Different styles of tattoo

When one decides to get a tattoo, it is usually because one feels the desire to imprint a particular subject on one's skin, which in almost all cases conveys a message, or a thought to which we are particularly attached. Of course, today there is also a real tattoo fashion, and in particular the very young do it just to follow the trends. But what is a tattoo? Where does this practice originate? And how many types of tattoos exist?

Speaking of tattoo styles, we cannot avoid mentioning that its origins really do go back into the mists of time.

Although it may appear to many as a modern and absolutely innovative art form (a statement that is not so wrong if we want to analyse the techniques and styles), the practice actually dates back to ancient civilisations.

Styles Of Tattoos: The Origin

Used in many cultures and with different meanings, it can be said that tattoos have always been present in human life.

The history of tattoos starts with the oldest evidence of their use. It was in 1991, when scientists found the frozen body of a man who lived over 5300 years ago in the Alps on the border between Austria and Italy.

He is called Similaun Man and shows clear incisions that can be traced back to a form of tattooing for therapeutic purposes, for example to soothe the pain of certain wounds.

There is also evidence of the existence of this practice and its development in ancient Egypt through the discovery of funerary paintings showing women, probably dancers, with tattooed bodies.

The same tattoos have been found on some female mummies dating back to 2000 BC.

In ancient Rome, the practice of tattooing the body was banned by Emperor Constantine, after his conversion to Christianity. This was because it was considered impure and sinful. But despite this, believers were in the habit of imprinting religious symbols such as the cross on their skin, precisely to show and emphasise their faith.

Tattoos were also used to brand slaves with the letters of their masters and to ghettoise criminals and convicts.

Later Roman soldiers, during battles against the British (who used tattoos as a mark of their honour in war), revived the practice of tattooing their bodies as a sign of strength and virtue.

Forbidden Tattoos

In 787 A.D. Pope Hadrian banned the use of tattoos.

But still during the crusades tattoos were often seen on the bodies of crusaders. The Jerusalem cross - in case of death in battle - allowed the recognition of the 'soldier of God'.

After the crusades, the practice of tattooing disappeared from Europe, although it continued to proliferate undisturbed in the rest of the world.

When, in the early 1700s, European sailors landed on the islands of the South and Central Pacific, they discovered indigenous peoples for whom tattoos had a strong symbolic value.

It marked the onset of adulthood in women, emphasised strength and honour in men and, depending on the design, represented a different state of mind.

Tattoo in the Far East

In Japan, the practice of tattooing has also always been deeply rooted. Both with a purely aesthetic purpose and with supernatural values, as well as being widely used by criminal gangs as a sign of belonging.

This custom developed in ancient Japan also due to impositions that forbade members of the lowest social rank from wearing the coloured kimono.

These, then, in order to rebel against what was a racist prohibition, began to tattoo their bodies with huge, colourful designs.

It was in 1798 that James Cook, observing the customs of the Tahitian population, first transcribed the word Tattow (later tattoo), from the onomatopoeic "tau-tau", which recalled the soil of the needle tapping on wood before piercing the skin.

Another significant date in the history of tattooing is 1891, the year in which American inventor Samuel O'Reilly patented the first electric tattoo machine.

Thereafter, and until the 1970s, tattoos were seen as a mark on ethnic minorities, prisoners and gangsters, closely related to people with dubious morals.

But between the 1970s and the 1980s, movements such as bikers, punks and hippies adopted tattooing as a means of rebellion against the preconceptions and closed-mindedness of society.

From here on, the practice of tattooing flourished again all over the world, as an artistic, decorative and appreciated form, finally freed from prejudice and discrimination.

In this period the first professional tattooists also began to appear in Italy, for example Gian Maurizio Fercioni who opened his Queequeq Tattoo in Milan, in Brera, in 1970.

Types Of Tattoos

Nowadays, three types of tattoos can be distinguished:

Henna tattoo

A non-permanent tattoo made with special substances with a limited duration.

Sun tattoo

consists of the application of a photo impermeable substance on the skin, which once removed, after tanning, will leave a lighter and therefore visible design.

Needle tattoo

this is the real tattoo, obtained by inserting coloured pigments into the dermis layer with the use of special needles.

Tattoo Styles

There are several different tattoo styles that tattooists draw inspiration from to create their work. And they usually stick to one style rather than another and on the basis of this offer a targeted service.

Let us see which styles are the most common and popular today.

Old School

is inspired by designs from European and American translations (swallows, daggers, roses, pin un and maritime symbolism such as the sailing ship or anchor), with the use of sharp lines, the heavy use of black and flat colours (no shading).

New School

refers back to the 'old school' but exasperating its characteristics, e.g. with the use of very bright colours.

tribal

takes its cue from indigenous traditions (abstract design, only black).

realistic

reproduces shapes and colours from reality, with extensive use of shading and planes of depth.

Japanese

unique, generally very large designs inspired by the decorations on kimonos.

lettering

in which letters or words replace or complement the design.

biomechanical or 3D

genre that became successful in the late 1990s, designs depicting creatures with humanoid features.