Blackout tattoos have been around for years but have recently gotten a lot of attention online.
As a new artist, it’s important to understand tattoo where the full body blackout tattoo comes from and how to do them well will help you give your future clients the best possible experience.
In this article, we’ll cover:
What Are Blackout Tattoos?
Blackout tattoos are exactly what they sound like: Black ink saturated over a large area of the skin. Blackout tattoos can be as simple as a big area covered in black ink, but they can also be broken up with details done in other colors, white ink over top of the black (a “white out” tattoo), or areas with no ink at all.
History of the Blackout Tattoo
Blackout tattooing has roots in Polynesian, South Asian, and Sub-Saharan African body art. Blackout tattoos were known to symbolize strength and status. In 2010, blackout tattoos regained popularity in South Asia as interest in reviving ancient art increased.
Note:
Because the blackout tattoo has such strong cultural roots, some critics believe that a white person getting one is a form of cultural appropriation. Others believe that a non-black person getting a large amount of blackout tattooing done is a form of blackface. Despite the criticism, these tattoos are still gaining steam around the world.
Blackout Tattoo Meaning
Some people get a blackout tattoo simply because they think it would be a cool and striking piece of body art. Others use blackout tattoos as a way to cover up old tattoos.
Some clients who want to cover up a tattoo go the blackout route rather than paying for laser sessions because a blackout tattoo will often be cheaper and faster. With coverups, people usually get the old tattoo completely blacked out and either leave it that way or have an artist put in details later with white ink.
Important Things to Know About Doing A Blackout Tattoo
While the basic technique of blackout tattooing is the same as any other tattoo, the process is a lot more intense and traumatic to the skin. Clients should be prepared for a blackout tattoo to be more uncomfortable and slightly more difficult to heal than a “normal” tattoo.
One important thing for clients to know before committing to a blackout tattoo is that it can be harder to detect skin cancer in areas covered with black ink.
How Badly Do Blackout Tattoos Hurt?
Blackout tattoos tend to be more painful than the average tattoo, because they require the tattoo artist to fully saturated the entire area with black ink.
Blackout tattoos can also be more time consuming because of the amount of ink that has to go into a pretty large area. These tattoos usually require multiple sessions, and the amount of sessions can depend on the client’s pain tolerance.Healing Blackout Tattoos
The healing process for blackout tattoos is similar to regular tattoos but with a slightly increased chance of allergic reaction, infection, and scarring. There might be more pain and peeling due to the amount of skin saturated with ink, but they should still only take a few weeks to heal.
Clients should expect to see more swelling due to the added trauma of a blackout tattoo. they should plan to take time to rest and ice the area where they’ve been tattooed, because it will likely be extra sore.
As with other tattoos, clients should keep their tattoo clean to prevent infection and keep the tattoo out of the sun to reduce how much it will fade.
Design Gallery: Blackout Tattoos
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Understanding tattoo trends is an important step in your journey towards a tattoo career, but it can also be pretty eye-opening to how many different kinds of tattoos most tattoo artists are expected to know how to do. Without the right knowledge, it’s impossible to level up your skills and become a professional tattoo artist.
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