Tattoos Site and Tattoo Pictures Gallery. Tattoos are popular around the world as a type of decorative body art or modification, made by inserting pigment into the skin and also known as dermal pigmentation.
Tattoos are popular around the world
as a type of decorative body art or modification, made by inserting pigment
into the skin and also known as dermal pigmentation. As well as the modern practice
of using tattoos as body art, tattooing has been practiced among tribal groups
in regions including Borneo, the Phillipines, Africa, North and South America,
Europe, Japan, Cambodia, China, New Zealand and the Polynesian peoples. The
word tattoo is thought to derive from the Samoan word tatua meaning to mark
or stike twice, referring to a traditional method of applying marks to the skin.
In the modern day, fans of tattoos often refer to them as tats, art, ink or
work, and tattooist as tattoo artists. Mainstream galleries even hold exhibitions
of art by tattoo artists.
Although in the past tattoos have
carried various meanings such as the mark of rank, religion, love and so on,
in the modern day tattoos are primarily used for cosmetic and decorative reasons,
although these may have religious designs or denote membership of a subculture
grouping or criminal gang. In additional to body art tattooing, the tattoo process
has been used as a form of permanent cosmetic makeup to enhance eye or lip lines,
or to hide skin markings or discolorations. The growth in tattoo demand and
culture in recent years has given rise to the popularity of new tattoo artists,
who use tattooing as a means of expressing fine art. Improvements in equipment
and pigments have also led to higher quality body art and tattooing. Recently,
television shows such as Inked, LA Ink and Miami Ink have generated renewed
interest in the art of tattooing.
The modern process of tattooing involves
placing pigment into the skin dermis, which is a layer of tissue underlying
the epidermis. Although the process results in a stable marking of the skin
over the longer term the pigmen may move deeper into the dermis which results
in a degraded tattoo image on the surface of the skin. Tattooing uses carbon
based pigment tattoo inks which for the most part use the same pigment base
as used in cosmetics. People who attempt to tattoo their own skin often use
regular drawing inks which are not tattoo pigments and may lead to illness or
infections due to the toxins or impurities in such inks. The temporary tattoos
that are often popular among children are not actually true tattoos but are
more like body stickers which are usually applied to the skin using water and
last a few days. Another form of temporary tattoo is the henna or Mehndi variety,
which can take up to two weeks to fade.
Other forms of body art include piercings,
earrings, nose rings, prince alberts, body paint, face painting, studs, nose
pins and rings, ear weight, lip plates, scarring and branding. Human branding
as a form of body modification is performed using a hot or cold iron and is
similar to the process used for livestock branding, with the resulting scar
leaving a permanent mark on the skin.
An obsessive Star Wars fan has brought 'a galaxy far
far away' closer to home - by getting the cast of the legendary films tattooed
all over his body. Dedicated Luke Kaye - Britain's number one amateur Jedi Knight
- has covered his back, arms and legs with iconic figures from all six films.
Since getting his first tattoo of Jedi Master Yoda five years ago, Luke has
added another 13 images of iconic characters to his collection. Luke, 42, has
endured more than 100 painful hours in tattoo artists' chairs in hometown Swindon,
Wilts. On his back alone, Luke has: Darth Maul, Luke Skywalker (whose home world
is Tattoine), Darth Vader, Yoda, a Storm Trooper, a Tusken Raider, C3PO, R2-D2,
a Gamorrean Guard, and Admiral Ackbar. Ironically, the one character he does
not have on his back is Chewbacca. Budding Jedi Luke said: 'I got my first tattoo
because, as a collector, I just wanted to add to my memorabilia with something
very unique. 'It just sort of spiralled onwards from there - I kept seeing characters
in the films and thinking, "That would make a great tattoo".
