If you’re pondering on the question “which tattoo is right for me”, remember that your choice of tattoo design can reflect your personality, beliefs, interests, or loved ones.
Take your time researching the different kinds of tattoos available and pay careful consideration to the size, placement, and coloring. Then, decide on a budget and do your homework by researching the best tattoo artists in your area.
A tattoo can be the most wonderful gift to yourself but if you rush in and make a bad choice, you could be in for a lifetime of regret!
So before you answer the question of which tattoo is right for me, make yourself comfy and check out these incredible tattoo styles before taking the plunge!
Lettering / Word tattoos
There are so many inspirational tattoo quotes, that it can be difficult to know where to start. You may want to remind yourself of a certain time in your life, express your thoughts or wishes, or even share a valuable life lesson with the people you meet. Whatever the reason, make sure to choose a quote that you want to see every day and one that represents you and your character.
Pay particular attention to the design elements too. Ask your tattoo artist about the color, font, design, and language. Regarding color, black makes a bold statement, but others like to opt for different colors for each word (but this is more expensive.)
Portrait tattoos.
Portrait tattoos can be stunning when done correctly, but choosing the wrong artist and a portrait of your favorite musician or deceased family member could make you the butt of everybody’s jokes.
Despite the high level of difficulty, portrait tattoos should not be feared. Take your time to pick the right artist and provide him/her with the highest-resolution image that you can find.
Color tends to add realism to portrait tattoos and makes the tattoo stand out whereas shading adds depth and makes the artwork look like the real person.
The placement of portrait tattoos is hugely important because a person’s skin stretches and folds with their body movement. If the tattoo is placed in the wrong area, it can disfigure the image and make it look less realistic. As always, consult your tattoo artist for the perfect placement.
Animal tattoos
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Animals have been used as visual symbols since ancient times with man depicting animals through art to convey culturally-rooted meanings.
Go back 20,000 years and animal pictures adorned cave walls. Jump to 2022 and animal design tattoos are all over social media.
Animal tattoos usually symbolize a specific meaning with each animal conveying something different. They are not gender-specific and can be placed anywhere on the body.
Blackwork tattoos
Blackwork tattoos utilize one color. They combine shading and linework. There’s a massive range of designs to choose from including skulls, mandalas, and animals.
While some designs are clear, others are more abstract. The absence or presence of shading enables varying degrees of softening. With Blackwork tattoos, self-expression is the key. These kinds of tats look sharp, and striking, and often have a tribal feel.
Blackwork can be done on any part of the anatomy, with the most popular spots being the arms, legs, back, and feet. An important thing to note is that covering larger areas of the body takes time, patience, and high pain tolerance.
Japanese / Irezumi tattoos
Japanese tattoos began way back in the Yayoi period (c. 300 BC–300 AD). At that time, they were associated with spirituality and regarded as an important status symbol that identified the wearer as a master or a slave. Things changed during the Kofun period (300 –600 AD), as tattoos gained a negative image because they were used as marks for criminals.
Nowadays, Japanese tattoos are among the most popular styles of tattoo art, but if you are thinking of getting one, be sure to find out the meaning and purpose behind your chosen design. Meanings are often linked to creatures, plants, and people. These kinds of tattoos are also used to show a person’s beliefs, wishes, or character traits.
In many cases, a large piece of art can tell a famous story or myth. This kind of tattoo is called a “motif“ and is intended to have the same meaning. The purpose of this is for others to recognize the meaning, personality traits, and character of the wearer as well as their possible affiliation with criminal organizations.
Gray-wash tattoos
Grey-wash tattoo ink comprises varying degrees of grey and black ink to create varying contrasts. Gray-wash tattoos take a fair bit of skill but when done right, they can create the same degree of depth as a pencil drawing.
Religious tattoos
Tattoos have played an important role in many religions for millennia. While Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have been opposed to their devotees getting tattoos, other religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism embrace the use of religious tattoos.
While most wearers just want to express their beliefs, other folks choose religious symbols without paying much attention to their meanings. Whichever group you fit into, try to be respectful of the cultural significance of this kind of imagery. If you do happen to be a religious person, bear in mind that a tattoo is for life and is a powerful display of your religious commitment.
Memorial tattoos
There are many ways to design a memorial tattoo. They include names and dates, hearts, portraits, religious imagery, and ones that refer to deceased people. The most common way of honoring a deceased person is to state a name and/or the dates of their birth and death.
While most memorial tattoos pay tribute to a fellow human being, many of us wish to remember a departed pet with a tattoo. This can be a beautiful way to keep your pet by your side.
Another idea is to have someone’s signature as a tattoo. Any competent tattoo artist will be able to replicate this for you.
Finally, if you associate that person with an object, that can also be incorporated into your design. Bear in mind that your tattoo design doesn’t have to make sense or have meaning for anyone but you.
Haida (Native American) tattoos
If you’re on the hunt for an aboriginal tattoo, why not get a Haida tattoo? Not so common, they have deeply spiritual elements and if done properly, look amazing.
Haida is from the Native American culture which was principally located in Alaska and British Columbia. Haida tattoos should be one-of-a-kind tattoos that are stunning in their details. The imagery of Haida tattoos mainly focuses on animal spirits.
Native Americans strongly believed that all animals have a spiritual essence and that they were often guided in their lives by their spirit animal. Using Haida ink, all manner of creatures can be illustrated in this cool-looking two-dimensional format.
Choose from reptiles, mammals, or birds, pretty much any animal can be represented with a Haida tattoo.
While you can choose any color, the original designs are mainly red, blue, and black. These colors have been used for generations because they resonate with the auspicious background of the tribes.
Cartoon / Anime tattoos
Cartoon tattoos have been a favorite for decades. They can help wearers feel youthful and take them back to happier, carefree times.
Cartoon tattoos just make you feel good. They can take you back to your childhood days when all you thought about was Tom & Jerry or Popeye. Tattoos of cartoon characters are a great way to remind yourself that you can still be young at heart with a healthy dose of nostalgia thrown in.
Surrealist / Horror tattoos
One of the reasons that horror tattoos are so popular today is the enormous array of horror materials to choose from.
Old-school-horror-nuts simply go with the classics and opt for Frankenstein, zombies, mummies, or even Dracula. Modern horror fans love designs featuring Michael Myers, Jason, or characters from the Walking Dead.
Lovers of horror tattoos often want to project the image of someone that isn’t afraid of anything. They also seem to love the extreme reaction that a gruesome tattoo can get from others!
Stippling / Dot work tattoos
Stippling is the creation of a pattern simulating varying degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists.
In a drawing or painting, the dots are made of a pigment of a single color, applied with a pen or brush. The denser the dots, the darker the apparent shade. This is similar to pointillism, which uses dots of different colors to simulate blended colors.
White ink tattoos
White ink tattoos look amazing when done right but they have a definite downside! They’re extremely difficult to do well and need much more care and planning. White tattoos are also on the increase because they are pretty new and they glow in the dark when exposed to a black light.
They can damage the skin more than a conventional tattoo and leave a raised scar. If you really want one, make sure you use a top-quality tattoo lotion to minimize the scarring.
How they will look on you depends on your skin color, the darker the skin, the more the white ink will pop. Whiter-skinned dudes also love white ink tattoos because they can give the look of having a cool scar.
Graffiti tattoos
Graffiti tattoos are very easy to identify. They look just like the amazing paintings that you see in most big cities. Contrary to popular belief, they aren’t only gang signs and have become a super-cool art form that has proved popular with the younger generations.
One of the coolest graffiti tattoos is to have the tattoo artist draw a brick wall somewhere on the body, then actually draw graffiti on the wall. This can create an amazing 3D effect as the colors of the graffiti contrast with the red brick wall.
Another reason for the huge rise in graffiti-style tattoos is that they make great cover-ups. So if you are dumb enough to have your ex-girlfriend’s name tattooed on your body, a graffiti tattoo could be just what you’re looking for.
Watercolor tattoos
Watercolor tattoos have been hitting the headlines lately. Skeptics say that tattoos should not be done in a watercolor style as they do not stand the test of time!
Watercolor tattoos are created in exactly the same way as regular tattoos and with the same tools. The only differences are the styles and techniques of shading and coloring that go into their creation.
These kinds of tattoos resemble watercolor paintings and feature subtle gradients where the merging of colors is less pronounced than in conventional tattoo styling. Nearly all watercolor tattoos do not contain solid outlines or borders. Common images range from designs of paint splatters to copies of classic watercolor paintings.
Again, this kind of tattoo is highly specialized and should not be attempted by inexperienced artists. Whereas some of the techniques involved are straightforward, other parts of these tattoos take years to master.
Geometric tattoos
Geometric tattoos can look fabulous and come in many color palettes and designs. They can be totally abstract or even versions of famous images.
A common feature of geometric tattoos is that they contain lines or geometric shapes that come together to create a bigger shape. They also often include leaves, lines, stars, and many other interesting patterns. These tattoos are usually made with black ink only which makes them really “pop.”
They are super-popular right now because people love the versatility that comes with designs using lines and shapes. Fans of geometrical tattoos believe that geometry is one of the major influences on today’s tattoo art. But one thing’s for certain, they look bold and beautiful.
Again these tattoos should only be carried out by artists with a lot of experience as it is extremely difficult to create geometric patterns on the skin.
Celtic tattoos
The story behind Celtic tattoos is very interesting. They were often used to intimidate enemies on the battlefield or conversely to explain the meaning of life.
There were many Celtic tribal societies back. Traditionally, these tattoos were created using dyes from the Woad plant.
Warriors would often be seen sporting knot designs on either their upper chest or arms. This symbolized their belief that there was no beginning or end in life. Other popular Celtic designs are swirls, trinities, and circles. This kind was believed to symbolize nature, motion, time, and wind.
Some Celtic designs feature animals. These tattoos served a purpose in that they could act as a symbol of a power, protection, or courage.
Bio-Mechanical tattoos
Not everyone is sentimental when it comes to choosing a tattoo. Some blokes just want to get tattooed because it looks cool. Those that don’t care about deeper meanings behind their tattoos often go for bio-mechanical images.
Mechanical tattoos are supposed to give the look of a cyborg with moving mechanical parts just below the skin. There are a few different versions of biomechanical tattoos with the most popular being “ripped apart skin which reveals all manner of mechanical internal body parts. These can include cogs, wires, metal joints, and springs.
They are usually created in black and gray ink but some dudes want the artwork to look more realistic by mixing in colored human body parts such as veins and muscles. Some chaps also love to incorporate a 3D effect.
Biomechanical tattoos usually have a lot of detail which can make them very costly. As they take a lot of time, only those with a high threshold for pain should embark on such a design. They look cool on just about every part of the body, but best on the arms, legs, hands, feet, and ribs. They also look amazing when done as a full sleeve.
Ambigram tattoos
Ambigram tattoos are a great choice for fans of optical illusions as they are designed to change depending on which angle they are seen from.
Some ambigram tattoos have a palindromic effect while others choose to display a different statement when viewed from different angles.
These stunning calligraphy-based tattoos use directional orientation to play tricks on the eye and mind.
Tribal tattoos
Maori
Samoan tattoos
Tahitian tattoos
Tribal tattoos are still one of the most popular tattoo choices. This term is rather broad and some tribal tattoos do not even pertain to a tribal culture at all. Often, they are simply “inspired” by the traditional tattoo designs and patterns of these cultures.
A common feature of tribal tattoos is that they tend to feature repetitive patterns, bold line images, strong black ink use, and mythical or spiritual symbolism.
We hope that you found some inspiration from this article and that it answered the question of which tattoo you should get. But if you are still asking the question “which tattoo is right for me?”, you might want to head over to Tattoodo.com where you can find heaps more ideas.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in just how much full-sleeve tattoos cost.
