Tattoo Director
A tattoo is a marking made by inserting indelible ink into the layers of skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. On humans Tattoos are used as decorative body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding.
Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha (North Africa), Maori of New Zealand, Arabic people in East-Turkey and Atayal of Taiwan with facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples and among certain tribal groups in the Taiwan, Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, New Zealand and Micronesia. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world.
Oxford English Dictionary - ' Tattoo' as "In 18th c. tattaow, tattow. From the Polynesian “tatau“.
The word was introduced into English, by 19th Century sailors but the pronunciation was changed to conform to English phonology as "tattoo". These Sailors introduced both the word and reintroduced the concept of tattooing to Europe.
Enthusiasts often refer to tattoos as "Ink", "Tats", "Art", "Pieces", or "Work"; and to the tattooists as "Artists". The term Artists is gaining support, with mainstream art galleries holding exhibitions of both conventional and custom tattoo designs.
Flash. - Copyrighted tattoo designs that are mass-produced and sent to tattoo artists are known as flash. Flash sheets are displayed in many tattoo parlors to provide both inspiration and ready-made tattoo images to customers.
The Japanese word ' irezumi ' means "insertion of ink" and can mean tattoos using tebori, the traditional Japanese hand method, a Western-style machine, or for that matter, any method of tattooing using insertion of ink.
Horimono is the common word used for traditional Japanese tattoo designs. Often the Japanese will use the word "tattoo" to mean non-Japanese styles of tattooing.
In Taiwan, facial tattoos of the Atayal tribe are named "Badasun"; they are used to demonstrate that an adult man can protect his homeland, and that an adult woman is qualified to weave cloth and perform housekeeping.
