Tribal Tattoos

The inspiration for tribal tattoos comes from the Pacific Rim and Asia , most commonly in countries such as New Zealand , Samoa and Hawaii . These tattoos were made from Polynesian patterns and would be applied during large ceremonies that represented a significant step in a person's life.

For actual designs and colour photographs of tribal
tattoo's check out our tattoo care and design e-book

The basic design of a tribal tattoo would be black markings on the skin, a certain tribe or culture can often be defined by the distinctive patterns. For example, a Hawaiian tribal tattoo would be made up of smaller shapes.

The importance of a tattoo to these tribes should not be underestimated, in a time before electric tattoo machines; it would take a long time and be extremely painful to have a tribal tattoo applied. For those not able to stand the pain of their rights of passage, they would have to live with the shame for the rest of their lives and most likely lost respect from the rest of their tribe.

Nowadays, tribal tattoos are among the most requested tattoos. Principally because of their aesthetic values, however many people choosing these types of designs also take the time to understand the culture from which they originated. This is obviously a good thing as it prolongs a history that might otherwise be lost to us.

There are some awesome examples of quite exquisite tribal tattoo designs, many of these can be found be searching on the Internet. Most designs of this nature will be applied to the upper arm or calf, although it is becoming increasingly popular for tribal tattoos to be inked on the back area.

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