Exploring The History of Blackwork Tattooing
From ancient cultural markings to modern abstract minimalism, blackwork tattoos have transcended generations of tattoo trends to become a timeless form of inked expression. While the world of tattooing offers up an endless colour palette, many of us are sticking to the tried-and-true blackwork style. Our latest blog in a series on tattooing explores all things blackwork, from its history and backstory to its evolution over time in its modern-day form.
The History of Blackwork Tattooing
Blackwork can be traced back to indigenous cultures in several parts of the world. You can find the groundwork for modern-day blackwork tattoos going back thousands of years to ancient Egyptian mummies that were found with tattoos on their bodies. The origins of blackwork can even be traced back to Polynesian tattooing (also known as tatau), like the Maori Ta Moko, a cultural style of face and body tattooing. Tattoos were considered a rite of passage among these cultures, permanently marking the body to signify important life events like bridging from adolescence to adulthood, marriage between a couple, or the signs that someone is an elder or leader within their tribe. Moving forward, European sailors in the 18th century who encountered tribes with blackwork-style tattoos would return to Europe and interweave conceptual aspects of blackwork into the early days of modernising tattoo art.
The First Tatted-Up Baddie In History
The first known record of a human with what closely resembles blackwork tattoos is thought to be Ötzi the Iceman. While Ötzi's tattoos weren't directly blackwork stylistically speaking, they were entirely inked in black and are the first tattoos on record. Ötzi was discovered in the Otztal Alps that border Italy & Austria in 1991. Aging puts Ötzi somewhere in the Copper Age (for reference, this is over 1.8 million days ago, or roughly 5000+ years.) If you want to meet Ötzi, he's currently housed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.
A closer look at the tattoos of Ötzi the Iceman.
How Blackwork Tattooing Has Evolved
After the 1990s, blackwork started to truly find its stride and evolve as tattooing became more socially acceptable, and the style of blackwork itself split off into several directions, including;
Blackout Tattoos: Also known as Heavy Blackwork tattooing, these large-scale, blocked-out black pieces of art are often found on full sleeves, where an entire area of skin is tattooed completely black.
Geometric Blackwork: This style of blackwork uses dot work and geometry to create precision-style patterns using blocks of black ink.
Neo-Tribal Blackwork: Neo-tribal has birthed a sub-genre of blackwork within its own subgenre. From Polynesian or Aztec-style tribal work to cyber sigilism and death metal text-esque tribal designs, this is fast becoming a fan favourite among tattoo aficionados.
Ornamental Blackwork: Living up to its name, this style of blackwork uses intricate ornamental patterns inspired by the arts, culture, and mandala-style designs to create something beautiful yet prominent.
Fine Line Black Work: Merging minimalism with a nod to blackwork, fine-line black work is one of the more common forms you'll see around. It offers intricate details and expansive placement options.
Why Do People Choose Blackwork Tattoos?
As with all things in life, our choices will always spawn back to personal preference and how we express ourselves using tattoos as a medium. However, other mitigating factors drive people towards the blackwork style of ink, such as:
Aesthetics: Some of us gravitate towards bold black tattoos aesthetically speaking, preferring something more monochromatic to adorn our skin with. If you view yourself as a minimalist, a blackwork tattoo would be the perfect choice due to its lack of intricate details, instead focusing on a 'less is more' approach to tattooing using bold, block-style art.Another aesthetically pleasing facet of blackwork tattoos is the artistic value people find in the ink. Some tattoo lovers opt for blackwork due to the skill required to balance the art around the body's natural lines or the endless design possibilities afforded to an artist and their client in the process of large-scale blackwork, such as bold line work and unique yet intricate patterns.
Blackwork tattoos are considered one of the most timeless tattoo styles in the history of ink art.
Coverups: As we change and grow through life, many of us find our taste in art changes or realise we've made regrettable tattoo decisions. There are three options people can go for;
Living with the decision and accepting the tattoo that doesn't represent your current self.
Using laser tattoo removal to open space for something new.
Blacking over (or using blackwork) to cover up old tattoos.
As someone who has used option three to black out both arms and other areas of the body, I can say that it's a beautiful exercise in patience, resilience, and putting in time and effort to achieve a result. Blackout tattooing generally takes multiple sessions, sometimes dozens, depending on how the ink holds in and the spaces you're tattooing.
Cultural Reasons: As we mentioned previously, the art of blackwork tattooing has cultural roots, and that tradition continues today in many cultures, including Polynesian, Aztec, Egyptian, Aboriginal, Inuit, and more. Blackwork can tell stories of a culture's past, present, or future or be an ode to the connection someone might have with the culture that birthed them.
What Techniques Can Be Used To Tattoo Blackwork?
Blackwork can use all methods of tattooing, including traditional, modern machines like coils or rotaries and handpicked, hand-tap styles such as Polynesian or Japanese Tebori. With blackwork having such deeply engrained cultural roots, all forms of cultural tattooing have been used to carry out blackwork stylistically.
What is the Difference Between Blackwork and Blackout Tattoos?
Blackout tattooing is a subcategory or subgenre of blackwork. It is a large-scale solid black art that can fully cover a space in black or incorporate negative space to create lines and patterns via the skin's natural tone inside the blackout.
Blackout tattooing often requires multiple sessions to complete the work and drive large-scale black ink patterns into the skin, which can also lead to a more intensive healing process than other forms of tattooing.
