Tattoo! Why Do You Taunt Me So?

I have one tattoo in progress which I am rather fond of, but I refuse to have just any old tattoo artist finish it. (The tattoo parlor closest to my apartment in Bushwick seems to have a very different aesthetic than what I am going for.) If you're wondering why I've been walking around for three years with an unfinished tattoo, it is because I had my work done in Hamburg, Germany. And the reason that it wasn't completed while I was there? Because tattoos are fucking expensive. (Where do all of those tattoo-crazed hipsters get their cash for all that ink?) So, I'll have to go back to Hamburg, Germany to Tattoo Nouveau. The website is in German, but there's a handy icon of a British flag in the upper right corner that allows you to read the site in English. You should check out Robert's work, particularly page 3 of his portfolio. There you will find a meager portion of his awesome Alfonse Mucha work. Of course you will see some bad tattoos in the mix of things as you go through the gallery, but it's not the tattoo artist's fault that the clients have such bad taste. Don't even get me started on 9/11 memorial tattoos. One tattoo phenomenon that continues to baffle me involves portraiture of deceased loved ones. I have often seen men with a portrait of their dead child on their upper arm. I just imagine someone looking at one of those bad K-Mart portrait photos of their child that they had taken for a Christmas card the year before and thinking that inking his kid's face on his arm will keep the memories alive. I think it's more creepy than it is sweet. Speaking of sweet. Check out this guy's eyelid tattoos. I think I am speechless. Nothing could beat that. Other than finger mustache tattoos! I have learned this evening that this is somewhat of a trend that has taken the hipster world by storm. During my research on finger mustache tattoos, I stumbled across an image of a tattoo that was done completely in white ink at a tattoo parlor in Finland. (I am starting to think that all of the best tattoo parlors are in Europe.) I have always wondered if a white tattoo would be successful. Now we have proof. Perhaps I will be popping over to Lahti, Finland after my next trip to Hamburg, Germany. If you want to keep up on the current tattoo trends, you should check out InkedBlog and Needled. And, as an added bonus, you will come across many hot tattooed hipster girls. (Not that there's any shortage of that in NYC.)