Legz, world's first armless tattoo artist at work at Houston Texas Tattoo Extravaganza

For an hour or so on Saturday afternoon at the Houston Texas Tattoo Extravaganza at the Crowne Plaza near NRG Stadium, Brian Tagalog was the main event. Tagalog, 28, was born without arms but that hasn't stopped him from becoming a tattoo artist. He inks clients with his feet, which he places rubber gloves on meant for hands. His toes grip the tattoo machine and he controls the current to the machine, usually done by foot pedal, with his backside. On Saturday afternoon he had one client, legendary tattooist and pop-culture icon Lyle Tuttle. less For an hour or so on Saturday afternoon at the Houston Texas Tattoo Extravaganza at the Crowne Plaza near NRG Stadium, Brian Tagalog was the main event. Tagalog, 28, was born without arms but that hasn't ... more Photo: Craig Hlavaty Photo: Craig Hlavaty Image 1 of / 113 Caption Close Legz, world's first armless tattoo artist at work at Houston Texas Tattoo Extravaganza 1 / 113 Back to Gallery

For an hour or so on Saturday afternoon at the Houston Texas Tattoo Extravaganza at the Crowne Plaza near NRG Stadium, Brian Tagalog was the main event.

Tagalog, 28, was born without arms but that hasn't stopped him from becoming a tattoo artist. He inks clients with his feet, which he places rubber gloves on meant for hands. His toes grip the tattoo machine and he controls the current to the machine, usually done by foot pedal, with his backside.

He's been at it for 11 years in his hometown of Tucson, Ariz. When he's working he's listening to music on YouTube to help with his concentration. His toes have grown to be incredibly tactile.

On Saturday afternoon Tagalog had one client, the legendary tattooist and pop-culture icon Lyle Tuttle, the man who tattooed Janis Joplin and Cher in the '60s and made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Tuttle, 84, has been completely covered in tattoos, save for his head, hands, and feet, for decades.

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Tagalog tattooed a small, armless stick figure on Tuttle and signed it "Legz" as dozens looked on in awe, smartphones in hand. Once convention goers figure out what was happening, a crowd grew. There wasn't much talking, just hushed attentiveness. Some artists even took a break from tattooing their own clients to walk over and watch.

"I looked up and only saw three people and I looked up again a few minutes later and it felt like 300," he joked after he finished on Tuttle, who had found a bit of space on his left arm, just above his elbow.

After he was done he and Tuttle shared a hug as two important, unique pieces of tattooing history converged. Tuttle has been a part of the culture since 1949 so he's seen a lot. An armless artist? Nothing fazes Lyle.

Artists from all over stopped and talked with their colleague and wished him well as he put back on his Nike shoes and cleaned up his work station.

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Tagalog's girlfriend, Marlissa Glenn, 29, and her two children, a boy and girl, accompanied Tagalog to the convention. She's yet to be tattooed by Tagalog but is pondering her choices.

“We just haven’t pinpointed what I want,” Glenn says. She still gets a kick out of the attention that Tagalog gets. To her, he’s normal. They've known one another since they were in elementary school.

“He’s very positive about what he does and it shows that you can’t let things limit what you want to do in life,” she says.

Tagalog got into tattooing after finding that work was hard to come by.

“People wouldn’t want to hire me, so one day I came across a tattoo machine and me and my aunt went in half on it,” he says.

As far as he knows, he’s the world’s first armless tattoo artist. His work can be tracked on his official Instagram page.