A few weeks back, I went to go see a couple of bands at a local club. As I was handing over my ticket to the bouncer at the door, I noticed that his knuckles were tattooed with some sort of strange script. When I asked him what his knuckles said, he actually got really sheepish and folded his fingers out of sight. He gave an embarrassed laugh and said, “Aw, it’s just stupid.” Realizing that he didn’t want to tell me about it, I dropped the subject and went and got a beer.
I thought about it quite a bit that night. Was the guy embarrassed of what his tattoo said, or was it the fact that it was a knuckle tattoo that he wished he’d never had done? I was generally interested in what he was sporting on those knucks of his. This in turn got me thinking about knuckle tattoos, how in a way they’re sort of the dark horses of the tattoo world. I see all kinds of tattoos on a daily basis, but very rarely do I see tattooed knuckles. Why is that? Is it because they’re always going to be on display for everyone to see and it makes employment difficult? Is it because people associate them with gangs? Or is it because people’s knuckles are often too hairy?
Whatever the reason, this week I’m hyping knuckle tattoos, not only because I think they’re rad, but also because picking eight letters that sum up your personality or something important to you is a real challenge. If you can pull it off, then my hat goes off to you. Besides, there’s just something classic about them, like albums on vinyl and movies shot on film.
With that being said, I’m going to go ahead and recommend checking out Knuckle Tattoos.com This is a great site that encourages knuckle-tattooed folks to send in a photo of their knuckles and explain what they mean and why they got them in the first place. Even if you don’t like the artwork or the idea of tattooed knuckles, the stories behind these tattoos are usually pretty interesting and help shed light on the numerous reasons why people get the tattoos that they get.
So for any of you out there like Mr Bouncer at the club, don’t be shy with your knuckles. Get ‘em out there and be proud to sport eight original pieces of body art.