Street Anatomy

Fresh Anatomy Tattoos

Submitted by Kevin, who tries to record significant life events with art.  He planned this heart tattoo while in the ICU recovering from surgery.

This is 4 months post surgery, a septal myectomy to deal with (HCM) hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Muscle arm tattoo submitted by Dillon.

I asked Dillon why he got an anatomical tattoo and here’s what he said,

Only two reasons really..1 because its different and I’ve only seen a few of them on the net and none in person…and 2 it just looks cool.

Simple and too the point.

This intricate tattoo was submitted by Heather Whiteside.

The tattoo was done from an original design, based on research of Anatomical Venus type Wax Anatomy Models—thanks to your blog as a starting place. It was reworked a bit and inked by Greg Ross at Blue Rose Tattoo in Huntsville, Alabama.Oh, I got the two artists in the shop, Greg and Laura, to witness my signature on the Body Donor form. I’m ready now to actually send it off and register with the University of Alabama- Birmingham’s anatomical gift program.I wonder what the furture medical students or researchers will make of the tattoos on my body?

See more incredible anatomical tattoos in the Anatomy Tattoo Gallery!

Anatomical Venus Tattoo

Anatomical Venus tattoo submitted by Krista.

I got it because I’ve always loved the integration of science and art. I’m a student of biological anthropology (applying to grad schools this Fall) and have worked extensively on the archaeological preparation human skeletal material as part of my senior thesis, that is, I combined art and science! It’s kind of an early graduation present to myself, and it’s a constant reminder to me that I should be working on my thesis instead of looking at online tattoo galleries.

There’s nothing wrong with being distracted by the tattoo galleries—you never know what kind of inspiration you’ll find!

Muscle Arm Tattoo

Stinus Wolf just sent me pics of his incredible full arm musculature tattoo done by Louise Rimpler in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Thanks for submitting Stinus!

Check out more anatomical tattoos like this one over at the Anatomy Tattoo Gallery

Fresh Anatomical Ink

Jason Headrick sent me this photo of his new heart tattoo. He tells me that he actually got the inspiration to do an anatomical heart from the anatomy tattoo pictures off of Street Anatomy!

Skeleton sketch submitted by Katie Gould. Love the drop shadow and sketchy lines; brings a lot of energy to the tattoo.

David Valerio just got this tattoo a month ago as a huge motivator to stay in school and earn his degree in Biology. Nothing says commitment like a tattoo.

Submit your own anatomically themed tattoo on the Contact page or send it via e-mail to vanessa@streetanatomy.com and we’ll add it to the gallery!

Fresh Anatomy Ink

A recent stream of tattoos to add to the Anatomy Tattoo Gallery. Thanks for the submissions!

Recently submitted ripped skin ink by Sebastian Rudat.

Submitted by Suren.  Here’s the fun story behind his tattoo—

It started as joke with a friend in class, we said we should get regular heart tattoos with blank ribbons on it so we  can put whoever’s name we wanted in it. So as I thought about it more, I really loved the idea and concept behind it. I chose an anatomical rendering of the heart because it beats out a plain old traditional heart, the details the vessels and everything was very intriguing. The blank ribbon is more of a statement and a mockery of the traditional tattoo. I wanted people to know that it was a bit foolish to tattoo another persons name especially if they’re not family, hence the blank ribbon. The anatomical heart itself is mocking the traditional tattoo, because indeed it is a real heart and not a valentines day chocolate box. More than a statement the tattoo has a fun spin to it. I can sharpie or pen in anyone or anything I want inside of it, whenever I want. No regrets, and that’s the fun part to the tattoo. All in all, I’m happy with my first tattoo.

I should have asked Suren to write Street Anatomy in the ribbon and then take a picture!

Illustration © Karen Bucher, inking done by Ben Wahh from Deluxe Tattoo.

I’ve had quite a few people ask me if I know any medical illustrators who do tattoo commissions.  I never really had an answer until I attended the annual Association of Medical Illustrators conference back in July.  To my amazement, I saw this tattoo submitted to the Salon (a showcase/competition of student and professional medical illustration work).  The artist, Karen Bucher, was asked to do this tattoo by a complete stranger.  She obliged and it ended up turning out really well.

If you’re interested in getting an anatomical tattoo and want it done accurately, try commissioning a medical illustrator.

If you’d like to submit your own anatomy tattoo, send a jpeg that’s at least 500px wide and a short explanation to vanessa@streetanatomy.com and I’ll post it in the tattoo gallery.