Since the beginning of tattoos, there have always been trends. In the middle ages, it was important for people to express their religion through their tattoos. Sailors’ tattoos were thought to bring them luck or help prevent them from drowning. Today, one of the many trends sweeping the industry is embroidery – read this blog so that you’ll be ready to respond when your customers start asking you for these.
To avoid any room for confusion - such as people thinking that an embroidery tattoo might involve literally threading the skin with materials – this section will explain what an embroidery tattoo really entails.
For all intents and purposes, an embroidery style tattoo is inked no differently to any other tattoo, by which we mean that it uses the same tattoo supplies and the same tattoo needles. It’s true; the trend of embroidery tattoos is purely design based, unlike scarification.
Embroidery tattoos are, as you might have guessed, inspired by embroidery. Designs appear as if they have been threaded onto the skin, but they are ink cleverly shaded to give the appearance of realistic threads.
Being a design based on an activity that has so long been stereotyped as a fairly feminine activity, many embroidery tattoos follow trends of being bright, colourful and cute. Occasionally, however, you might be asked to create something a little different, so you should be ready for anything.
Popular embroidery style tattoos include flowers, birds, or the appearance of jacket patches.
These tattoos require a great deal of skill to complete, but they are very unique, which is – as you are no doubt already aware - something that can be quite important for many customers looking for a tattoo.
An embroidery tattoo is also a quaint play on words, as tattoo needles are used in place of sewing needles to use skilful design to replicate another medium. This also makes them a coveted tattoo style amongst many people.
Embroidery tattoos are often very detailed, which may also cause people to place greater faith in an artist who can successfully design and create a great embroidery tattoo.
An embroidery tattoo is essentially a portrait. The aim is to create a photorealistic image of threading and needlework as a tattoo. Like all photorealistic designs in any medium, you need to closely understand the textures before you can hope to replicate them yourself.
When learning to design stitching, you should think about how thread interacts with light - how reflective are the types and colours of thread that you’re looking to replicate – as well as it’s shape, what’s realistic and what isn’t, can you use artistic licence to improve the original image, and so on. These are the kinds of questions that you should be asking yourself during your research.
To understand the beauty and depth of the embroidery tattoo trend, you should do some detailed research about different designs, colours and shading before you decide to offer them in your studio.
This design makes use of black edges to make the coloured 'embroidery' pop with vibrancy. The heart is a popular design for most people, and there are many creative ways to combine it with the embroidery theme.
Simple lines aren’t the only method for creating a beautiful embroidery tattoo; as this design shows a simple flower rendered in cross stitch.
Patches are another popular trend for embroidery tattoo enthusiasts, often looking as though they have been stuck onto the skin and harking back to an age of denim jackets.
Combining the embroidery with a different art style can also be extremely effective, as shown by this bird here which uses cross stitch for the majority, but line art for the delicate sections.
Large sweeping embroidery tattoos take a lot of time to complete, but they can also look stunning, as shown by this individual in the image below:
There are a lot of different ways to have fun with creating your next portfolio of embroidery tattoo designs for clients, good luck mastering the techniques behind this wonderful art.
