Lately there has been a trend to have tattoos made from the written word. Everything from famous quotes, to sometimes embarrassingly misspelled and inaccurate scripts done in languages that the poor tattoo artist has no idea as to exactly what he is inscribing into your hide.
Understand I’m not putting this kind of expression in ink down in any way. It has been a time honored custom, in one way or another, to have one’s life slogan, or special phrase, tattooed. However, I do think one unique form of this style has been slightly overlooked a bit, and considering the art behind it, I thought I’d bring it out into the well deserved spotlight.
The genre I am speaking of is the growing trend of Graffiti Tattoos.
Why not? Graffiti art, (more often called “writing” by the artist’s themselves), seems tailor made for tattoo. Basically a word, or short phrase, is taken by the artist and turned into a work of art in it’s own right. What could be more perfect for a tattoo? Not only is the word significant for the collector, but it is a unique artwork in and of itself.
Now days there are businesses and building owners who hire professional “writers” to put their unique work on the wall of their buildings. As 28 year old artist and tattoo artist Teddy Ferrer, who works for Tuff City in New York, said, “They look at it as art. They pay these guys thousands of dollars. They fly them out to Germany, Italy, to do their walls.” Not only walls, but there is a growing popularity for Graffiti tattoos. With an online list of shops where you can find tattoo artists who specialize in the art form, and the popular website Graffiti Tattoos, where you can get help with designing your own custom piece.
The pictures of the many collectors sporting this unique art form abound there, too. Some of this work is really stunning in just how elaborate it can be. Some is a bit simplistic, although even the most basic “writing” makes the term simple an oxymoron.
All in all if you like word based tattoo, and dizzying artwork, check out what’s going on in the world of Graffiti tattooing. I’m pretty sure you’ll never look at the word graffiti the same way again.
All images ©graffititattoos.com.