I’ll just let Nikki tell the story:
These tats hail from the hands of Nikki in Roanoke, VA. They read “FIJN DAME,” which means “Fine Lady” or “Beautiful Lady” in Dutch. This is not a vain statement being that the words describe my soul and not the exterior.
Pjotr K. of Finland sends us the story of his knuckles:
The translation of “dies Irae” is “day of wrath“.
It’s the first words of an 13th century latin hymn that desrcribes the judgement day.I’ve always found the “dies irae”-poem inspirational and fascinating.
And i think that it makes a powerful tattoo with meaning in it.
The picture is taken just few minutes after it was made and the red parts of it are’nt really red, they’re just swollen.
Now i’ve had it for something like a year and a half and it needs some re-colouring and little fixing.
Ash sends us these knuckles with this story:
So most people like to ask me, “what kind of toys” hoping I will say sex toys. Very wrong my fine feathered friend. I am all about vinyl toy collecting and art! That pretty much sums up this knuckle tatt.
All Mr. Cook has to say about his knuckles is this:
Cook is my last name and 1969 is my birth year
These knuckles come all the way from Azeroth, I don’t know what to tell you that could prepare you more:
I got “STFU NOOB” because I am a huge gamer. I mostly play World of Warcraft and “noob” basically comes from the word “new”.
it implies that you are inexperienced,ignorant,an idiot, somebody who is clueless and basically sucks. I think we all know what “STFU” means, which is shut the f*ck up. I love the knuckle tattoos because now when I am out and about and somebody is driving me mad, I have no need for actual words when my hands say it all.
So, what server do you play on anyways?
While surfing around the ‘net the other day, I found a set of knuckles posted by Bill Cohen on the excellent Tattoosday blog. Bill wanders the streets of New York City and talks to random strangers about their tattoos. With his permission I am reposting the knuckles and story here.
Billy has several tattoos, but he chose this set of eight, each letter spelling out the message.
“It’s the endless question,” he mused, “of the glass being half-empty or half-full.”
“So,” I interjected, “you’re an optimist?”
On the contrary, he informed me, optimism does not come naturally to him. He “would like to be” more of a “glass half-full” person, but he has had his share of challenges, to say the least.
Billy has been clean for two years, after a long struggle with heroin addiction.
The letters on his fingers come together when he makes fists, and he acknowledged that he often has “to beat it into [his] head to think more positively”.
“By ourselves, we are not complete,” he said, and explained how this simple interaction, two strangers meeting and discussing a tattoo, it’s this kind of event that is what life is all about.
Billy was very positive, talking about a tattoo that grounded him and gave him the strength to live his life in a more fulfilling way.
The fingers were inked at Cliff’s Tattoo of Long Island.
Thanks to Billy for sharing his ink and taking the time to talk tattoo!
And thanks to Bill Cohen for sharing the post!
Hello everybody!
Two weeks ago the KnuckleTattoos.com crew headed down to San Antonio for the Alamo City Tattoo Expo. We met a ton of great people talked to them about their knuckle tattoos. I got some great pictures and we heard some great stories. My pal Kai from Mad Pengin came along for the romp and caught a bunch of interviews on video. We will be posting the videos as we have time to edit them all together. In the mean time, here are the photos I took. As always, if these are your knuckles or the knuckles of someone you know and you want to add the story, just email me at nathan[at]knuckletattoos[dot]com and I will feature the story in a separate post.
Check ’em out!
These fresh knuckles can be found on the hands of Rene R. and here is the story behind ’em:
I had my knucks done 5-13-08 by Dave Brewer @ Trigger Happy Tattoo.. my names RENE and im an INKAHOLIC ;) im > 40 years young and live in whittier SO CAL.. EYE 4 AN EYE “what goes around comes around” you know the old saying ;)
These beauties were sent in by my brother. They are on the hands of his frend Emcee.
UPDATE: Emcee just sent me his story, and it is a good one:
All my life I have grown up with horror movies. My mother was a huge fan from jump and that set me and my brother up for a fun ride. My dad always hated it but I felt it gave us both a better sense of humor and a generally more sturdy demeanor. It helped shape us into the smart little devils we are all the while giving me something to laugh at in my spare time. So I LOVE horror movies they make me happy when nothing else can, they transport me to a place where life is meaningless, jokes are obvious, and death is “original” something I cherish in the current state of things. That being said, the “Evil Dead” trilogy is my favorite horror movie good time series. If I got some gasoline and my boomstick life is groovy.
Dead by dawn,
emcee
Mika Lahtinen sends these knuckles in all the way from Helsinki Finland:
the story behind the knuckles is very simple, in this great world we live in you can do two things either sink or swim.
the 51 on my thumbs is the area code, of the part of helsinki that i live and work, so my life revolves around this area
tattoos were done by krisse at legacy tattoo in Helsinki, Finland