My traditional arm sleeve officially started at Illinois Tattoo Co. in downtown Bloomington, Illinois, with artist Alex Godair. A few months later, Godair and some fellow tattooers opened Artkore Tattoo a few blocks away. I followed him there, and he is responsible for all the pieces in this post. It’s hard to find quality tattoo shops in small towns like BloNo, but Artkore boasts some pretty solid artists that specialize in American traditional, Japanese, and black & grey realism tattoos.
August 2021 – The first piece I got from Alex will be one of my favorites for years to come. He absolutely knocked this traditional eagle out of the park. Some eagles I’ve seen turn out too bubbly or cartoonish; I’m glad Alex implemented hard angles and plenty of detail. Also, the subtle brown used on the branch is a nice touch. This one was a little spicy on the wrist, but otherwise it went pretty smoothly.
October 2021 – I went back to Artkore a couple months later with the intention of adding an anchor. Instead, I decided to copy the liberty bell design that Alex has on his hand. The top of the forearm is relatively painless, and this tattoo couldn’t have taken more than an hour and a half. I love the blue shading in the background and how well this piece contours with the eagle.
November 2021 – I’m usually pretty good about spacing out my tattoos by a few months to pace myself. I must have had some extra cash burning a hole in my pocket, because my third piece from Alex came only about a month after the liberty bell. My mom laments the fact that most of my tattoos “have no meaning.” I just love the simplicity and boldness of American traditional designs! I knew I wanted to add a meaningful homage to the Midwest, though, which inspired this piece. It depicts the Peoria, Illinois, skyline and the Illinois River in a bottle, a nod to the Rust Belt cities throughout the region. The skin on the inner bicep is very thin and incredibly sensitive, so I hated my life every single second for a full three hours. (The diamond is a Friday the 13th tattoo done previously at Atomic Tattoo in Austin, TX.)
May 2022 – Surely at this point it is obvious that I am a big fan of roses. The rose & dagger is a staple of American traditional tattooing, and it has been in my queue since before I started my sleeve. Since I already had four red roses on my arm, I decided to pivot and add a black rose in this design. Plus, dark tattoos with lots of black ink always look so cool. Alex made the leaves a shade darker and added red tips, and the detail in the handle of the dagger turned out really well.