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Coming Out of the Sun: P-51 Mustang Tattoo

Posted on May 4, 2009

We’ve featured lots of North American P-51 Mustangs on Tattoos In Flight over the past year (see our P-51 archive) and it remains one of the most popular aviation tattoo subjects out there today. There’s not much I can add to the history and background of the P-51 that I haven’t said before, but I’d like to take a moment to use this specific tattoo in a comparison.

Pilot’s spend hours and hours of time… sometimes at great personal sacrifice… to perfect their skills and become better pilots. Before they are allowed to sit in an airliner and fly passengers or sit in a multi-million dollar jet and fight a war, they have endured years of training and flying… “paying their dues” per se. Once professional pilots, they need to keep learning, keep training, keep their minds open for the new technologies that make their job easier and safer. They are confronted with changing weather, delays, new flight schedules — a constantly dynamic environment — and have to adapt to remain successful in their career. Despite all this, pilots remain extremely passionate about what they do and in many cases would rather be in the air than any other place in the world.

Tattoo artists are, in many cases, the same way. They struggle for years building up a portfolio of artwork before they are given a shot at an apprenticeship. Once in that spot, they work hard hours, do the dirty work, and “pay their dues” before even picking up a machine and tattooing a client for the first time. Even then, every tattoo is a learning experience… and away from the tattoo machine, the artist is constantly pushing their envelope with new styles, new techniques, and new art mediums that they can fold into their own unique tattoo style. In many cases, artists spend a lot of time “hoofing it” on the road at conventions to get their name out there… and even when success finally comes, they still pour every ounce of energy into their craft. There’s no where they’d rather be.

This tattoo is a perfect example of that drive to “push the envelope” - artist David Newman-Stump of Skeleton Crew Tattoo in Columbus, IN sent this to us and let us know it was the first aviation tattoo he had done. For a first time tattoo, I know I am pretty impressed with the composition, shading, and placement of the tattoo - overall a beautiful piece, would you agree?

Please click on the image above or the link below for a larger image.

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