How to Create Your Own Tattoo Design
Tattoos are artsy additions to your life that you want to keep and carry with you forever. It is definitely possible to design your tattoo so that it reflects your true style and character, no matter whether you opt for a personalized design of a shape, object, figure, or animal you love. Keep in mind that designing a tattoo requires a lot of research, careful planning, and drawing to get it just right.
5-Minute Crafts has compiled significant ways to show you how to design your next tattoo.
1. Find inspiration.
When you are thinking about your first tattoo inspirations, think about its design, style, shape, size, and color — whether you want it in white, black, glow-in-the-dark, or grayscale.
- Adding color may add some vibrancy to your tattoo, with a few touch-ups. You can look through magazines, or go online, check out social media: Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, etc.
- Don’t hesitate to think about your surroundings, your own photos, and even artist portfolios.
- Some ideas include florals, animals, dates, favorite characters, zodiac signs, and trends.
2. Decide on the location.
Deciding where on your body you want your tattoo, whether you want it to be hidden or revealed to the world, is significant. Keep in mind that the lower back, shoulders, stomach, and neck are semi-private areas while the face, arms, fingers, and legs are highly visible areas.
If you are having a hard time deciding, you can consider breaking your body into smaller sections to decide.
- For arms: consider your hand, armpits, parts above your shoulders, the front/back of your forearms, etc.
- For legs: thighs, calves, shin area, feet, etc.
- For torsos: right/left chest, abdominals, right/left ribs, etc.
- For backs: rear shoulder, trapezium, upper/lower spine, etc.
3. Sketch your own.
You can sketch your tattoo if you have artistic skills, and when you are certain about the shape, color, and design. For instance, you can use a drawing app on your tablet to sketch your dream design or favorite shape, and then find a tattoo artist to transfer it to your skin.
You don’t need to hurry to get it done. You can pin the design on your wall, walk by it for a few days to get a good grasp on how you feel by seeing it all the time. Keep in mind that the area you choose could be painful and you may want to adjust or relocate the design. Therefore, you can also consider getting a temporary tattoo stencil to figure out how it feels.
4. Find a tattoo artist.
If you don’t have artistic ability, you can find a tattoo artist (tattooist) or a freelance designer. When the tattoo artist comes up with an idea, it is always up to you to accept, decline, or make changes to the tattoo. Just make sure to find a good tattoo artist — do your research carefully. Tattoo artists can draw on a ready-made template.
If you want to get to know a tattoo artist better, take a look at his/her work, designs, a portfolio, including past tattoos, and reviews they received on their website, etc. Make sure the tattoo shop and the tattoo artists are both licensed. When you think all the conditions are met, you can then trust the tattoo artist to design your tattoo.
5. Download a phone app.
There are so many digital life-savers. You can explore the tattoo design apps on your tablet, smartphone, or your PC. You can also design your own tattoo via iPhone or Android tattoo design apps where you have the chance to locate it on your desired body part and check to see how it looks. Moreover, a PC with paint/illustration tools can work well too.
Make sure you print it out and that the prints are in both black/white and color to see how it looks. You can also use custom tattoo design websites where you can give a general description of your ideal design and wait others to design it for you.