The rising popularity of body art along students and professionals has led not only to changes in where people commonly choose to place their tattoos but to changes in the type of typical tattoo designs people choose. In the mid-twentieth century, neither tattoo clients nor tattoo artists were concerned with tattooing an artistic or aesthetically pleasing piece. The types of tattoos requested were either “Americana” types, ranging from eagles to anchors, or “vow tattoos, tattoos of a person’s name, typically a girlfriend’s name or “Mom.” The designs were made using thick black outlines filled in with solid blocks of color and had little detail. The tattoos were normally chosen from flash, sets of pictures drawn by artists that are reproduced and distributed to tattoo studios.

A typical client today wants a more detailed and artistic tattoo than those of the past. According to Clinton Sanders, author of Customizing the Body: The Art of the Culture of Tattooing, “Coming from a higher socioeconomic back ground than the traditional tattooee, the new client commonly has more disposable income, emphasizes the decorative/aesthetic function of the tattoo over its affiliative/self-definitional function, and shares the tattoo artist’s interest in the production of a uniquely creative and innovative custom-designed image.” In particular, custom designs of Japanese, tribal, and Chicano tattoos, all of which require detailed work, have become popular.

Japanese tattoos are large, often full-body, tattoos using bright colors. These tattoos are typically of heroic images from Japanese myths, such as samurai, dragons, and the phoenix. Tribal tattoos originated in areas such as Samon and Hawaii. Their characteristics include heavy black lines and shading of geometric designs. Chicano tattoos are fine lined, having little color, and are highly detailed. They include photo-realistic portraits of people.

Posted in Art