Tribal Tattoos Tribal tattoos might be the most popular tattoo designs form of tattoos in the world right now. Originally referred to as any tattoo style done outside of the Western World, it has now come to be known as a style indicative of the tattoos created for thousands of years in the Pacific Islands and Africa.
Tribal tattoos are instantly recognizable with their dramatic use of aggressive dark lines in jagged symmetrical shapes spread throughout the skin. Tribal tats are most often done in simple black and skin tones but they can also be infused with color to brighten the overall look. Whereas other tattoo styles attempt to represent a specific object, tribal tattoos seem far more concerned with the ‘feel’ rather than what it specifically looks like.
The most popular tribal designs are Maori, Haida and Polynesian designs. There is also great interest in Native American tattoo designs. The term tribal of course covers an astonishing array of tattoo design possibilities, from the traditional tribal tattoos of indigenous and aboriginal cultures, to the latest in graphic design for the body.
Stars Tattoo Designs. One of the most popular versions start tattoo designs are nautical stars. Nautical stars have a long history in the world of tattoo designs dating all the way back to the early sailors, specifically Sailor Jerry, and his many tattoo designs.
Typically the sailors use the North Star to help them navigate the waters of the open ocean. Over time the North Star became a symbol for good luck in a safe passage back to land.
Over time this led many sailors were very superstitious lot of folk to start getting Star tattoos and more specifically nautical star tattoos to provide them with enough luck complete a safe journey. Originally they were different colors of nautical star tattoos and each color would represent have a different symbolic meaning. For example a red nautical star tattoo might mean that the bearer assailed across the Pacific Ocean successfully three times. Most of this history in early symbolism in terms of color has been lost for what survives today is the deep history and rich symbolic meaning of the nautical star tattoo. Not only is it a symbol of good lock it is also a simple for helping find one’s own path in life and it is seen as a guiding symbol.
Butterfly Tattoo Designs The butterfly tattoo is by far the most used artistic subject matter of all insects, especially in the tattoo industry. Butterflies became a fad years ago by being the theme of many pieces of jewelry, t-shirts, scarves, paintings, and tattoos. Artists have a real freedom of creativity when they are creating butterfly tattoos because the designs are not rigid. They can be changed in color, size, shape, and other details without looking distorted.
The butterfly has many different meanings. In our society, its symbol has been commonly known as freedom, change, and growth. A generally feminine tattoo design choice and a perennial favorite.
Fairy Tattoo Designs The Fairy as a tattoo design can be as simple as a take-off on the often overpowering presence of corporate America in pop-culture, think Tinkerbell and Disney creatures, or it goes back to a rich history of story, myth and folklore. Fairies in literature are often the personification of human wishes and desire in the form of little people with magical powers. As a tattoo design they can be symbols of youthful innocence and a desire to retain a child-like imagination, wonder and awe.
The very word fairy, derived from the Latin fata, or fate underlies the use of fairies in literature and myth to explain the workings of destiny, with it’s often unpredictable nature of gifts and disappointments. The use of supernatural beings, who often meddle in human affairs in fairy tales, has created a genre of story-telling that is rich in symbolism and that lays bare the psychological and social challenges as we pass through the stages of childhood to adulthood. The presence of magic makes fairies a favorite of children and as a tattoo design they are a potent symbol of our youth.
Dragon tattoo designs The dragon is definitely hands down one of the most beautiful and powerful of all the mythic beasts. The sheer beauty and power of these mythical beasts alone warrant there attention as tattoo designs. Then being combined with a long and rich history of tattooing as an art form such as in the Japanese culture and you have a winning combination.
Typically dragon tattoo are not seen as the cunning and evil creature that they are represented as in Western culture. Instead in most Asian cultures Dragons do not breathe fire typically and are seen as more benevolent creatures. They are seen as very powerful and are definitely a symbol of strength and power. However, they also represent a perfect balance of yin and yang forces and are therefore believed to represent a reconciliation of balancing of power. They therefore more typically represent a combination of power with wisdom.
Celtic Tattoo Designs Celtic tattoo designs are primarily a genre of complex interwoven lines representing knots, mazes, spirals and other figures. Celtic animal figures are zoomorphic or stylized renderings of animals that were used for carvings, in jewelry and wood, stonework and manuscript illustrations. Many images used by tattoo artists today are derived from the famous Irish Book of Kells.
The famous Book of Kells is an ornately illustrated manuscript, produced by Irish Monks around AD 800. It is one of the most lavishly illuminated manuscripts to survive from that period. The name Book of Kells is derived from the Abbey of Kells, located in Kells, County Meath in Ireland, where it was kept for much of the medieval period.
There are strong Norse design influences in Celtic knot work, and there is some debate as to the exact origin. Clearly there were exchanges between cultures through both trade and conquest. The complexity of Celtic design is thought to mimic or echo the complexity of nature, the use of Celtic knots in spirals and mazes, the intricate interweaving showing no beginning and no end, reflective of the cycles of the seasons and of life.
