My camera is stuffed with amazing knuckles that’ll be posting over the next few days – but I thought I would start with the hands of a master craftsman. I caught up with Chris Trevino at the Star of Texas Tattoo Art Revival yesterday. He tattoos out of Perfection Tattoo in Austin, TX. You can see examples of his work on his website. Also if you were at the event you also saw his amazing mural paintings around the sides of the event.
My pal Seth Johnson from AustinSkateNotes.org found these beauties floating around Emo’s Lounge here in Austin a few months back. I don’t know who they are attached to or what the story is, but you know how much I like the GAME OVER knuckles.
These came courtesy of Roy, but I’ll let him tell his story:
“Roy’s Keen” is a Morrissey song, I have many Morrissey/The Smiths related tattoos but this one carries a bit more meaning. I am Roy Dean Woods III, my father passed while I was a very young age, my grandfather shorty after. Its a tribute to them, as well as to Morrissey.
The picture above was recently featured on BoingBoing.org and I knew I had to catch up with the lady pictured. According to her MySpace, she is the first lady of nerdcore. It makes me shiver with geek pride to be able to add her to this this project. Here is what she has to say about her knuckles:
i uh got geek life on my knucks because im proud of being and living the geek life that i do.
and what society looks down on, i hold on a pedastal so its basically an imagery tattoo of my geek pride and a peep into my life.
And in case you were curious here is an example of her work:
[audio:Emulation_Station___1337_G33K_B3AT.mp3]
These knuckles come to us via Killick H. in Athens, GA. Here is his story:
Font geeks’ll notice the American Typewriter font. The ‘j’ is formed by a rope that spills from my hand. The story behind the word readjust has a few layers. I’m a musician interested in issues of transformation, and being more of the moment. Readjust is a gentle reminder for me to adapt and be flexible, be like water. Broken up, it’s also read and just. The ‘read’ works for me since I’m definitely a word stickler and actually have made a living reading English language proficiency test papers for the state of Georgia. The ‘just’ ties in with my wife’s social justice vocation and my belief in unqualified human rights for all. And, switched around, it’s ‘just read’, never a bad thing.
(Extra knuckles after the jump)
Hey y’all, Nate and his roommate Laura have been trying to get a hold of me for a while. Here is what Nate has to say:
So my name is Nate and obviously I live in Colorado. I am a native and I love my state for the outdoors- mountains, woods and lakes and just enjoyment in general. I am the head of security at a local live music venue and have worked for such bands as Soulfly, In Flames, Bury Your Dead, Killswitch Engage, The Reverend Horton Heat, and the list goes on!! I am the proud owner of 11 other tattoos and not gonna stop there!
Jon from Phoenix, AZ writes:
I got my knuckles done by Sam at Artistic Skin Studios in Mesa. I got TRUE LOVE on my knuckles because I was moving to Chicago to try and apprentice to be an artist out there. All of my best friends live in AZ, so I wouldn’t really be able to see them a lot when I left. My best friend Cassie bought me my knuckles as a going away present. I really do love her, she has always been there for me. So everytime I look at my knuckles, no matter where life takes me, I think about her and all of my friends. Thats my story and Im stickin to it………..
This here is Kevin. He works at Bike America in Lee’s Summit, MO. He has this to say about why he got his knuckles tattooed:
I have been a bicycle enthusiast for many years. I have been a bicycle mechanic for almost nine years. I don’t own a car. Go figure.
Tattoos by Brian Holton at Bleeding Heart Tattoo.
Russ R. from Jackson, MO writes:
It’ll be even funnier if I sell the novel.
Yeah well, I’m kinda bookish, sue me.
I don’t think there’s anything particularly unique about my experience. When I started getting tattooed I got all tough guy shit: Bulldogs, the “crews” I belonged to, that kind of shit. Then I went through this working class political phase (John Henry on my left forearm for instance). Then I had a moment of lucidity. I woke up and realized I didn’t know shit and had spent entirely too much time in my life trying to make people take me as serious as I took myself. Now my tattoos tend to be funny in a self-effacing kinda way. I’m a welder, but I’m wasting an MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry. If you’ve known me for any amount of time “READ MORE” is the only tattoo I should ever have on my digits. It’s funny, but still kind of arrogant and preachy…
These knuckles come courtesy of Abe N, an artist hailing from Portland, OR. He is a great example of what is making this project so much fun for me. I’m getting to great people who are dedicated to what they do. People who are living the lives they chose for themselves rather than what society thought they should do. You can see examples of his art at Abe’s Tarot Cards.
This is what he sent with the picture of his knuckles:
I’m an artist, and this is my daily reminder to set aside other things, stay
on track and focus on what I need to get done to make me feel complete and
happy everyday. It’s an outward show of the commitment to my art. I got the inspiration of “just draw” from my Mom, who has a “take no prisoners”
punk-like attitude towards her performance art. She would call me up and
tell me about a show and I’d hang-up afterwards and be like “Thats insane!
How the eff can I top THAT!!”… this was just my no-holds-barred way to
inspire too, not just my Mom but myself and other fellow artists.It was the one spot that when i was thinking of a spot I said ” Not the
knuckles., Not the knuckles..you can never ‘go back’ if you get a knuckle
tat” the more that my conservitive side said “no” the more I knew they had
to be done…You know the thing of it is, I KNEW it had to be done there, I just HAD to
let everyone know that I’m not some college kid thats just effin’ around
with his life, this is who I am and this is what I do…dont wait around for
me to change into something more respectible. It’s the one spot I couldnt
hide myself away and everyone inludining me had to deal with who I am no
matter the situation…I guess I just wanted to ‘come-out’ as an artist
permenently…knuckles seemed the most ‘in your face’ way to say it.
I do have other tats, �about five, including a �sleeved leg… the knuckles
are by far my fav (they were my third tattoo).