Recently in Tattoo Designs Category

A few suggestions to get the tattoo design your looking for at a great price.


1.)    Choosing Flash vs. Going Custom
Many tattoo shops offer an excellent selection of "Tattoo Flash".  These are pre-drawn tattoo designs that you can choose from.  This saves the tattoo artist a great deal of time thus saving you some cash.  There are also some great online resources that offer thousands of tattoo designs.  Check out www.FreshTattooDesigns.com

2.)    Go with Black Ink vs. Multiple Colors
Often tattoo artists charge more for color work.  If you choose a design that utilizes only black (or even a minimal amount of color), you're bound to save a few bucks.  There are plenty of creative ways to utilize black and graywash inks to create amazing tattoo designs.

3.)    Starting Small vs. A Large Tattoo Design
If your looking for a large design, you better be prepared to pay up!  A large tattoo takes much more of the tattoo artist's time, including drawing, layout, prep and actual time tattooing.  Not to mention tattoo supplies, including ink, needles, etc.  Smaller tattoos are easier to place, take less time to draw, and utilize less supplies.  Going smaller vs. choosing a full sleeve or back-piece will definitely save you some cash.

4.)    Become a Friend of The Tattoo Artist
If you're not in a hurry, you might want to get to know your tattoo artist of choice on a friendly level.  You might be surprised just how friendly some of these great artists really are.  We've found our fair share of egotistical artists out there and we recommend moving on to the next artist if you find this to be the case.  You definitely want to feel comfortable with your tattoo artist and being friendly (as in most of life's situations) should work in your favor.

5.)    Hook Up Your Artist
This is often overlooked but we've found this almost always works.  After all, everyone likes to be "hooked up".  It doesn't have to be anything super extraordinary either.  Do you have a connection that could benefit the artist?  Concert tickets, a free beer at the pub you work at, a coupon for a discount on tattoo supplies that the artist uses on a daily basis?  Again, this reverts back to being friendly with your tattoo artist and doing what you can to help them out with what they are interested in.  Another "hook up" suggestion is to tip your artist.  The artist will remember your courteous gesture and probably give you a bit of a break on your next design.

In conclusion, we must emphasize... you get what you pay for!  This is so true in the world of tattoos.  If you want a great end result, you need to find a qualified tattoo artist to perform the work.  These people are talented and need to be paid for their talents.  Don't go into your local shop trying to cut down the pricing right off the bat.  This will get you removed from most shops in a hurry.  Respect the artists, their environment, and what they have to offer you.  Follow the suggestions above and most of the time, you'll save a few bucks on your next tattoo.

Clap your eyes in the tattoo pictured below. Can you recall something? Well, you're right, these are binary digits! 'There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary numbers, and those who don't.' For all guys who fail to remember, binary numeral system or base-2 number system used by all modern computers represent numeric values using two symbols, usually 0 and 1. Don't take me wrong for trying to explain you the whole of binary system. I'll stop here with a note that the geeky binary tat adorned by this nerd is simply neat! Not to forget binary encoding says 'never quit'-two simple words to live by...


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Another superbly detailed Gil Elvgren peice from Cecil Porter
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I have been looking at designing my own tattoo and I would like one that has some meaning but is abstract. I think I want something that means something that is relevant to me that is neither a picture nor in writing.

I started out looking at Japanese and Chinese sayings and symbols. I like the Yin and Yang symbol best but it is really common - so many people have one and some of the designs I saw were fabulous ... but not quite unique enough for what I was seeking. I then had a look at different types of symbols from science and from history. I looked at hieroglyphs and Greek symbols but nothing quite hit the spot.
One day, as I was surfing the web, I came across something familiar. It was familiar because I had a framed piece of cotton fabric I thought was batik on my wall with the same markings. As I read further, I found out that these markings were Adinkra symbols of the Akan culture in West Africa.
The Adinkra symbols represent sayings and record historical events. The printed fabric is used for funerals as 'adinkra' means 'goodbye'. This method of fabric 'language' is one of several traditional cloths produced by the Asante in the region - another being the royal Kente.
Adinkra symbols are used on anything and everything, imbuing clothes, vehicles, commercial products, pottery and even buildings with added significance. As I read more about the symbology and the meanings behind the symbols, I realised that the subtlety and secretive communication really appealed to me and I knew I had found the tattoo language I had been seeking. Now to find the right symbol for me...
Each Adinkra symbol has a unique name and meaning derived either from a proverb, a historical event, human attitude, animal behavior, plant life, forms and shapes of inanimate and man-made objects. The meanings of the motifs cover just about every aspect of life and living.
The most popular motif is called 'Gye Naame' which literally translates to 'except God'. To the Akan, it means "I fear no one, except God" and exemplifies the belief in one all powerful, all seeing and all knowing God. The symbol is beautiful in its simplicity, something true of most of the Adinkra symbols. The Gye Nyaame Adinkra symbol is the one I chose in the end, I will have it inked just over my left shoulder blade because it reminds me of the old blessing: 'May God be on your shoulder'.

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Zac Efron wears an Ed Hardy T-shirt in "17 Again" and I saw several guys in bands at SXSW also wearing the $65 shirts emblazoned with the big Ed Hardy signature over some vintage tattoo design. Even Madonna and Elizabeth Taylor have been photographed in Hardywear.

It's ironic that Hardy's art (and designer Christian Audigier's marketing savvy) has become such a hit in the clothing trade. First off, Hardy has long been an "art first" hard-liner who scoffed at the creeping commercialism of tattooing. Then there was the day, 25 years ago, Hardy sent a couple T-shirt designs to Mr. Lucky T-Shirts, where I worked, at 2712B Guadalupe St. We sent 'em right back, with a shake of the head, Hardy was always a bit too cool for the room. I only remember one of the designs. It was a ferocious shark/German shepherd mix snarling under the words "Jesus Eater." Now who would wear that?

I've known Don Ed Hardy, who's generally regarded as the greatest living tattoo artist, since I was 19 years old, but that's not to say we're good friends. I was tight with people in the tattoo world that Hardy respected and so I was just the kid that was always around.

But being friends with Kate Hellenbrand, my first editor, and her then-boyfriend Michael Malone, meant that I heard a lot about Hardy through the years. He was the guy who took his lead from Sailor Jerry and popularized Japanese-styled backpieces and sleeves in the U.S.

Before Sailor Jerry died in 1973 he instructed his family to sell his shop at 1033 Smith St. in Honolulu to one of only three people: Ed Hardy, Zeke Owens or Michael Malone. Jerry couldn't stand the idea of some hack working in his tiny shop, and those three were the rising stars of the trade.

Hardy ended up going to Japan to study under the masters such as Horiyoshi. Owens kept his shop in San Diego. And Malone bought Sailor Jerry's business, which came with hundreds of sheets of Jerry's original flash (tattoo designs) that now sell for about $3,000 each.

Hardy and Malone, who passed away last year, were great friends and mutual admirers, but they'd have fallings out every few years, which is not rare in the tattoo business. Hardy was more naturally gifted, a true artiste, while Malone worked street level and told better stories. The two had their own language, built around countless hours waiting in "the scab hut" for military payday. If one called the other when business was nonexistent and asked what was up, the answer would be "just talking to the panthers," in reference to the black designs on the walls. A customer who passed out during a tattoo was a "mighty hawk." This comes from the time Malone tattooed a rather boastful customer who wanted "'The Mighty Hawk" on his arm. About halfway through the M, the guy got clammy and took a flop. Malone stood over him and said "'Mighty Hawk, get up Mighty Hawk. Are you OK Mighty Hawk?" Old-line tattooists have hundreds of stories like that.

Although Hardy was the first tattooist to charge $100 an hour for his work, he was always more into furthering the art than banking big bucks. Without any mathematical chance of making money, Hardy and his partners rented the entire Queen Mary 2, anchored in Long Beach, Calif., for the Tattoo Expo '82. All the greatest tattoo artists in the world were there, many meeting for the first time.

Hardy and his wife, Fran, also happily broke even in the '80s, publishing Tattootimes, an absolutely gorgeous magazine that featured some of the best work being done at the time. Thanks to Hardy's efforts, tattooing started to be thought of as a higher art. But the old rules still applied.

It used to be the only way to become a tattoo artist was to apprentice for a working tattooist, who would pass on the tricks of the trade in exchange for having a student/flunky for about a year.

Like all the other established tattoo artists of the time, Hardy hated any shortcuts from that path. He was disturbed by the easier access to tattooing supplies and guidance.

Usually you strive to be in on the ground floor of a business that explodes in popularity, as tattoos have in the past decade. But many of the old guys, who considered tattooing a secret society, were like the Mafia veterans who refused to get into the heroin business back in the '50s. There was a code of honor among the pirates.

Ed Hardy has retired from tattooing, one of the few art forms you can't do alone (unless you tattoo yourself, which is not recommended), though he still owns his shop in San Francisco. And he gets those hefty royalty checks from Christian Aubigier, who licensed Ed Hardy's artwork in 2004 after he left the Von Dutch brand. There are currently 27 Ed Hardy clothing stores all over the world. Business Week recently estimated that Hardy's haul is "likely in the millions of dollars." Good for him.

Still, it's kind of hilarious to see Paris Hilton or Ashton Kutcher slipping past the velvet rope wearing a design Hardy tattooed on a drunken sailor 35 years ago.

But his clothing line is a fad that will eventually go the way of trucker hats.What will be next? Don't be surprised if you one day see Britney Spears stepping out of a limo wearing a T-shirt that says "Jesus Eater." Twenty-five years later, the world could be ready.

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I won't call it just another tattoo but a piece of art. Geoff Ostling, 65, dedicated 15 years and his whole body to his passion for tattoos. The retired history teacher has truly got a unique way to express his love for art. He chose to ink his body into a garden of plants, of natives and imported flowers, which you would find in a Sydney garden. This tattoo freak has donated his skin to the National Gallery in Canberra because for him, tattoos are revolutionary.

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Occasionally we featured unique tattoos here at JokerTattoo Blog. So here's a photo of two skeletons hugging - Till Death Do Us Part tattoo.

Tattoo by Tracy Rowe - Solid Rock Tattoo - Oakland City, IN

Collector: Ricky M.

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Here's a new video of a site that provides a huge selection of tattoo designs to help you choose your next tattoo design. Tattoo ideas to print and take to your favorite tattoo artist.