Generation INK!

The Growing Popularity of Tattoos

All over the world the image of people with "ink" is becoming more and more common. In 2009 there was a 112% increase in the amount of tattoo shops opening in the UK alone, with Scotland and London leading the way with the most tattoo shops in the UK. Tattoos have surely become a part of our culture and of everyday life.

 A reason for this sudden growth in popularity could be said to be the fact that their are more skilled tattooists around nowadays so people are more guaranteed to get a better quality tattoo than in previous years.

Here is an example of a sleeve tattoo that was done in the 60's, and if I'm honest the quality compared to sleeve tattoos that people can get now are so much better in quality as shown in the picture below. To outline just a few faults with this tattoo is that the rose is really low quality in comparison to the detailed rose tattoos around in this decade, also the shape of the dice are warped and there isn't really an attempt at any artistry like the absence of shading in certain parts.  

Here is an example of a sleeve tattoo done in the 2010's and straight away you can tell that the quality is a lot better than the previous picture. The attention to detail is amazing with aspects of realism and fine line tattooing being showcased. I particularly like the pocket watch with the frame of skulls and think that the artists creativity is shown on aspects such as the roman numerals and how they have a 3D affect and seem to be coming out of the persons arm. I also noticed the immense attention the artist payed to tattooing the eye on the inner bicep, when I've asked tattooists in the past about what most tattooists struggle doing a few of them have said they struggled with doing eyes. looking at this piece shows us exactly how far tattoos and tattooists have come to produce pieces of art as detailed as this. 

Another point I felt was important touch upon was the price of tattoos in the U.S. alone its estimated that the annual spend on tattoos by American citizens is around $1.65 billion. Also the number of people in the U.S. and UK with one or more tattoos is on the rise for all ages, here are some statistics about people from both the U.S. and UK. 







The surge in tattoo popularity could be due to the increase in the amount of media coverage that tattoos get either because of television shows or celebrities being more willing to show their ink on and off screen. A recent example of celebrity tattoos would be Rihanna flying her tattooist out to do an 5 hour session on her right hand to adapt her New Zealand hand tattoo. The singer paid for her tattooist to come from New York to the Dominican Republic (1,500 miles away). The main difference about this tattoo though was that it was done in traditional Maori fashion using a small mallet and a variety of needle combs.    

Here is a before and after picture of Rihanna's hand tattoo 


Television shows about tattoos such as Miami Ink and Americas worst tattoos also bring attention to tattoos for example in Miami Ink they give an incite into what the lives of the tattooists are like and also showcases their work as artists for the world to see either through the tv or internet. Also shows like Americas worst tattoos shows people that they should look into getting a tattoo properly and research issues like how much they're paying and what the artists previous pieces are like. It is very clearly explains to viewers that a tattoo is for life and that you shouldn't just let anyone do it because you don't want to regret it in the future. 

Seeing that society is a lot more accepting of tattoos nowadays, they have become a part of everyday life and you are bound to walk past or know someone with one or more tattoos even if you can't immediately see them. Celebrities can be said to be one of the main reasons for the massive increase in peoples interest in inking their bodies. Due to celebrities of different notabilities and different calibers of fame being "tatted" people all over the world have been exposed to the idea of tattoos. 
Not very long ago there was the idea that the only people with a lot of tattoos were people that the average person wouldn't want to associate with for example bikers were a known stereotype for having a lot of tattoos. In present society it is more accepted for a person to have many tattoos seeing as now they are seen more as an expression of the person through their body art rather than a gang sign or a status symbol. 

An important aspect of tattoos that some people don't know about is that there are a lot of different styles of tattoos, and each style is unique because they all look different to each other and they are all designed and done differently. Here are the main tattoo styles:


Realism: Realism tattooing is a tattooing style where the artist tries to use shading a colouring techniques to make the tattoo look as 3 dimensional/real as possible. Usually realism pieces are portraits or landscapes but can also be animals, objects or anything else you can think of. 

Fineline: Fineline tattooing is similar to realism in the fact that the artist tries to get the image to look as detailed as possible. Fineline tattooing is usually associated with black and gray work. Also, although fineline tattoos are meant to be detailed they are not supposed too complicated because over time the design can start to fade in together and become blotchy. 

Tribal: Tribal tattoos are very common and are quite often asked for by people getting their first tattoo. Tribal design are all black tattoos that are either silhouettes or coloured in, the designs are based on patterns and symbols used in ancient tribes and clans. The designs usually use a lot of spikes, swirls and spines and are drawn up to fit or accentuate a certain part of the body. 

Oriental: The style of oriental tattooing is meant to be used to tell a story/stories across either parts of the body or the entire body itself. Oriental tattoos are usually very colourful and detailed and the things that are most used in oriental tattoos are koi fish, dragons and flowers. Another feature of a oriental tattoo is that there are usually swirls of water and/or smoke used as 'fill work' this is very similar to oriental paintings in that the artist focuses on symmetry and balance. Certain oriental style tattoos have deeper meaning than just a picture such as a carp is the symbol of wealth and prosperity. 

Bio-Mechanical: Bio-Mechcanical tattoos are often tattoos of pieces of machinery being either under or merged with the human skin. An example of a Bio-Mechanical tattoo would be a piece on the arm that makes it look like there are rips in the persons and there would be either gears and/or screws etc underneath. These types of tattoos were inspired by movies like Ridley Scotts 'Alien' (which is an awesome movie franchise!) 

Celtic: These tattoos are done in a silhouette style and they have bold thick lines and sharp angles. Only black ink is used for celtic tattoos similar to tribal tattoos. Sometimes Celtic tattoos incorporate mythological creatures such as griffins or dragons. Also because the tattoos themselves are quite particular and hard to do it is best to get one done by a tattooist who specializes in them. 


Traditional: Traditional tattooing refers to the style that tattoos were done in, in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. The work itself consists of bold black outlines and pitch black shading with contrasting bright colours. This style of tattooing supposedly originated on military bases during the 30' and 40's. 

Black and Gray: This style of tattooing is said to have originated in American prisons. Apparently coloured ink was hard to get so gray and black were the easiest colours to get. The tattoos have a kind of warmth and depth that you'd see in a charcoal drawing. 

People assume that tattoos came about during the early 1900's due to the Traditional styles of tattooing, but their has been proof of tattooing from over 5000 years ago! In the Ötz valley of Austria the frozen remains of "Ötzi the Iceman" (as he was called) were found and he was said to a total of 57 carbon tattoos! Which is quite a lot seeing he lived approximately 5,300 years ago. The tattoos "Ötzi" had were mostly simple dots and lines but the fact that tattoo techniques were found to be dated that far back was pretty sweet! 
Tattoos have also had an influence on important people in history before and example of this would be the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was impressed by the elaborate tattoos of the Picts. Also, James Cook who was an 18th century explorer brought back stories and drawings of the Polynesian Islanders' amazing ink. The people of the Polynesian Islands called their ink "Tatau" and they were intended to ward off evil ghosts and spirits. 
Another part of history that involved tattoos was that on their travels before their famous mutiny the crew members of The Bounty were said to have had some ink done on them. The leader of the mutiny Fletcher Christian was said to have a piece tattooed on his backside, that must've hurt. Tattoos then became a new must have for Europe's Aristocracy, one example of this is King George V who as a young prince had a large dragon tattooed on his arm on a visit to Japan in 1882. Also this may come as a shock but even Winston Churchill's mum had a tattoo! The tattoo was a small snake that was located on her wrist. 
Although tattoos seemed popular amongst the well off middle and upper classes it was the common folk that really got a passion for being inked, by the late 1800's 90% of the British Navy was tattooed. After this surge in popularity a system of certain tattoos for certain accomplishments was made, this system included a tattoo of a turtle which meant that you'd crossed the equator, a dragon which meant you served on a China station and also the stereotypical anchor which meant that you'd crossed the Atlantic Ocean. 


I also spoke to some tattooist artists about how they believe that the popularity of tattoos have evolved. 
Martin from Dragonfly Tattoo (who has been tattooing for around 20 years) said that he thinks that tattoos have become so popular are because that when he started tattooing and getting tattooed the tattooists were just "big bikers with no creavtive skill" He also explained to me that he thinks that there are two kinds of people who work in the tattoo industry and they are "tattooists" and "tattoo artists" The tattooists are just people that either copy designs or don't really put any artistic touches on their work. Whereas "tattooists" who put "their heart and soul into their work" and they also add their own unique touches to their art to reflect their love for their craft. 
Another tattoo artist I spoke to was Paddy from 10 Volt Tattoo (who has been tattooing for around a year) and his opinion on it was similar to Martins in that he said that he thought the sudden growth in popularity of tattoos was due to "more skilled tattoo artists coming onto the scene" He also added that people are wanting tattoos younger and younger and that people should wait until they are of age (18 in the UK) to get their first tattoo so that they know what they want, he said "tattoos are for life so you need to be set on what you want, because once its there its there for life" Paddy also told me that he got his first tattoo when he was 14 in someones front room and he said "it was the biggest mistake of my life" he said that he should've waited and has it done by a qualified professional and now he is going through treatment to get the tattoo lasered off.