My new friend, Anthony, is a young body piercer and talented guitar player from Pittsburgh, PA. When I asked him what inspired him to get pretty extensive facial work at such a young age (19) this was his response:
I decided to take the step of tattooing my face after a lot of thought. It ended with the result that no job, person, parent, or social stigma should be allowed to have higher authority over my own body then I do. The everyday battle for control over your own body is unimaginable. It seems to be able to modify yourself in any way you must first endure a showering of opinions, discouragement and pressure. So to break free from that is something to be said for anybody who modifies themselves.
Before getting it done I looked deep inside myself and meditated on the decision for a long while before iI knew that it was right. Since the day it was done I have felt like it should have been there all along, and I have never felt more spiritually in tune with myself.
Its a liberating experience, I recommend it to anyone!
Facial work by Neil Reitan in Spring Lake Park, MN.
For 2 more pics of Anthony’s facial work including what could very well be Modblog’s goofiest facial expression of 2010, keep on keeping on.
Comments
84 responses to “Liberation”
should have got sunglasses. that tattoo is stupid i hope someone paid him a lot of money to get that.
what a cutie 🙂
@dan- stupid? i think it’s beautiful 🙂
@1
That comment is stupid.
I think Dan was making a joke about the sunglasses facial tattoo from the other day
More on topic, looks great
eff that, i want a career in business.
ding ding. naz wins the prize. of having an iq over 50!
i do actually like this tattoo a lot
Very nice tatoo!
Love it. Like the contrast of the red. Anyone know what’s written?
I Love This, makes me wish I hadn’t made myself put off getting my facial tattoos for another year.
Cute! (Nice tattoo as well)
Both sides?
Also I hope some day I will have the balls to tattoo my face, but as of right I think i’ll have hand tattoos as my “riskiest” tattoo
What does the text say? I love the chin ink.
Pittsburgh, huh? Where does this young gentleman pierce?
I worked as a piercer in Minnesota, I had some personal stuff happen and now I’m at my parents house where I’m originally from (Pittsburgh) before I head to New York to try my hand at finding a shop! The script is the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum”
hello gorgeous.
Props on getting a beautiful facial tattoo at at young age…
Do you shave your eyebrows?
They look amazing!
I agree though, I got my eyebrow dots tattooed on shortly after I turned 18 and it was still to this day the best decision I’ve ever made.
I pluck them ahaha. I’ve been known to get really lazy and just use the single blade side of my fusion razor though haha! Thanks for the nice words everyone!
That is so cute, both the expression and the tattoos, love it. wish i had the guts to do it ):
good for you except,you are young and i hope you dont regret them when your older,i dont regret my having one side of my face scared but i did get alot of shit on here about it because it look like i copied the moki people facial tattoos
What shop did you pierce at i live in Mn and wish you were still around so i could see this awesome ink live
One more thing. I wish I could grow a mustache of that magnitude when I was 19
such a commitment from such a young guy!
-London and Caleigh
looks great. not too overpowering, nice accent for his face
welcome to the club! it looks great
When are you gonna fix the lines?
that’s lovely.
Nice tattoo not particularly well executed
@ TKO- who cares? it makes him happy. thats like saying “hey i realize you like having a nose, but it bends a bit to the left. when are you going to get rhinoplasty?”
Darling, darling Mr Black. You are gorgeous! Love the tats!
you see, this is facial work I respect more than the glasses, because thought has gone into this and it has meaning etc. the glasses are just a joke which will wear old fast. This is beautiful.
I was going to whole heartedly agree, heh at least its not raybans… but dan has that covered, and same with nic, props. I think it’s really nice, when the title is LIBERATION is that solely because Anthony discussed how a facial tattoo meant no one had a higher authority over him or is that what the script says? I’d love to know his personal mantra, do you know if he’d be colouring his chin/lotus or leaving it solid black lines? go big or go home right?
Ha! reading helps–“Om Mani Padme Hum”
very very nice! 😀 i like, i think it looks great.
@David – I fail to see how *someone else’s* mods, or reasons for them, have any relevance to *your* career goals.
@Anthony Black – Not only do the tats look great; your story behind them is well thought out and eloquent.
My chin is finished. I do however have plans to work a bit more on the lotus and everything. I don’t see me adding any other color though, just more black.
As for fixing the linework a bit, I can find the tiniest little flaws in any of my tattoos. It needs touched up a bit but overall I’m content as is =]
Can I add that I’m overwhelmed at the thoughtful and kind responses here. Thank you all so much!
@Anthony I understand, touch-ups my leg piece has some light spots that I’m looking to fix even though I’m the only one who can really see it, I take pride in wanting something that cost li’l pain/money I don’t have/time/effort of not myself but my artist to look as good as it can–I like it in just black too just really liked how the red pops so vividly and didn’t know if you’d be bringing in other colours, I wasn’t hating on the line work, I just didn’t know if this was a first session of many or what–anyway congrats on being so commited to being your own man
Wow, props to this guy. I really like the design and placement. I wish I was this courageous. I’ve been obsessed with body mods for years and I’ve still never even stepped foot into a shop.
a side note. If you are buddhist, putting that sacred text on your body is extremely disrespectful. The body is of Samsara, inherenyly flawed and dirty, and to use sacred symbols in this way lessens their impact.
Now, if you aren’t a practicing buddhist, it doesnt realy matter in the slightest.
I still like this, quite a bit
lol well it’s like I always say, if money is the root of all evil why do americans even think about putting gods name on their currency especially in a time where so few share the same faith? and if he’s buddhist he knows nothing is truly permanent and everything is constantly changing–and what about the japanese theory of wabisabi and the flaws making things beautiful? i.e: crack in the liberty bell, yarr, I think its pretty
Bad linework, poor weight, and a crooked design. He’s obviously not old enough to choose a facial tattoo since he can’t choose quality.
Anyway, if “parents” are still something you worry about (and I hear this dude still lives with his parents), you are too young to tattoo your face. BME should not be supporting this, it should be reminding kids that at 19 they are too young for this decision because they don’t have enough life context for the wisdom required.
He will almost surely regret these tattoos, either because he realizes that he didn’t want a facial tattoo forever, or because he realizes it’s shit quality. 🙁 🙁 🙁
those tattoos are absolutely beautiful. I adore them.
I know what style he was going for. I think it would be really awesome to have some dot-work incorporated into the design. Kind of like the stuff Little Swastika tattoos.
Also anyone looking to know more about what the scripts says and means, check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om_mani_padme_hum
At least i think thats what it says.
thumbs up dude! i love my facial tattoo, and ive never had a bad comment about it, wear it proud man!!
hahahahaha Ant that second picture is hilarious
Ants facial tattoos are amazing and so is his music! So I wish him the best of luck with his music and hope he makes it big!
Amazing. Most mature for a 19-year old. I love the reasoning behind the tattoo, it puts the usual “you’re going to regret this when you’re 60″ type comments to shame.