Tattoo Flash: The Art Behind Tattoo Design

Tuesday 24th of March 2009 11:02:26 AM [Add To This Article]

Tattoo artists work on a unique canvas, and their art “lives” in a way that most types of art cannot. In fact, many tattoo artists would rather work on skin than on any other type of medium because they feel that their art is special in a truly unique way that cannot be replicated no matter how many times the tattoo design is repeated on various people. However, in order to disperse their art and help potential clients select tattoo designs, tattoo artists do commit their designs to paper. Also, these paper designs, called tattoo flash, can make up part of a tattoo artist’s portfolio and are easy to transport and distribute.

Tattoo flash is, in effect, a tattoo design. A piece of flash is a single design, and the flash is created with as much care and attention to detail as the tattoo itself would be. Flash can be highly realistic, extremely alternative or drawn in a cartoon or surrealistic style. However, anything that is considered flash must also be transferable to the primary tattoo medium: skin. As a result, when you view a tattoo artist’s flash, you are looking at tattoo designs that that artist feels can be recreated on skin. The ability that many tattoo artists have to create depth, emotion and intricate tattoo designs often astounds people who think that tattoo flash and the tattoo itself may not be related. However, when you select a piece of flash to be used for your tattoo, that image will be the image that will be reproduced on your skin.

Tattoo flash has been highly coveted and collected as artwork for decades. Even people who do not have tattoos can appreciate the delicate attention to detail that goes into creating tattoo flash. In fact, some types of tattoo flash from certain eras and in certain styles can be worth a great deal of money, particularly if it is the original tattoo flash artwork or if it has been signed by the artist. When you are evaluating tattoo flash to collect as art, you should always find out if the tattoo flash is the original art or a reproduction, and also if the tattoo flash images are actually the property of the person whose portfolio the flash is in. Because so many tattoo artists reproduce and put their own spin on images when they tattoo or create tattoo designs for customers and clients, an image may be in a portfolio, but actually the creative or intellectual property of another tattoo artist. This is generally not done out of malice, but out of carelessness or even a total lack of knowledge about copyright law. Particularly when it comes to intellectual and creative property rights, the arena of tattooing and tattoo designs is very gray because no tattoo is exactly identical every time just because skin tone and other personal differences as well as artistic inclinations affect the final product.

Tattoo flash can and should be copyrighted when you have a unique design. Some tattoo artists even attempt to copyright their personal style, or their set of unique tattoo design characters. Once the tattoo designs and the tattoo flash have been copyrighted, tattoo artists can mass produce and sell their tattoo flash to tattoo studios anywhere in the world. Then, these studios can post the flash on their walls or display it in their studio profiles as part of their artists’ repertoire of image abilities. However, just because you see tattoo flash on the wall does not mean that any artist in the studio actually created that flash. As a result, particularly if you want an elaborate and difficult tattoo design, you need to work closely and directly with your personal tattoo artist to make sure that you both are comfortable with the tattoo design and the tattooing techniques involved in that tattoo.

One thing that many people find confusing about tattoo flash is that they believe that tattoo flash and tattoo stencils are the same thing. A tattoo stencil can be created from tattoo flash, but the stencil will simply contain the lines and details of the tattoo. A good stencil will also come with a color reference to help your tattoo artist get the same colors and shadings on the tattoo as is in the flash, but you will not actually use the flash as your stencil. However, you can get a piece of tattoo flash as a temporary tattoo to allow you to test out how you feel about the tattoo before you actually get it permanently inked.

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