Ryan Shares an Amazing Portrait of His Mom

I know we've been a little sparse with our posting of late, but we're coming back with a bang.

Last February, I met Ryan in my local laundromat and he shared some of his old school ink here.

I've seen him around since, but today when he walked into the laundromat, he had a stunning new piece.

A couple months ago I had run into my friend John (who shared new ink, which is also forthcoming) who tattoos out of Brooklyn Made Tattoo and he had told me that the legendary Freddy Negrete was going to be in the neighborhood doing guest spots at Brooklyn Made.

A few weeks later I was walking down 93rd Street in Bay Ridge and spotted Mr. Kaves outside of his shop. I stopped to say hello and he pointed out that Freddy and his son Isaiah were hard at work inside. They are both based out of Mark Mahoney's Shamrock Social Club in Los Angeles. I was meeting family for dinner so I couldn't hang around, but it was cool to get a glimpse of a legendary artist at work.

Which brings us back to Ryan this morning in the laundromat. I knew it almost as he told me, he got this sweet portrait of his mother from Freddy Negrete himself that week:

Ryan explained that this portrait is based on a photo of his mother from when she was in her early twenties, when he was around two years old. He elaborated:

"My mother died ... about an hour before her fortieth birthday, so this tattoo means a lot to me. It's the most beautiful work I have on me and I wouldn't have let anyone else do it. Freddy Negrete is a great guy ... he's a humbling guy and he's very humble himself and I am grateful to have met him and his son."

It really is an astonishingly beautiful piece of portrait work, and done by one of the true masters of the art here in our own little slice of Brooklyn.

Thanks again to Ryan for sharing this amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Remembering Julien's Father

A couple weeks ago outside of Madison Square Garden, I met Julien, who shared this portrait of his father:

As it turns out, today, July 20, 2012, marks the twentieth anniversary of his passing. Julien was only seven years old when his father died.

This wonderful portrait was inked by the always-amazing Virginia Elwood at New York Adorned.

Via e-mail, Julien explained the name at the top of the portrait:

"I actually chose my last name rather than my father's name because I got the tattoo done a few months after my grandfather (father of my father) past away, this way paid homage to both of them, and honor my family name at the same time. Since my father past away when I was 7 years old, my grandfather became very important to me."

Thanks to Julien for sharing this lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday, and for agreeing to let me post it on the anniversary of his father's passing.

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.