Tattoo-Friendly Artwork

What is “Tattoo-Friendly” Artwork?

By the Editors of TattooFinder.com
Getting a tattoo is a creative and personal process, so it’s no surprise that imaginations can really run wild during the design search. Some artwork is just so impressive that you can’t help but want to memorialize it on your skin. Unfortunately, not all of your ideas or the great artwork that inspires you will be “tattoo-friendly” — that is, possible to recreate on the skin as you originally intended it and having the best potential to stay in good condition as it ages.
All artwork is naturally limited by the artist’s equipment and the surfaces they work on and tattooists are constructing beautiful images with a mechanical tool and commercial pigments on an organic and ever-changing canvas. This presents some natural constraints to their art form and some rules exist as to what will make your design tattoo-friendly. Whether you’re looking for the perfect tattoo design or Custom tattoo reference, using these rules in your design search could save you some potential disappointment in finding out your “perfect” design just isn’t possible . . . at least not as you originally found it. Evaluating your design references, as well as your tattooist, are integral in making sure you have the best possible tattoo experience and end up with a tattoo you really admire.
Tattoo-Friendly Means “Skin-Appropriate”
As a canvas, the skin will only allow so much detail in any limited area. It will also age over time and your tattoo will change along with it. Many ink seekers aren’t knowledgeable about this rule and will unknowingly try to fit a highly detailed design in too small of a space or force fine lines of their tattoo too close together. The end result is a tattoo that quickly evolves into a blob of ink on your skin and only vaguely resembles the original design that you invested time, effort and money into.

See more angel, wing, and skull tattoo designs
Check out more of Edward Lee's tattoo designs

Designs that are tattoo-friendly should take the limitations of your skin into consideration and leave adequate space in your artwork for the lines and details to change over time and best retain your original image. And although most finished tattoos have some probability of being damaged by the sun, stretched with age and pulled by gravity, working with tattoo-friendly artwork gives your tattoo the best chance of holding up against the elements, over time and through the natural tattoo aging process.
Tattoo-Friendly Means “Blueprint”
A tattoo-friendly design is also friendly to your tattooist, giving them the tools they’ll need to accurately translate the artwork to skin. Knowledgeable flash artists (often tattooists themselves) are familiar with the tattoo process and the challenges involved in working with motorized supplies and an organic medium. Their tattoo-friendly designs should include all of the design references a tattooist would need to apply your design, meaning both a clear, full-size image of the artwork, as well as a stencil.
Stencils, or line drawings, function as a “blueprint” in your tattoo process, using different nuances and other drawing techniques to give your tattooist subtle direction on line work and shading. Without it, an otherwise tattoo-friendly design can end up looking a LOT different than you expected it to. Preparing your tattooist with a quality stencil will also ensure that they are working with your perfect design, consistent outlines and definable fields of color and shading.
Tattoo-friendly Means “Realistic Ink Options”
Although some amazing advances have been made in tattoo technology and the inks used in the process, not every color will translate to skin as you imagine it to. Once it’s applied, your tattoo may spend the first few days of permanency looking so vivid that it may seem laser printed and glued to your body. But, once the top layer of your skin heals over the inked image and your tattoo naturally releases excess ink in the peeling process, the colors of your tattoo will dull slightly, react to your natural skin tone and take on a more organic look.
Tattoo-friendly designs should take your ink options into consideration, working with a palette of colors that are feasible. Generally, tattoo ink comes in a variety of colors and your tattooist can blend and mix them to create a huge palette of shades. And even then, your tattooist will have to evaluate how that color will look once it’s tattooed. The ink will ultimately respond to your natural skin tone, looking different on each unique body. Think of it like crayons on paper — bright shades look a lot different on light brown construction paper than they do on flawlessly white sheets of printer paper. White inks often offer the same frustration — remember how hard it was to get those very light crayon shades to look vibrant? In the tattoo process, any color (ink or skin) will most often overtake the white ink completely. Some tattooists won’t even use it, except perhaps as what will be a fairly temporary highlight in the artwork.
Just like in your design search, your imagination can really let loose with amazing pigments and vivid effects. Unfortunately, there are some pigments that just don’t exist and very bright hues may need to be handcrafted by your tattooist. And, again, all colors will ultimately dull on your skin as they heal and age. New inks — like black light responsive, glow-in-the-dark and easily removable pigments — have more recently hit the market and others are sure to follow. But keep in mind that these newly released products aren’t time-tested like the more standard ink varieties and some reputable tattooists won’t use them.
And, Finally, is Your Tattoo-friendly Design Tattooist-Appropriate?
A tattoo-friendly design will make the tattoo process easier for any tattooist, no matter what their skill level. But the more intricate and detailed the artwork, the more complicated it is to translate that design to skin — and the more important tattoo-friendly artwork and the corresponding stencils become. Some tattooists are very familiar with their skill level and what kind of challenges they’re comfortable taking on. If they judge a design as “impossible to tattoo,” it could be their professional opinion that something isn’t tattoo-friendly — or it could simply be impossible for them to tattoo. Depending on its complexity, your tattoo-friendly design could be appropriate for one tattooist and a tattoo-nightmare for another.
You can make sure that your tattoo-friendly designs are tattooist-appropriate by seeking out someone who is reputable and whose personal style reflects your tattoo vision. Most tattooists should also have a photo album of completed work that you can review and determine if they have experience similar to your already tattoo-friendly design choice. Once you do pick your tattooist, they’ll be pleased that you took the time to prepare tattoo-friendly design references and that you found them as someone truly qualified to apply your tattoo.
This kind of preparation might also help keep your tattoo budget under control. When pricing your work, a tattooist will generally estimate their time required to complete the piece — sometimes not only for the actual tattooing, but for the design preparation process, as well. Being prepared with a tattoo-friendly design reference and stencil, and choosing a tattooist who is qualified to apply it, will keep your tattoo experience more enjoyable . . . and might also save you some money.