bold tattoos

– Blackwork tattoos are tattoos made exclusively with black ink.
– Tribal tattoos make up a large portion of the Blackwork style.
– Other aesthetics such as Dark Art, illustrative and graphic art, etching or engraving style, lettering, and calligraphic scripts are considered within the Blackwork style.
– Blackwork tattoos have thick outlines and bold, solid, black areas with intentional negative space or ‘skin-breaks’.
– The origin of Blackwork tattoos is rooted in ancient tribal tattooing, specifically Polynesian tattoos.
– Polynesian tattoos often consist of abstract patterns made of shapes and swirls in large swaths of black ink.
– Polynesian tattoos were based on the person’s personality and used symbology and tribal iconography to illustrate their life story or legends.
– Polynesian tattoos were protective and sacred in nature.
– Blackwork tattooing is also inspired by Spanish Blackwork, which is fine embroidery on fabric using black silk threads.
– Blackwork tattooing draws inspiration from historical artistic techniques such as Henna, which dates back to the Bronze Age.
– Blackwork tattoo artists also incorporate esoteric and sacred geometric styles influenced by esoterica, alchemy, and sacred texts.
– Blackwork tattoos consist of lines, shapes, and dots and may be informed by Buddhist, Hindu, and sigil symbology.
– Blackwork tattoos are popular due to their adaptability to any design or concept, the clarity of design, the way black ink stands out on all skin colors, and their ability to age well.
– Tribal: Tribal tattoos
– Geometric: Geometric style tattoos
– Ornamental: Ornamental designs
– Blackout: Blackout tattoos
– Dark Art: Dark art style tattoos