Arm Band Tattoo

The arm band tattoo

The armband tattoo is very popular. Most of us have seen barbed wire or other designs made into an armband. Usually on the upper arm around the widest part of the bicep.

The barbed wire tat, seems to have gotten it’s start as a  prison tattoo, for the obvious reasons. From there it seems to have grown into a street gang tattoo. Possibly because many of the gang members had done time in prison.

The different designs for the armband seemed to come from Hawaii and on Maori designs more often than native American designs. Of course, Hawaii is part of America. When we think of Native American designs. We think of the continental or lower 48 states than we do of the Hawaiian Islands.

Armband tattoos can go all the way around the arm or only partly around the arm. The underside of the arm is a very tender area to have tattooed. It also takes a very skilled tattoo artist to get both hands of the armband to meet.

You will need to do some serious research and look at many different artists work before deciding on who will do. Your tattoo.

The Hawaiian and Maori designs of the armband frequently have arches and other patterns wrapping around each other between the bands.

Since Hawaii and Maori are both island nations, many of their designs include water creatures. Such as dolphins, or fish or turtles. Many of these designs are simply intertwining lines and don’t really have any discernible animal in them. Frequently, they are just abstract shapes with most if not all of the lines in black ink. Rarely were the original tattoos done with any other color.

While only black ink is used. This does not detract from the beauty of the tattoo itself. The skill of the artist will have more to do with the beauty then the colors used.

Many cultures have been doing this for years. Although many were very simplistic designs. An armband can be as detailed or as simple as you choose, and as intricate as the artist’s skill.

Tags: Art, Bodyart, Contiguous United States, Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian language, Studios, Tattoo, United States