Skull beauty

 Skulls are often seen in a scary setting but these show that skulls can be beautiful too. The use of colour in this one adds to the overall beauty.

This is a great example of a single tattoo making a great impact, beautiful monochrome colours and  large enough to see the details.

Tattoo....Christmas style!

Oh for the love of......Christmas! The loot under our tree has been distributed, unwrapped and probably broken in some cases. Oh for the love of Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Say cheese

 Photography - worthy of a camera tattoo? If they look like this they are. Ink in celebration of another kind of visual art.

Pin up girls

Pin up images always makes me think of simpler times....war, stay at home wives, no voting rights for women....thank goodness we live in modern times!

Art placement

As if choosing a design wasn't hard enough, now you need to decide where you want the tattoo on your body! Although tattoos are, in essence, pieces of artwork to be seen, some lifestyles are less forgiving than others when it comes to having a visible tattoo.

Stomach and Hip Tattoos

Easily hidden and lower on the pain scale than other areas, a hip/lower back/stomach tattoo is a good choice for people who only want to reveal their tattoo on their terms (No accidental revealing). However, women, take note: the lower abdomen is a prime place to get stretch marks if you plan on having children. Factor your future into your decision. Are you prone to stretch marks? Are you choosing a design that has a very symmetrical and balanced shape (ex. a circle) that would look terrible if it were stretched beyond recognition?

 

Ribcage/Sides of The Body

This area is hypersensitive to the touch and thin-skinned, so getting a tattoo here is often described as more painful. Yet for as much as it can hurt, it is a good choice for those who do not want their tattoo seen. Some artists will not do a rib tattoo if it is a first tattoo for someone. Consult with your artist first and if they still refuse, scope out a different shop.

 

Back, Shoulders, Arms and Hands

A very common first tattoo locale is the shoulder. Often known as a "sleeve", you can build upon your artwork over time to produce the effect of a "sleeve" of tattoos around and down the arm. This is expensive and time-consuming, but the effect can be quite beautiful. Forearm and hand tattoos are always visible, so they are not recommended for people in professions that hold a stigma against visible tattoos. Also, tattoos on often-used parts of the body that are readily exposed to the sun and are touched often (the fingers, for example) tend to fade more quickly. My local artist will not do hand tattoos for this reason.

Feet and Legs

tattoos on or around the ankle and foot tend to fade the quickest. The legs and feet carry your entire weight, and water often accumulates within the ankle and foot region, flushing out the color pigments of the tattoo ink. Also, women should be careful where they place a tattoo on the foot since most heels, sandals and flip-flops leave the topmost portion of the foot visible. The foot is another highly sensitive area, so some artists may be leary of putting a first tattoo on the foot. Consult with your artist.

 

Facial and Neck Tattoos

Permanent makeup is a trend gaining popularity among women. The artist can tattoo on eyeliner, lip liner and even eyebrows. Like any tattoo, these would need to be redone in 10-20 years, but they offer a more permanent solution to having to apply makeup daily. Other facial tattoos include eyelid, eyeball, inner lip and neck tattoos as well as tattoos that go on the scalp (the head must be shaved for the tattoo to be visible). The face endures the most sun damage throughout a person's life as well as being the most visible part of someone's anatomy, so they are to be thoroughly well-thought out.

 Placement can also dictate clothing you wear in order to show off your art properly, its seems a shame for a great piece like this chest placement to never be fully seen by the general public for modesty reasons.

Placement is as important as the art itself.

Flutter by butterfly

Butterflies are beautiful and are often used for tattoos, but few are as beautiful as these.

Do we ever really grow up?

 

Lego; the toy for all ages!

 Where the Wild Things are, either you love the story or hate it. These people must really love it!

And who doesn't love Mickey.

Too twit too woo

Following on from the simplistic owl designs of the previous post, these beauties really highlight the awesomeness of the owl.

 Great placement and the glasses add a touch of humour.

 I'm loving the greens in this ink.

Tattoo Brighton with an lovely rendition of an owl. Love the big eyes and breast detailing.

Hooo are you?

Owls, the wisest of birds and seemingly very cute too!

 The red and black combination works well here to highlight the detail on a small tattoo.

Simplistic but lovely design

Detailed and very effective art, must have hurt like hell with this placement!

Knit one purl one

 Ink your passion, for some that is knitting. Images from fuckyeahknitting!.com. 

I'm not a knitter but I admire these!

Welcome

First things first, I'm not a tattoo artist, tattoo professional, or artist in any way. I just love tattoos. I want to document some of the great art I find in the great world wide web for my own pleasure but hope you will find inspiration too.

I feel a tattoo should be well thought out, meaningful and must bring you pleasure. You do get to see it every day of your life after all!

This is my second tattoo, finally achieved after 2 years of searching for just the right thing to celebrate my greatest achievement, my sons. With the help of Ryan at Ink Studio in Palmerston North, New Zealand we finally arrived at this design. There is room in the design to add grandchildren when or if they happen and the placement means I get to see it all the time. 

My first tattoo is a good example of how not to get a tattoo! It was a boozy weekend away with girlfriends, and the tattoo was chosen quickly, done in a shifty looking parlour and is where I can't see it without the use of mirrors. This is probably a good thing because I hate it! I'm currently working on a cover up design, but that is definitely a work in progress! The quality of the tattoo is not great either with large areas of colour fading away.

So join me on my journey through the world of wearable art and enjoy!