Guides
Original editorial content, made for people who want to understand before they buy.
Reading a style: six elements for looking at a tattoo
Style labels help find one's way around, but they say little on their own: two tattoos called the same thing can be very different, and a work can sit between two styles. This guide proposes a method for looking at a tattoo by observing six concrete elements: line, colour, contrast, composition, depth and subject. With these elements the families of styles can be recognised, what is seen can be described, and one can understand from which traditions and influences they come. The styles mentioned have a glossary entry; here the interest is in how to look at them.
From reference to project: studying references and assessing the body area
Before a tattoo there are two decisions that weigh more than many technical choices: what the design comes from and where it goes on the body. This guide, written for those who tattoo and those who get tattooed, proposes a way of studying references, distinguishing inspiration from copying, and a list of factors to consider when assessing a body area: shape, movement, exposure, ageing, session length. There is no absolutely best area: it depends on the design, the person and the artist, and the guide serves to ask the right questions before discussing it.
Skin and tattooing: before, during and after
A tattoo is a controlled wound and how it turns out depends in part on how the skin is prepared, protected and cared for. This guide gathers in an orderly way the most common points on what to consider before the session, what to expect during it and how the skin is cared for afterwards. It is written for those who tattoo, who can use it as an outline for their own instructions, and for those who get tattooed, who can print it and take it along. It does not replace the studio's instructions or a doctor's opinion: practices vary from studio to studio and from country to country.