A form of art that has been around for thousands of years!
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Why are you here?
The main purpose of this site will be to help people get a better understanding of why anyone would want to go through so much pain to get something on their body that would be there forever. The general sterotype of someone with a tattoo is that they are mean, angry, or scary people. This however, is not the case in most instances, many people get tattoos to either represent something symbolic to them, have something as a reminder of that certain time in their lives, to tell a story, or sometimes just because they like how it looks!
If you want to get a tattoo make sure that it is something that you will be able to wear proudly and won't have regrets about getting later on in the future! Although you are able to get tattoos removed with todays technology, people say that getting the tattoo lasered off is more painful and way more expensive than the initial tattoo!
The History of Tattooing; when did it begin, how did people used to do tattoos.
Fundamentals of Tattooing; different types of linework, shading, and color.
Styles of Tattooing; the way the finished piece looks, and how the artist applies color and details.
History of Tattooing
The Beginning
Tattoos have been dated back thousands and thoudsands of years.The oldest evidence of tattoos has been found on people dating back to 2100 BC. The oldest preserved European human mummy was Otzi the iceman, he was discovered back in September 1991. After doing some research on his body, researchers discovered that he had a total of 61 differnt tattoos across differnt parts of his body; however, most of them were located upon his legs.
What made them do it?
Since we know that tattoos have been dated back to ancient civilizations, we need to understand the reasons on why some people had them and others didn't. Different parts of the world all had different reasons to get or give tattoos. Some places would do it as punishment where others would give their citizens/soldiers tattoos for certain accomplishments. According to research tattoos did not really become widely accepted until the 20th century. Before this era they were looked down upon and people who had them were looked at differently. Different cultures were against tattoos and they believed if someone got one then they were destroying their bodies by violating the body that they were given.
China & Asia - Tattoos around this part of the world were heavily stigmatized. People believed that the only people who had tattoos were bandits or criminals, along with heroes from stories that were passed down.
Egypt - Some research indicates that tattoos found on the mummies were more for decorative purposes; however, they were found more on women. Tattoos were also believed to have been performed as a medical treatment.
Samoa - It is believed that the word "tattoo" was orginiated from Samoan culture from their version of the word "tatau". They are iconic for their tribal style of tattooing which plays an intricate part in their culture. Their style of tattooing is done by using a handmade tool and the tradition gets passed down from father to son. Their tattoos celebrate dedication to the culture and "great endurance".
Fundamentals of Tattooing
The Basics
There are many differnt basics or "fundamentals" that any tattoo artist should know. The reason for this is if they don't execute their fundamentals perfectly, then the tattoo might not come out how the client was expecting, which could be an issue since it is there for the rest of their lives. The fundfamentals of a tattoo can be compared to the basic structure of a website, if something is missing or not done correctly the outcome will not be what you were expecting.
What are the fundamentals?
The fundamentals are the most important part of the tattoo and is something every tattoo artist should be comfortable with. Putting a tattoo down isn't like pencil and paper where you can just erase and try to do it right again the second time. If you mess up on a tattoo you could have just ruinied a part of a clients body permanently. There is a lot of different things that go into the fundamentals of a tattoo; some of the most important ones are line work, contrast, color, and shading. Each one of these fundamentals can play a major part in how the completed piece turns out.
Line-work: Line work is the most basic and possibly one of the most crucial parts about the tattoo. This is what helps to create the general shape of the entire piece. For a nice tattoo an artist should be able to execute clean straight lines, that could vary in thickness on certain areas of the tatoo.
Shading: Another crucial part of a tattoo is the shading. Shading is what helps create the depth of a piece and can make the whole piece come to life. Shading is typically done in black ink which really helps to show off shadows and make the piece look more like it is coming off of the skin. Any artist should know how to start a line dark black and get the other end of it to a nice lighter shade.
Color: The application of color is another fundamental that every artist should have in their arsenal. Not every client who comes in will want a black and grey tattoo. Artists should be able to get the perfect amount of saturation in a tattoo to get it to the perfect shade of color that they want without damaging the skin. They should also know which colors work well together and which colors to use in a piece. Just like creating a website, you wouldn't want so many colors in a tattoo that takes the focus off the overall piece.
Styles of Tattooing
The Portfoilio
Not every client that walks into a shop is going to want a certain style of tattoo. For example not everyone would want a piece that is black and white, some people would want some work that really pops and shows color. These two catergories of tattooing is called styles. There is many more than just these two as well which will be displayed. Although it is good for an artist to be able to do all types of styles, it is okay for them to just have one or two that they really enjoy doing and they do well.
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