Anchor of my Soul

Hey Nic,

Whats up? Here are some of the pictures that Doe took the other day.

I wanted to post them on my blog: http://danielherlihy.wordpress.com/

Only when I went to post them I was having a hard time remembering exactly how we went about coming up with the designs and what these tattoos mean to you.

I was wondering if you could give me some words to help make this post better and more complete.

Daniel

Hey Dan,
Thanks for the pictures! They look great.

I kinda get a vision of what I want when I read the bible and these are themes that I have incorporated from the bible into traditional tattoo art. Not trying to overwhelm the art, but I am singularly influenced by the unique message of the bible and the life of Christ. I want my tattoos to represent who I am and being a Christian they should represent the teachings of the bible. The forearm one represents the power of love over death. Its represents how the Love of Jesus raised him from the dead as the heart(a sign of love) is coming out of the coffin(a sign of death). But its not a lovey dovey heart, but a real heart with depth beauty and rawness to it representing how life is beautiful but raw and not pretty sometimes.

The arm is simply the light shining through the darkness for all passing by to be warned about. The gospel is a warning of the dangers to come just like a lighthouse warns ships passing by that if they continue down that trail peril will meet them. And its got the anchor to represent the security that the Christian life brings, hence, ‘anchor of my soul’ talking about Jesus. I like that phrase because its not ‘I AM CHRISTIAN’ because I dont want to offend anybody by being rude with my beliefs but I also cant separate them from who I am.

So I hope that helps. Sorry if it sounds preachy I dont mean to be, but in a sense we all preach something. Take what helps you. If you need more let me know.

Take it easy! See you soon! Stoked to see things seem to be going well!

Nic

Heart, Mind & Soul

This tattoo was a cool way to represent heart, mind and soul. Patrick came to me with this idea and let me run with it. He already had this concept tattooed on his other forearm, but I took this tattoo in a completely different direction. I had a lot of fun with this tattoo, especially the brain. Over the last couple years we’ve almost completed Patrick’s sleeve (which consists of a large traditional anchor, a geisha and a samurai). Unfortunately he lives in New York, so I don’t get to tattoo him very often. Thank you, Patrick. We’ll finish soon, I promise.

The Traditional Dagger

This tattoo is on a good friend of mine. He decided on getting this dagger tattoo after looking at my painting for hours and hours while getting other tattoos. At the time I was on a huge dagger kick, drawing and tattooing them every day. So naturally I was very excited when he wanted this tattoo.  I don’t have the greatest photo of this tattoo but I will post the painting in the near future. So if you’re looking for a traditional dagger tattoo, hit me up…

Sailor Jerry Design

This is a little water-color I did a couple years back. Once in a while when nothing is going on in the shop and my brain doesn’t want to work, I like to paint Sailor Jerry designs. He is the master of traditional American tattoo designs and very inspirational for me. So I try to get into his mind; I like to try to simulate his work. Where would we be without his influence on the world? I would probably be flipping burgers. Thank you Sailor Jerry…

Blue Rose

A big blue rose on the hip. I just can’t do enough roses. I would be happy to tattoo a rose every day. A classic concept and a beautiful flower. I wish I had a healed picture of this piece. It’s all swollen and angry in this photo. Maybe I’ll see her again someday. You never know. Thank you, wherever you are.

The Owl

This little beauty is on a great customer of mine. I had a lot of fun adding all the little details of stripes and dots. It’s very seldom I get a healed black and gray photo. They look so much better this way as opposed to it being all red and bleeding. The owl is a very common tattoo of today. That’s not a bad thing. I would like to do owls all the time, rather than the Tasmanian Devil, dolphins and butterflies on the lower back with bits of tribal. The owl often symbolizes wisdom or death in a tattoo. This one symbolized friendship. In this case I did matching tattoos on two women that like having cool looking tattoos. Thank you very much.

The Pirate Ship and The Treasure Map

You just can’t go wrong with pirate tattoos…

Japanese Flowers

This is a half sleeve created for Corrie. A peony, chrysanthemum, and cherry blossoms with clouds and wind bars. She asked for bright flowers with a dark background. Naturally I drew a Japanese style design. I love doing Japanese influenced art, and I love tattooing large flowers. Three sessions so far, just a little bit more to do. Corrie is a great client of mine. She just sits there and takes all the abuse I give her (physically and verbally). I have done a few tattoos on her, and every time she just allows me to take the art in whatever direction I feel would look the best. There are just not enough Corries in this world. I can’t thank you enough. Thank you, thank you , thank you………..

Moustache Tattoo

You can’t go wrong with the fingerstache, especially if you can’t grow a natural moustache. Good times!

Koi Fish Cover-Up

Koi fish are a very common theme in Japanese tattoos and work well for cover-ups. The koi fish often means good luck and fortune. In this case, it was for courage. This tattoo was covering up a checkered past. This koi tattoo is to help her move on with strength and determination to have a better life and a better tattoo.

We finished this tattoo in five sessions. She sits really well. I always love working on the thighs because it’s a great place for a big, bright, beautiful tattoo.

We will be starting her back piece soon to cover-up some more old tattoos.

Thank you…

Compass & Anchors

I love maritime tattoos. I put this tattoo on a member of our Coast Guard. He takes pride in his work and our country. Thank you…. Photo out of focus. Hope I can get another one when it heals.

It’s a Nue

I brought this tattoo back to life. It’s the first step to completing this back piece. There is a samurai to be re-done and some other tattoos to be covered up. I have a lot of work ahead of me. I just wanted to post the first nue I ever tattooed.

“A nue is a legendary creature  found in Japanese folklore. It is described as having the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and a snake as a tail. According to the legend, a nue can transform into a black cloud and fly. Due to its appearance, it is sometimes referred to as a Japanese chimera. Nue are supposed to be bringers of misfortune and illness.

According to The Tale of the Heike, Emperor Konoe, the Emperor of Japan, became sick after having terrible nightmares every night, and a dark cloud appeared at two o’clock in the morning on roof of the palace in Kyoto during the summer of 1153. The story says that the samurai Minamoto no Yorimasa staked-out the roof one night and fired an arrow into the cloud, out of which fell a dead nue. Yorimasu then supposedly sank the body in the Sea of Japan.

In a local expansion of the story, the nue’s corpse floated into a certain bay, and the locals, fearing a curse, buried it. A mound which exists today is supposed to be this grave.” -wikipedia

MOM

Everyone needs this tattoo. Who doesn’t love their mom? I love doing traditional tattoos, and it doesn’t get anymore traditional than the classic mom, heart tattoo.

Out of Step With the World!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not Much to say.

I believe this tattoo speaks for it self…..

Good times!

Sacred Rose Tattoo

This is a painting I made for my new card, for Sacred Rose Tattoo. I made the painting with acrylic ink & marker on board. I just started working at Sacred Rose Tattoo about a month ago. Please call for an appointment. (510) 883-1083 Sacred Rose is located at 1728 University Ave  Berkeley, California.