Bridal Style Henna Tattoo - Full Back Hand Henna Pattern

Here is a photo of bridal style henna tattoo. This is a full back hand henna pattern that took about half an hour to finish.

The design actually started above the wrist with the floral cuff, then moved down to the back of the hand, and finally to the fingers.

From this angle, it is easy to see the peacock built into the pattern, so the wearer gets to enjoy the lovely bird.

The viewer will notice the floral cuff first, and then the eye will be drawn down the hand to the tip of the fingers.

This pattern was created by drawing a series of shapes that were then outlined and finally filled in with traditional mehndi components to give a full hand tattoo.

The use of negative space is very important when creating free hand henna designs. A bit of space between design elements catches the eye.

In my experience, when I forget to use negative space, my tattoos seem cluttered, visually busy, or it's just plain hard to see what I drew. I hope you find this little note helpful.

For more information about drawing henna tattoo, there are wonderful live videos on this blog. Check the labels to the right of this post to find one you like. Namaste.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Brendan Constantine

One of the more satisfying aspects of this year's Tattooed Poets Project has been completing posts for poets who first contacted me in 2009 during our inaugural year of the endeavor.

In Brendan Constantine's first e-mail to me, back in February 2009, he mentioned being "extensively tattooed," a fact that, over the last thirteen months, escaped me. Brendan and I have stayed in touch, and he was finally able to send me a photo last night of one of his tattoos. I was surprised to see this amazing back piece:

Photos by Shawn Burkley

Brendan explains how this work came into existence:

"In 1994 I went to an retrospective of legendary Japanese artist, Kawanabe Kyōsai, at the National Gallery in London. Known as the ‘Demon of Painting,’ Kyōsai was among the very first artists in his country to bring western techniques to bear upon traditional themes, a move which earned him much criticism. I was transfixed by his work and came home with a huge book of his prints. Artist, Kirby White, then with Yoni Tattoo in the San Fernando Valley, shared my enthusiasm for this unique painter and said, “I would kill to work in this style!”

Unfortunately, halfway through the process, Kirby began to experience chronic back pain which ultimately kept her from finishing the piece. Nevertheless, I asked that she sign it, something few if any people allow artist’s to do. I know the work is supposed to be its own signature, but I wanted the piece to bear Kirby’s mark the same as if it had been rendered on rice paper.

Photos by Shawn Burkley

About two years later I met artist Sung Song at Pure Tattoo in Los Angeles (he has since moved on, now at Unbreakable Tattoo in Studio City) and discovered he was also devoted to the work of Kyōsai . I showed him where Kirby left off and he enthusiastically finished the job, adding his own improvisations while respecting Kirby’s work. The piece now bears both their idiographic signatures as part of the design. I’m a happy gallery!"

Photos by Shawn Burkley

Thanks to Brendan for sharing this amazing work!

Please be sure to head over to BillyBlog to read one of his poems here.

Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in numerous journals, notably Ploughshares, Ninth Letter,The Cortland Review & RUNES. His book, Letters To Guns, was released in 2009 from Red Hen Press. He is currently poet in residence at The Windward School and Loyola Marymount University Extension.

Girl Tattoo Designs: Getting The Right Design

Girl Tattoo Designs: Getting The Right Design



Girl Tattoo Designs: Getting The Right Design



Girl Tattoo Designs: Getting The Right Design



Girl Tattoo Designs: Getting The Right Design

Custom Tattoo Designs

Custom Tattoo Designs

Custom Tattoo Designs



Custom Tattoo Designs



Custom Tattoo Designs

You're seriously considering getting your own tattoo, however your preliminary searches online have presented you with a whole range of designs and options regarding what sort of tattoo to get. Should you opt for a free design or go all out with a custom design? Right now we'll focus on custom tattoo designs, explore what they are and what the benefits of going custom are. What are Custom Tattoo Designs? The name is very self-explanatory. Basically a custom tattoo design is a design which a designer creates just for you. In the truest sense, a custom tattoo design is created by a professional tattoo artist, skilled in the craft of creating tattoos. Many enthusiasts and professionals will argue that it is best to enlist a professional to create a custom design for you, because it is the best way of ensuring your design is of the highest quality. By enlisting a professional tattoo artist, you will also be able to request them to create the stencil of that design for you, so it can be applied directly to your skin. Every tattoo design requires a stencil, and this is always a much easier process if the tattoo artist also creates the design. Why a Custom Tattoo Design? A tattoo is a lifelong commitment, unless you have the courage and high pain tolerance threshold required for the laser surgery necessary for removing a permanent tattoo. Due to the fact that a tattoo is permanent, you need to make sure you absolutely love the tattoo that is about to be superimposed onto your skin. Chances are, you may already have a design in mind that you would like, however on the other hand, you may have already spent hours browsing designs and may wish to blend a number of designs into one. If this is the case, a custom tattoo design will be the best way to go. By choosing to have a custom tattoo designed, you are working with a professional tattoo artist from day one. The artist will be able to create the design just for you, and also create the stencil for that specific design. The stencil will then be used by the tattoo artist when it comes time to superimpose the design onto your skin. Even if you were to design the tattoo yourself or enlist a non-professional to draw your design, your tattoo artist would still need to create the stencil. By engaging the tattoo artist from design through to inking, you are doing everything to ensure your tattoo is of the highest quality. That's really important considering the permanence of the tattoo itself. Ideally you want to be able to display your tattoo proudly, without any embarrassment and custom design is the best way to achieve this. Choosing your Custom Tattoo Design If you already have the design you want firmly in your mind, it's simply a matter of meeting with a professional tattoo artist to create something tangible. If you don't as yet know what sort of design you want, the best thing to do is browse as many tattoo designs as possible. The internet is a great place to start and there are articles on this website that will direct you to quite a number of good tattoo design websites. As you will find, there are many tattoo design websites that will charge people a membership fee, if they wish to access and download design ideas. By all means join such websites if you haven't been able to find inspiration from other designs you may have seen. These membership sites typically have a huge range of tattoo designs to choose from, and clearly, the more designs you see, the more of an idea you will eventually have when it comes to the tattoo you want. There are also a large number of tattoo enthusiast communities online, where people will post photographs of their tattoos and this may also provide you with inspiration that will help you to choose the design for you. Finding the Inspiration for your Custom Tattoo Design By conducting simple searches for terms such as, "tattoo designs" and "tattoo design galleries" using your favorite search engines, you will find a great array of tattoo design galleries for you to check out. It will take you time to find the designs that most appeal to you, because there are just so many options out there.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Alexandra Teague

Someone recently asked me where I find all of these tattooed poets. A great question, and I owe thanks to many people, for most individuals come by way of word-of-mouth from other poets. But I also reach out on my own, often sending dozens of e-mails to writers around the country, and the world. It's like shooting an arrow into the dark, one can only hope the missive strikes a target.

I was recently poring over a copy of the anthology Poetry Daily Essentials 2007 and picking poets to e-mail. I stumbled across Alexandra Teague's "House Guest" and sent her my standard "ink-query." And sure enough, she became one of the few poets I wrote to out of the blue who replied because, not only is Ms. Teague tattooed, one of them is poetry-related. As she so aptly put it, "I sort of had to reply to you."

Without further ado, here are Alexandra's tattoos:

I was inspired to get the Japanese kanji for "poetry" after seeing a pin at the Poetry Magazine table at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference in 1999.



I'd been thinking about getting a tattoo and couldn't decide on a design, but as soon as I saw the kanji, I knew it was exactly right. I see it not only as a symbol of the art of poetry but also as a reminder to live poetically. I got the tattoo at a shop in Miami (I don't remember the name). I did a bit of research to confirm that the kanji was correct (since I don't know any Japanese), but I didn't have it really confirmed until several years later when a new friend, from Japan, said, "Do you know what your tattoo says?" And I said, "I hope so." Fortunately, according to her, it really does mean "poem" or "poetry."

She also shared this lovely tattoo:

The other tattoo is a couple of years old. It was done by Amy Justen at Sacred Rose Tattoo in Berkeley, California. I've always loved the ocean and wanted to live by the coast, so the California seagull is symbolic for me of my migration out West. Amy Justen has a background in fine art and does some really interesting, painterly work with white and grey, which I love, but which made some people think the tattoo was a decal when I first got it!

Be sure to head over to BillyBlog to read one of Alexandra's poems here.

Alexandra Teague’s first book of poetry, Mortal Geography, won the Lexi Rudnitsky Prize and has just been published (April 2010) by Persea Books. Her work has also appeared in Best New Poets 2008, Best American Poetry 2009, and The Yale Anthology of Younger American Poetry, as well as journals including The Missouri Review, The Iowa Review, and New England Review. She was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and has since lived in Arkansas, Missouri, Florida, Montana, Hawaii, and California. She currently teaches English at City College of San Francisco and lives in Oakland. For more information about upcoming readings and publications, visit www.alexandrateague.com.

Thanks to Alexandra for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Female Tattoo, Lower Back Tattoo

Favorite Arm Tattoo Above 2010

Favorite Arm Tattoo Above 2010

Favorite Arm Tattoo Above 2010

Favorite Arm Tattoo Above 2010

It's interesting and very special tattoo, this tattoo. You want to make a tattoo on your arm like the picture above this?? no problem ...... you would probably be very visible more meaningful for the people around you when wearing a tattoo like the one above.