Archive for Tribal Tattoos
Overview of Tribal Tattoos
Posted by: | CommentsTribal tattoos have been used for as long as people have needed to identify themselves and they are the “in” thing at the moment. This trend began in the nineties and has only increased as time has passed. The tribal tattoo has had many purposes in human history but they originated mainly to identify a clan or group. Some groups would use the tattoos to identify distant relatives from far away tribes or to find each other after they passed away and were wandering the heavens looking for their tribe members. The tribal tattoo was also used to depict important events that occurred in a tribe or clan, almost like keeping a recorded history of events. (Syrkiewicz, 2008) Naturally a tribal tattoo has a different use today but in the end the modern tribal tattoo is still a form of identification.
Today in many instances the person getting a tribal tattoo wants the tattoo to illustrate something about them, almost like a tattoo of self identification. They are a way for a person to make a statement about themselves for other people to see and interpret. However, the tribal tattoo today is used not to group people into the same tribe but to express personality and individuality. (Hemingson, 1999-2009)
Oftentimes gangs, clubs, and military members will use a tattoo to identify themselves to others. This type of usage for a tattoo is similar to the use of tattoos five thousand years ago when the tribal tattoo art form is believed to have originated. (Syrkiewicz, 2008) Members of different gangs or military groups can identify each other by using a specific tattoo. They often form a bond around a particular symbol almost like a brotherhood. For gang members, the tattoo is used to define their members and lets them know who is friendly or not. All cultures have used tattoos as some form of identification and the trend is back in fashion today.
A tattoo magazine titled Tattoo Times, founded in 1982 by Don Ed Hardy and Leo Zulueta, started a new fascination with the tribal tattoo. (Tebi, 2004-2008) They called their first article “New Tribalism” and it featured tribal designs from the South Pacific, tattoos that had lost favor many years before. (Tebi, 2004-2008) Tattoo artistry itself had been going through problems with negative feelings from society at the time so an article illustrating these wonderful tribal designs helped alleviate some of the negative feelings people had about these tattoos. It actually had the effect of re-popularizing the ancient art form.
The tribal designs seen most commonly today are similar to designs used by the Polynesians for thousands of years. They often have a geometric silhouette pattern that may be considered too easy to do by many tattoo artists. Since these are not considered challenging, some artists do not like to do them. (Tebi, 2004-2008)
Celtic tribal patterns are also popular today. They were distributed by sailors hundreds of years ago as they traveled from Europe. Actually, sailors can be thanked for causing the original popularity of tattoo artistry in the modern western world. The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian word, ‘ta-taw’, which was thought to be the sound a person would hear when the tattooing instruments were used. When the sailors returned to Europe with tattoos that illustrated their adventures, people were fascinated and many wanted to have their own. (Tebi, 2004-2008)
The type and location of a tribal tattoo is a limitless as the unique personality of the person who wants it. Some examples are tribal armband, Celtic tattoo, tribal wolf tattoo, tribal shoulder tattoo, tribal scorpion, butterfly dragon, dog, bird, bull, tiger and many, many more. There are also tribal sleeve tattoos, lower back tribal tattoos, and tribal star tattoos. (Hemingson, 1999-2009) As with all artistic mediums and cultural developments, the art form of tribal tattoos is continually changing. But, the art form is always going to reflect the depth and potential of the person who wants the tattoo as well as the artist’s interpretation of the tribal design.
Works Cited
Hemingson, V. (1999-2009). Tribal tattoo design. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from The Vanishing Tattoo: http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tribal_tattoos.htm
Syrkiewicz, J. (2008, October 8). History and Social Impact of Tatoos. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from Suite101.com: http://cultural-anthropology.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_history_and_social_impact_of_tattoos
Tebi, D. B. (2004-2008). TatooJoy.com. Retrieved December 7, 2009, from History of Tribal Tattoos: http://tattoojoy.com/tattoo_articles/the_meaning_of_tribal_tattoos.htm
More on Tribal Tattoos
Posted by: | CommentsWith the popularity of body tattoos these days, many people are deciding to use tribal symbols from various regions of the world for their designs. Tribal tattoos come from a number of different tribes. They can be from the Borneo tribe, Haida, Native American tribes, Celtic tribes, Maori tribes and Polynesian tribes just to name a few. The themes of the tribal tattoos can be anything from rituals of the tribe to the way they worship God, etc… Most people who decide to get tribal tattoos will select designs with a specific symbolism. Some may select a design simply for the way it looks. Most tattoos of this type are used within the tribe to identify its’ members. Some will also identify the rank of a person within the tribe. Still others are a symbol of the right of passage; boys into men, girls into women, etc… Currently, simply having a tribal tattoo gives you membership in a group of others with similar interests in expressing themselves with body art. You don’t need to be a part of a specific tribe anymore.
Most tribal tattoos are easy to do, so most tattoo artists can do them or even help you design your own from an older version. The ink used on tribal tattoos is mainly black which holds fairly well and doesn’t fade quite as easily as other colors. The tattoos are also very vivid because of the black ink. They are much easier to see because they are very pronounced with the bold black lines.
Some of the disadvantages of tribal tattoos include the fact that they are extremely difficult to remove. The same advantage that gives them the bold vivid appearance is also a disadvantage if you want to get rid of them. It is also very difficult to tattoo over them for this same reason. You may find that it is difficult to locate a tattoo artist who knows about specific tribes and their designs and customs. Most modern tribal tattoos are of a general nature rather than specifically attached to a specific tribe.
Many tribal symbols are those of strength. The lion is one sign of strength; the bear claw is yet another symbol of strength as is the flame symbol. The dragon symbol has long been a sign of strength. Other symbols that signify strength may be the scorpion, the wolf or the great white whale. There are specific designs for women also. Tribal designs for women might be the dolphin, tree of life or the motherhood design. Within this category of tattoo design, there are many that you can choose from. There is the whole Celtic collection of tribal tattoos that you can choose from also. These include the bear claw, the eagle, the peace sign, the Irish pride cross, the Celtic pentagram, the fireman’s design, and many others. Just take your time in making your design selection; you will likely have it for the rest of your life!
Overview of Kanji Tattoos
Posted by: | CommentsKanji tattoos are very popular tattoo styles today that have their basis in Japanese writing and calligraphy. The actual writing style is called Kanji and it has as long a history as does the history of Japanese tattoo artistry itself. The origin of Japanese Kanji writing begins in China. Thousands of years ago, the Japanese had no formal writing system and they adopted the system used in China at the time.(Takase, 2005) To make it their own system, they began to modify it. The system became known as Kana which resulted in a combination of two different Japanese alphabets. These two alphabets are syllabic and are called hiragana and katakana. The third “alphabet” is called Kanji and it is based on ideograms which actually represent ideas. (Jennings, 1999)
The characters of Kanji can stand alone and have their very own distinct meaning or be used in combination with other symbols to illicit other meanings. Many times the message from a Kanji symbol is not obvious and can be misconstrued by someone who is not familiar enough with the language. (japanese-name-translation.com, 2009) The symbols from Kanji are like looking at a picture, and, just like people see different things in a picture, a Kanji symbol can be interpreted in different ways. Sometimes the symbol will stand for a sound, depending on how and where it is written. (japanese-name-translation.com, 2009) So, basically, it can be very difficult to transfer something you want to say in English directly into a Kanji tattoo. For instance, you want your new Kanji tattoo to say “Big Daddy”. Everybody you know sees your tattoo and asks you what does it mean? You reply “Big Daddy” and you will get a laugh or agreement depending on how well they know you. Then, of course, you go to Japan or you meet someone from Japan and they read your tattoo and to them it says “large father”. It just will not translate the way you want it to. (japanese-name-translation.com, 2009)
This is basically the biggest problem for people that want to get a Kanji tattoo. The Kanji characters themselves are refined and exotic but there are very many ways to pronounce and interpret each unique character. There is also the fact that there are almost two thousand different Kanji characters used today which can make translations very difficult.(Mcbennet, 1999)
Some people believe that the characters have a spiritual meaning – that they can even effect your mood or bring you luck. There are characters often used to symbolize things like strength, luck, honor, etc. (Takase, 2005) Make sure that you have the right characters when deciding to have a Kanji tattoo because as we all know that they are permanent. It can be very frustrating when you end up with a Kanji tattoo that does not contain the message you wanted to convey.
It is not easy to translate Japanese symbols directly from English into Kanji. Even though many people know that the Kanji figures are hard to translate, they still continue to get the tattoo, finding out later it does not have the meaning that they intended. When deciding what tattoo to get, it might be more accurate to use Kanji symbols that have an established meaning like love or dragons or Bishidou (the way of the warrior). Trying to have your name spelled is probably not going to be as accurate as you would like and it might have more of a meaning than you bargained for. (japanese-name-translation.com, 2009)
Getting a tattoo is about expressing yourself. The creation of your Kanji tattoo should be a meeting of the minds between you and the artist who is inking your tattoo. Japanese Calligraphy needs exact translations and if you have some reservations before getting started, be sure to start with an artist who has a reputable catalog. This will require some research on your part. Ask the artist where they got their translations and find out when and where the translations were done as well as who was the translator. Look for comments or references that are available about the artist. Often, the tattoo artist might be insulted or give you a hard time for questioning them, but it is your body and your tattoo so BE SURE. When you find the artist who is willing to help you, and they have helped you understand the symbols you want, then you have probably found the right place to get your tattoo inked.
Works Cited
‘japanese-name-translation.com’, I. S. (2009). INT.COM. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from Japanese Caliigraphy: japanese-name-translation.com/site2/kanji_tattoos_article.html
Jennings, C. (1999, September). The Kanji Site. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from The Kanji Site: kanjisite.com/html/about/site.html
Mcbennet, M. (1999). Kanji Characters. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from Japan Zone: japan-zone.com/new/kanji.shtml
Takase, E. (2005). Takase.com. Retrieved november 11, 2009, from Custom Japanese Caliigraphy: takase.com/AboutUs.htm
