A Game of Thrones is the first novel in “A Song of Ice and Fire”, a series by George R. R. Martin. It was published in 1996 and won multiple awards. The following books were equally as popular.
The HBO TV show came out in 2011 and it was an immediate hit with fans around the world; also winning multiple awards over the years. The books and shows diverse characters and fantastical world make for great tattoos, as well as hundreds of memorable quotes. Here are some of my favorite Game of Thrones tattoos!
Quote and dire wolf/Stark House by Fran at Inky G’s in Wolverhampton, UK.Badass realistic White Walker by Georgi Kodzhabashev at Iron & Ink in Southern Denmark.Classic “Winter is coming” a with traditional wolf done by Heather Bailey at Black Heart Tattoo in San Francisco.Realistic and bloody mother of dragons done by Jose Rosado at Black Tie Parlour in Miami.King slayer! Done by Kate S. Art Gallery Tattoo in New Jersey.“Not Today” quote and tombstone done by Landon at Gristle Tattoo in Brooklyn.
Stranger Things is the popular Netflix show that came out this year, 2016. Featuring a great cast of Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalie Dyer, and Charlie Heaton, the show was an instant hit with fans. The show takes place in the 1980’s and pays homage to 80’s pop culture such as, Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, John Carpenter, George lucas, and others. The sci-fi horror show follows the disappearance of a young boy in a small town. The boys friends,brother, and mother, separately discover that something is wrong with the disappearance. A telekinetic girl named Eleven is found by the young boys, and helps them find their friend. Friendship, otherworldliness, and a need to belong are strong themes in the show, and make for great tattoos. Fun characters, an unpredictable plot, and a distinct nostalgic factor also make this show appealing straight away.
“Run” with Christmas lights done by Jon Larson in Tampa, Florida.Great blackwork biking into the forest done by Cody Smith at White Bluff Tattoo Co. in Savannah, GA.New school El portrait with her number done by Angus Wall at Awol tattoos in Galway.Another number eleven done by Torie Wartooth at Jackson Street in Seattle.Fun cartoon portrait of Dustin done by Jeremy Zettler at Perfect Image tattoo in Ontario.Coffee cup, quote, and lights done by Amber Bananafish at Bananafish tattoo parlour.
Considering the show has only been out a short while, the immediate fan base is quite strong, and of course, with that, comes tattoos. These next four are all done by pop iconography master Matt Daniels at Studio IX in Manchester, UK.
Daniel Anibal is a talented tattoo artist working out of Atlantico Tattoo and Sagrado Corazón Tattoo, in Spain. His work is mainly colorful traditional tattoos, but he also does brilliant black and grey work, and some Japanese. His work is bold, bright, and graphic, and often takes influences from Japanese style, mixing it with American traditional.
Some original flash work by Daniel.
Brilliant rose on the hand.Chest piece full of iconic traditional imagery.Full black and grey traditional sleeve brought together with dots and stars.Colourful dinosaur head. Blue paired with yellow and red pops brilliantly.Bold tropical parrot.Womans head and traditional flowers is a classic.Full sleeve with Japanese influenced clouds, and an American/Japanese dragon.Other side of the sleeve. Lightning looks great against clouds.Striking Medusa. Don’t look directly at her…Traditional jungle cat!Japanese flower and wave sleeve.
Swallows are a staple of American traditional tattooing, and were first tattooed on sailors. They are as popular as ever to those who love travel and the sea, and are now done in other styles such as black and grey, realism, linework, dotwork, surrealism, and watercolor.
The meaning of a swallow tattoo was firstly to indicate that a sailor had sailed 5000 miles. They also mean a return home, as swallows would migrate, returning to their homes. A metaphorical return also meant that if a sailor died at sea, the swallow would carry their souls to heaven.
Traditional swallow and rose by Josh Stutterby in Melbourne, Australia.Black and grey matching hand swallows by Ryan Jessiman at Old Habits tattoo in London.Surrealist starry sky swallow by Adrian Bascur in Viña del Mar.Linework swallow by Diana Katsko in Russia.Watercolor matching foot swallows by Simona Blanar at Black Bull tattoo in Prague.Simple traditional swallow by Harry Harvey at Vagabond tattoo in London, England.Traditional swallow by Hugh Sheldon at Cloak and Dagger in London, England.Dotwork and linework hand Swallow by Dr. Woo at shamrock Social Club in Los Angeles.
Ötzi the “iceman” as he is known, is a 5,300 year old mummy who was found in Oetz Valley, Austria in 1991.
knee tattoo
He has a total of 61 tattoos. The tattoos are made up of crosses and lines throughout his body. It is still unknown whether his tattoos were for decoration, for religious reasons, or for therapeutic reasons. Though in 2013 it was found that his tattoos were mainly placed in areas of the body that could potentially go through a lot of stress and pain such as his ankles, wrists, knees, Achilles tendon, and lower back. Because of these findings it is speculated that these tattoos may have been an early form of acupuncture as well as decorative and/or religious or spiritual.
simple line tattoos on Ötzi
These tattoos were done by making incisions in the skin and filling them with ash.
Whatever the reason for his tattoos, Ötzi is significant to the tattoo world because he shows how long tattoos have been around.
Hot air balloon tattoos usually symbolize a need for adventure and or travel. They are often done in traditional style, new school, neo traditional, black and grey, or water colour.
Brilliant hot air balloon carrying a castle in the sky, done by Uncle Allan in Berlin, Germany.Colourful little balloon done by Sasha Unisex.American traditional hot air balloon done by Mikael Harrstedt done in Skövde, Sweden.Creative American traditional take on a hot air balloon by Ivan Antonyshev done at Mainstay Tattoo in Austin, Texas.Water colour hot air balloon done by Iiona Kochetkova, a travelling tattooist based at Good Sign Tattoo.Traditional double exposure hot air balloon by Dima Naumov at WitchWood tattoo in Kyiv, Ukraine.Black and grey Tim Burton inspired hot air balloon done by David Boggins at American Crow tattoo in Columbus Ohio.Water colour, experimental hot air balloon done by Cüneyt Kolata done at Golden Arrow tattoo.Black and grey hot air balloon done by Clay McCay at Anonymous tattoo in Savannah, Georgia.
All Things Tattoo 