Knuckle Tattoos

Blog

  • MID WEST

    MID WEST

    Natalie S. sends these knuckles in, with this story:

    Chad Koeplinger did this tattoo for me, he’s a Michigan native and totally related to my love, as an Illinois native and Chicago resident, for the mid west. My husband and I talked a lot about ideas for mid west tattoos, he ended up with a logo from his favorite skate shop in Flint, his hometown and I decided an ear of corn on my finger would be the idea tribute. I’ve been all over, and liked a lot of places on the east coast I visited, but nothing compares to being back home where every one’s fat, the politicians are all corrupt and the football’s always great.

  • METALLER

    METAL! YEAH!

    These knuckles were sent in by Steve in Wellington, New Zealand:

    I’m a huge metal fan, have been since I was young, got introduced by older brothers record collection of Van Halen, Deep Purple etc. Moved on to Metallica, Maiden etc, then progressed to Thrash metal, Death metal, Black metal etc. Love it all, live for it. Got the idea for the tatt when I was drunk at an Unearth/Killswitch engage show. Metal for life! Tattoo done by Manu at Tattoo City, Wellington, New Zealand.

  • H8ED

    hi, im Joe Hated. I was in a band called The Hated for about 8 years.. I baught the “tm” for the name and my new band is called Some Kinda Hated,. We are outta Seattle… They were Done By Micheal Wooten of electra tatoo in marysville, Wa..H8ED

    Here is another one hand knuckle tattoo, from the desk of Joe Hated:

    hi, im Joe Hated. I was in a band called The Hated for about 8 years.. I baught the “tm” for the name and my new band is called Some Kinda Hated,. We are outta Seattle… They were Done By Micheal Wooten of electra tatoo in marysville, Wa..

  • 55170054

    55170054

    These puzzlers come to us on the hands of RayRay. Story below:

    I had been waiting for the perfect knuckle tattoo for years, and when Martha Stewart was (wrongly!!) sent to prison in ’04, i was reading an article about it that gave her Federal Prisoner Number. Being a huge fan i instantly realized that a gangstyle tribute to her was perfect. My buddy actually opened up his shop in the middle of the night to do it. I still think it’s as funny as hell but i do have to explain it a lot, and i get a lot of blank stares. The color was custom mixed to match one of her paint chips from K-Mart: “Hosta Green”.

  • SEEK

    SEEK

    This hand comes to us from Gary T. He has this to say:

    I decided to finally make the plunge and get my right Knuckles tattoo’d-

    I always wanted to get “SEEK” – as in Seek & Do Gods Will.

    I am a recovering Alcoholic & Drug addict and seeing it on a daily basis helps remind me who is really in control.

  • LAST CALL

    LAST CALL

    Sarah convinced her boyfriend to send these in. The story is as follows:

    Spyder got his knuckles done in Saint Louis, MO about a year ago after being a bouncer at various bars and clubs in Boston and in Los Angeles throughout the years. I found it only appropriate to set the shot up with the king of beers.

  • ANTI HERO

    ANTI HERO

    These knuckle tattoos are on the hands of Pappy in Milacan, MN:

    Basically is what it means is “Trying to define my values as opposed to those recognized by the society of our world.” Otherwise known as ANTI-SOCIAL but I could not fit that many letters on my knuckles. It really just means I fucking hate people!!!!!

    Pappy
    Milaca, MN

    Artist: Scottie “Munster” Stommes
    Olde Town Tattoo
    St. Cloud, MN

  • Coffin and Hourglass

    Coffin and Hourglass

    These are the knuckles of Ben Tupper, Hereford UK. His story is a timely one:

    Basically I woke up this morning (07/7/07) and like you do sometimes, I was thinking about death. I began to think about how finite life really is and how I need to be more spontaneous. So, I went to see my friend in town and got the hour glass and coffin, kind of to remind me that times ticking away. Plus I want to move work on to my hands gradually.

    Tattoos Done by Mozza at Aaargh Tattoo Studio in Hereford UK.

  • NINTENDO

    NINTENDO

    Originally uploaded by bendan42.


    Ah flickr, thanks again for the random photos. Not only does this guy like Nintendo, it also seems he is from Vermont as far as I can tell.

    UPDATE: Reader Terry L. sends this in:

    the only guy i know with that “vermont” tatt across his eck is one of the guys from the cali alt.country band “the devil makes three“. i didn’t know he had a nintendo knuckle tatt, but i just looked at some pics on their site and sure enough, it’s true. makes me like the band even more than i did, and that was quite a bit!

    Thanks for the update Terry! Apparently it is Cooper McBean of “The Devil Makes Three”. And yes, he does come from Vermont.

  • HOLD FAST

    HOLD FAST

    These come courtesy of tattoo artist Erik Kipperman, owner of Swallowtail Tattoo in San Diego, CA.

    this is a knuckle tattoo on a customer of mine named brett….he is in the navy; a deck seamen, and he is out to sea. this is a traditional navy tattoo. “Tattooing HOLD, on the knuckles of one hand and FAST, on the other is said to help the seaman hold on to the riggings better.”

    in submitting this photo, i am hoping that the tattoo will help him get home safely, so that i can tattoo him some more…

    Erik, we are all hoping for the safe return of your friend and all the rest of our troops. To all our pals in the armed forces, be careful out there.