New Bedford Artist Stays True to His Word & Gets Busty Seagull Tattoo
Hendrick Hernandez-Resto of New Bedford is a man of his word. Last month, he vowed to get a tattoo of the infamous Busty Seagull if he received enough interaction online.
After getting a lot of buzz, he stuck to his plan and got the Seagull Cinderella proudly inked on his forearm, and it has to be the most New Bedford tattoo there is.
“I have to be a man of my word,” he told Maddie and Gazelle on Monday morning. “I can’t work where I work at the New Bedford Economic Development Council, which sets up the seaport art walk, to say I’m going to do it and not do it, I wouldn’t be allowed back at work.”
Originally, Hernandez-Resto asked his online followers to send him “10,000 stars”, but he quickly realized that not every online user has that feature.
However, when Fun 107 shared his plans back in July, it caught the attention of a local artist who wanted to personally do the tattoo.
"Melinda Abreau, who is a key makeup artist on several films like Finest Kind…she did the body paint scene in Super Troopers 2…she heard via Fun 107 that I was going to do the tattoo, so she reached out and she said she wanted to do the tattoo,” shared Hernandez-Resto.
Divided Soul Tattoo Company in Rhode Island invited Abreu and Hernandez-Resto to their studio over the weekend, where Abreu got to work on an incredibly accurate depiction of the Busty Seagull. After one session, the bird came to life on Hernandez-Resto’s forearm. Right where he said he would put it.
He may have gotten the tattoo done in Rhode Island, but it was done by a New Bedford woman who was familiar with the notorious seagull.
“I love it, it looks so good,” said Hernandez-Resto. “So far, everybody loves it.”
If there are any haters who don’t like his newest piece, Hernandez-Resto hasn’t heard it. He’s excited to represent a head-turning landmark like the Busty Seagull.
Hernandez-Resto is proud to be from New Bedford, and as a lover of tattoos, he chooses to show that love for his city through art and ink.
“I’m happy to have done it (and) I’m happy that Donna Dodson (the creator of Seagull Cinderella) is getting attention,” he said.
With a tattoo like that, I'm sure Hernandez-Resto will turn some heads.