African tribal tattoo art is among the most unique forms of indigenous tattoo art. While most types of tattooing techniques and designs ultimately originated with the principles of opening the skin and rubbing in some sort of pigment that would remain under the skin after the wound had healed, African tribal tattoo art is actually a texturing process rather than simply a dying or pigmentation process. This makes it not only unique due to...

Well, today is the day. You finally decided to go ahead and get that tattoo. You spent a lot of time looking through page after page of flash, and then you spent even more time trying out and testing a variety of tattoo designs until you finally found the perfect tattoo for you. Maybe it is a tribal armband tattoo, a swallow tattoo, or, the most popular tattoo design of all, a butterfly tattoo. Whatever the design, at this point in the game you know just what you want it to...

The process of tattooing is fairly simple: a needle or set of needles is used to force ink under the skin when the needles puncture the skin. The ink that remains under the skin after the perforations heal creates the tattoo design, which is now a permanent part of your body. Sound painful? For some people it is. For most, though, the tattooing process is mildly irritating once they become accustomed, kind of like someone rubbing or pinching your skin hard, but...

Tattoos can fade, blur and change for a variety of reasons. Over time, any tattoo will succumb, to some extent to the same factors that wear on your body itself. The sun can fade tattoos and make them appear blurry both because the sun can fade the ink and it can also wrinkle and weather skin, causing the media of the tattoo itself to change. You can certainly minimize the changes that your tattoo undergoes over the course of its lifetime by using sunscreen to protect it from sun fading, getting the tattoo in a place on your body that is not traditionally susceptible to stretching and using the newest...

There is a lot of literature out there about how to get tattooed safely. There are a lot of factors that can be potentially health- and life-threatening when it comes to tattoo safety, so you should always make sure that you are being responsible and wise when it comes to getting a tattoo. Never rush into the process, and always investigate the tattoo studio where you are getting tattooed thoroughly before you actually sit down and submit to the needle...

Long before the pharaohs and the pyramids, historical and scientific evidence indicates that prehistoric man was tattooing himself for both aesthetic and spiritual reasons. In fact, some ancient remains seem to indicate that the art and practice of tattooing may have originated as early as 5000 B.C., though of course these dates are difficult to verify. It is only natural, then, that one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world would have had an interest and a major historical role in the...

If elaborate and ornate crosses are not your thing, then when it comes to your cross tattoo design you may prefer to go with something that is a little more military in style. While of course there are thousands of cross tattoo designs that imitate and replicate extremely flowery, intricate crosses in churches and chapels around the world, it can be a little harder to find a solid, no-nonsense cross design that really represents a solid, firm feeling about your...

In ancient Japan, an armband tattoo was not a good thing. In fact, any potentially visible tattoo often meant that you were ostracized from society due to committing a terrible (or not so terrible, depending on the judge or emperor in question) crime. Interestingly, the tattoos which once meant a fate that some considered worse than death one merciful emperor saved a mans life when he was sentenced to death, but commanded him to be tattooed...

Naturally, people with nationalities other than American citizens also enjoy sporting their native lands flag, and many other nations are just as patriotic as Americans when it comes to pride in their country and their heritage. Heritage tattoos also often incorporate flags of various nationalities, particularly when the owner of the tattoos has several different types of heritage. Particularly popular are Mexican flag tattoos, Irish flag tattoos, a variety of African flag tattoos and, in a category all their own...

In the end, the place where you get your tattoo will have as big of an impact on your life as the tattoo itself. If getting the tattoo is a positive experience, then you will always equate that tattoo with positive feelings and enjoy reliving the experience. If, on the other hand, you feel uncomfortable during your tattooing session, you may look back on the tattoo even if the design is perfect with a lingering distaste that can mar your enjoyment of your tattoo permanently...