers. Some say these titanium parts represent our hidden potential.

 Koi fish, or Carp, are a fixture of Japanese tattooing and play important roles in both Chinese and Japanese myths, legends, fables and stories. In many of those stories, Koi are transformed through their efforts and perseverance, able to climb waterfalls or become dragons. The Koi as a symbol represents perseverance in the face of adversity and strength of character or purpose. The Carp can also represents wisdom, knowledge, longevity, and loyalty.

Koi come in hues of yellow, gold, orange, some even calico-colored. These ‘living jewels’ can live for generations, becoming tame enough to feed from the hands of their keepers. A koi’s age is determined by the rings of its scales. Although the average age for a koi is between 15 – 30 years, one female koi in Japan is reported to have died in 1977 at age 226. A koi’s longevity has come to symbolize perseverance, and its beauty of form and movement has inspired artists and delighted those who watch it respond to music by changing the way it swims.

dragon tattoo

The dragon is a “classic” tattoo motif, popular with both men and women. As a tattoo design the dragon shows the profound influence that Japanese and Chinese culture have had in Western tattooing for nearly two centuries. In the Far East, the dragon represents the Four Elements – Earth, Wind, Fire and Water – and the four points of the compass – East, West, North and South – and dragons are simultaneously a symbol of Water, Earth, Underworld and Sky. The dragon is a culturally far-ranging character whose apparent bad temper should be interpreted as simply amoral, neither good nor evil. The forces of nature are not human-hearted, representing as they do the cycle of life and death, followed again by birth and renewal. Nature nurtures and nature destroys. So too, does the dragon.

By the looks of them, dragons have been around since the dawn of time. These giant, winged, fire-breathing lizards are reminiscent of the prehistoric creatures – dinosaurs, no less – that once roamed the earth millions of years ago, but the fact is, the dragon grew out of the human imagination. However, the genesis of the mighty dragon may have been helped in no small part by the discovery in China and other parts the world of the fossil remains of dinosaurs and other gigantic reptiles. The dragon came to represent both the beneficent and malevolent elements, depending on which part of the world it breathed its fiery breath.

In China, these mythological creatures were the symbol of both the supernatural and of imperial power, residing in the heavenly realms. They were often spotted looming around thunder clouds, and became the deities of rain, producing downpours when it suited them. As shape-shifting creatures, they became so embedded in the myths and legends of Chinese culture, that the dragon is said to be the ancestor of the Chinese people. In Japan, a similar claim was made when a certain emperor declared that he was a direct descendant, himself, of the powerful and immortal dragon. It’s not surprising then, that the image of the dragon appeared on the robes of the emperor, signifying the protective powers of the dragon as well as the temporal power of the emperor.

As Dragons were said to represent the Four Elements, so the stories and myths of dragons who had dominion over Air, Water, Earth and Fire. Each of these elemental dragons had unique characteristics that had to be taken into consideration. To the Chinese, the fire-spitting dragon was principally associated with lightning, and by extension to thunder and rainmaking, which made it a symbol of fertility. All this celestial activity was how Earth and Water elements were united. Water dragons were thought to protect and act as guardians of streams, lakes, rivers and even individual pools. It was thought that dragons were able to make springs bubble from the ground.