Majestic Tattoo NYC

Category: Tattoo Ideas

How to Come Up With A Unique Tattoo Idea

Choosing your tattoo… How to discover new tattoo ideas

You know when it’s time for new ink, but sometimes choosing an idea to go with can be the hardest part of the process. Here at Majestic, we get a lot of clients asking our advice on what they should get tattooed. We believe that a tattoo can be a creative way to express your imagination and personal interests, so we always recommend our clients to spend plenty of time thinking about what matters to them.

Take ‘tattoo’ out of your search

In many cases a tattoo can be a great way to express yourself. This being said, avoid putting the word ‘tattoo’ in your image search. Each piece should be unique work of art and taking someone else’s design isn’t a good way to get satisfying results. You limit the creative flexibility of the artist, and end up with a copy of what was and original design. Ask yourself what you like about a specific tattoo and incorporate your findings into a custom project instead.

Gather Reference Images

So you know what you like, but you still can’t seem to figure out what to get for a unique tattoo. A great way to get tattoo ideas is to look at lots of different kinds of images, and start a collection of material that appeals to you. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t exactly what you want tattooed. You may only like a section of the picture or want to change the colors.

You can find tattoo inspiration from art, nature, patterns, stories, color schemes, or virtually anything that strikes your fancy. Load up your flash drive, and bring along your finds to your consultation. With Adal’s help, chances are you’ll leave with new fresh ideas you wouldn’t have expected!

Look Through Tattoo Portfolios

Looking through the tattoo artist’s portfolio is another great way to get inspiration for a new piece of work. A good portfolio can tell a lot about the strengths and specialties of a tattoo artist. For example, if you find a portfolio contains a lot of samples of flowers and color tattoos, chances are this is the subject matter that artist really enjoys doing.

You will notice in Adal’s portfolio there are many examples of colorful, unique and organic designs. It is no coincidence that these designs make the best kind of cover up tattoos, which Adal also specializes in. Next time you are stumped about what direction to take your tattoo, consider asking your tattoo artist to incorporate elements of their personal style. This will almost surely guarantee you will get a creative and inspired result that will be loved for years to come.

Decide on Tattoo Placement

The location of your ink will be an important factor in the design. A tattoo on your arm will be drawn up in a different way than a tattoo on your chest. Consider the placement of a more intimate tattoo versus one you will be displaying on a regular basis. Learn more about where you should get your tattoo.

Discover Your Preferred Tattoo Style

Not all tattoos are created equal. There are many different kinds of tattoo styles and each one comes with a different set of aesthetic guidelines. Styles can range from biomechanical to Japanese, and from realistic to abstract or geometric.

Adal has a portfolio of unconventional tattoos based on non-traditional inspiration. If you are in the market for something different, consider bringing in your ideas to Adal for a custom drawn, unique work of art.

No matter what the meaning, a tattoo is a personal piece of body art. Take the time to consider what your tattoo means to you and feel confident with your results!

August 18, 2018
What Tattoo Should I Get? How to Pick a Tattoo Design You’ll Love Forever

When it comes to selecting your tattoo design and where on your body you want your tattoo, it cannot be stressed enough that you must adequately prepare prior to your tattoo appointment, to ensure you walk away with a tattoo that you will love for the rest of your life. One of the most common questions we get here at Majestic Tattoo NYC is, “what tattoo can I get that I won’t regret in 20, 30, or 40 years?”

We must preface this article by saying that people do change – what is appealing to you when you are 25 might be horrifying when you are 50 – and there’s not much that can be done about that reality. It’s human nature. That said, there are certain steps to take before getting tattooed that can help you arrive on a tattoo design and placement that you will love forever.

Put a Greater Focus on the Tattoo’s Aesthetics than Its Symbolic Meaning

When many people come up with their tattoo idea, they often start with what the tattoo is supposed to mean, and then follow with how it should look to represent that meaning. This will often lead to designs that are complex and visually incoherent, perhaps heavy in letters or numbers because they “represent something meaningful to me.” While this is a nice approach in theory – after all, you want to love that tattoo as you age – we at Majestic find that these are often the same tattoos our customers want to cover up several years later. We find that tattoo customers are much more satisfied with their tattoos and continue to love them over time when they think long and hard about the design, its placement, and where it fits on their body above all else. Consider tattoos like jewelry that stays on you forever – just like when you pick out a necklace or a ring, you want them to flatter your overall appearance and make you feel more confident with the way you look.

Text Can Lose Its Meaning – Fast

Your favorite song lyrics; a meaningful inspirational quote; your boyfriend’s name; the words “bliss,” “breathe,” or “loyalty.” These are all concepts that might seem like great candidates for a tattoo in the moment, but can quickly lose their meaning or start to look silly within years as your personality changes. Be very wary of getting a text tattoo that could prevent you from getting a good job later down the road, or could otherwise offend or insult others – this can cause tremendous hurdles later in life.

Think About How the Tattoo Will Age

Just because a tattoo looks good now does not in any way indicate that it will still look the same in 20 years, let alone 5! Extremely lightweight tattoos, while highly popular, can fall apart over the years. All-black tattoos can turn a dark shade of blue if they are not touched up every 5 or 10 years. Tattoos on fingers and fingers and hands can fade away relatively quickly. Tiny tattoos on the back or shoulders can turn into mush, given how much your muscles move in that area. At Majestic, we are often covering customer’s tattoos because of how poorly they aged in a short amount of time. Therefore, it is important to ask your artist about the potential for your tattoo to hold up well over time before you receive the tattoo.

Save the “Trendy” Idea for Your Wardrobe

There are things that should be trendy – your latest haircut, a purse, a pair of jeans. Tattoos are not one of those things. Just think about the infamous example of the tribal tattoo sleeve – once popular in the 90s, now regretted by many who wish they hadn’t bought into the trend at the time. Just because everyone is getting the same image tattooed, doesn’t mean you should run to your nearest tattoo shop to get it too. If you want to sport the latest trendy design, you can buy a graphic tee at Urban Outfitters.

Pick a Talented Artist, Even if it’s a Big Financial Investment

We cannot stress this enough: do not skimp on your tattoo project to save money. Good tattoos do cost money, and they should cost money! They are a permanent alteration to your body. Look for other areas of your life to cut costs; the quality of your tattoo has an immediate and lasting impact on your overall self-esteem. Tattoo cover ups and/or laser removal can be significantly more expensive than your initial tattoo cost, and are not always 100% effective in masking your original tattoo. Find a tattoo artist you love and set aside money for this important investment.

Learn more about Majestic Tattoo NYC, an all-custom and modern tattoo studio in Brooklyn, NY.

February 16, 2017
Tattoo Styles

The art of tattooing has been around for tens of thousands of years, and it can be found as a component of nearly all cultures throughout time. This ancient past as well as the continuous uprise in the popularity of tattoos over the past century has brought about many different tattooing styles that we see in practice today. Here we have listed tattoo styles and New York artists who specialize in them.

Traditional Japanese

Japanese tattooing is thought to have originated around 10,000 BC as a form of spiritual commitment and has progressed to full-bodied tattoos made with wooden handles and metal needles attached via silk thread. Today, artists who specialize in Japanese typically use a regular tattoo gun and needles, though the traditional practice is still in use. Japanese tattoos are usually large pieces with bold, thick colors, and heavy black. Subject matter of the tattoos usually revolve around Japanese motifs such as koi fish, samurai, geisha, tigers, cherry blossoms, waves and dragons.

Chris O’Donnell | Timothy Hoyer | David Sena

Traditional American/Neo Traditional

Often referred to as “Old School” (or Old Skool) tattoos, traditional American tattoos originated during the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Commonly recognized by simple 2D images and uses of thick black outlines and filled with solid reds, greens, and yellows, traditional tattoos (often associated with names like Sailor Jerry and Ed Hardy, who tattooed in the traditional style) have become a staple in the tattoo community. Neo-traditional (referred to also as new traditional) is a new take on an old classic. Neo-traditional veers its use of design to create a more artistic adaptation from previous traditional tattoo designs bringing it new life. Military and nautical themes are common among traditional tattoo designs such as swallows, hearts, banners, pin-up girls, anchors, daggers, and snakes.

Steve Boltz

Tribal/New Tribal

Most commonly thought of as thick solid black intertwining designs, tribal tattoos originate from tattooing styles of the Aztec, Samoan, Polynesian, Indian, Hawaiian, Egyptian, and other cultures. Originally used as a symbol of social status or identification, tribal designs have morphed into a more decorative aspect. These tattoos, done in black, can take on the form of basic organic designs or also often in the form of animals and typically designed to work with the shape of the body.

Daniel Albrigo | Thomas Hooper

Portrait/Photorealism

Although people have always been tattooing faces and images, the art of photorealism and portrait tattooing are new and upcoming fields. These tattoo artists must be especially talented in their ability to truly capture the essence and characteristics of a person. Not only that, but portrait tattoo artists usually specialize in either black and white portraits versus color portraits which add an additional dynamic to the portrait tattoo style.

Logan Aguilar

Biomechanical

Biomechanical tattoos are unique by themselves in the way they incorporate skin and tattoo. A biomechanical tattoo is specifically designed to work with the body and appear as it was integrated in the skin with depth and a 3-D like affect. The final product usually looks as if skin was removed to reveal what truly lies underneath. Biomechanical tattoo designs feature robotic parts that combines elements of machinery with organics.

Logan Aguilar | Adal Hernandez

Script/Lettering

One of the most common types of tattoos seen today is simple script or lettering. Script has a larger range of stylistic properties than most people think with the size, placement, and movement of the words with the body. Not to mention the possibilities with all of the different languages and font choices. People can often express themselves through script in ways some images cannot.

JK5

Modern/Visionary

This is one of the newer yet more up and coming approaches to tattooing, artists who specialize in this modern style adapt visionary and modern art into tattoo designs not often previously seen. Using bright, strong colors and organic designs to work with the body and create an inspirational artwork rather than merely tattooing an image on the skin.

Adal

Horror/Satanic

It is not all about specific method or style. Horror tattoo artists specialize in a different way by focusing on bringing that of fiction and the big screen to reality with realistic interpretations of our favorite horror and thriller villains and victims. There are also artists who designs tattoos with only satanic and occult subject matter in mind offering a different perspective on the dark and supernatural.

Tim Kern

October 6, 2013
Keith Haring Tattoo

Keith Haring was a street artist and social activist primarily during the 1980s whose work centered around expressing concepts of birth, death, sex and war. He has inspired many artists and has even been a huge influence to Adal when he met Keith Haring in 1989 which you can read more about here.

April 4, 2013
Recent Tattoos from Majestic

Majestic is stepping into spring and with the sun finally shining again it is about that time of year you can shed your winter coats. Check out some of the tattoos recently done at Majestic and contact us for an appointment at (212)431-3323 or adal@majestictattoonyc.com.

March 30, 2013
How to Make Your Tattoo Last a Lifetime

When getting a tattoo some of the first thoughts and questions are usually along the line of how will this look when I’m older? What if I gain weight or get pregnant? Black or Color?

Tattoos and Aging

Face it, we are all going to be old one day. A lot of people are scared of getting tattoos because of aging, but that doesn’t have to be a huge factor in your decision to get any artwork. The placement and care you take of your tattoo has a large effect on how well it will evolve as you age.

It is a large misconception that once your tattoo finishes healing that it’s the end of taking care of it. Regular, if not daily application of lotion will significantly help in keeping your tattoo from fading and becoming irregular over the years. Although tanning is very popular these days, it can have a negative effect on your tattoo, causing it to fade faster over time, especially if it is a new tattoo out in the sun. There are some areas of the body that are more prone to be affected by aging than others such as chest, upper arms, and legs since those alter the most as we age.

Tattoos and Pregnancy

So you want a tattoo but also want kids someday? Well that’s okay! Getting pregnant is not going to destroy your tattoo, as long as you take the right measures to keep up your skin’s health. Keeping your body heavily hydrated and extremely moisturized is the #1 most important thing you can do to insure that after your pregnancy your tattoo will return to it’s original state. That will make sure that your tattoo (especially if near your stomach) will be able to retain its shape once your body has grown/shrunk dramatically and will significantly help in reducing the possible number of stretch marks.

Tattoos and Weight Loss/Gain

Nobody stays the same size forever, we all gain and lose weight, but how much will it really alter your tattoo? Surprisingly not at much as one would think. Weight gain or weight loss over an extended period of time is perfectly normal, and as the skin grows or shrinks and shouldn’t vastly affect the look of the tattoo unless it is extremely detailed over an area that saw a lot of stretching/shrinking which could cause the lines in very a detailed piece to maybe blur together (for example a detailed large stomach tattoo). In terms of extreme weight change (such as getting a lap band) you need to take more precaution and treat the tattoo as if pregnant to that the skin reforms in the proper manner.

Black and White or Color

A lot of people’s main dilema when deciding on a tattoo is color or no color, that is the question. It’s a large misconception that color tattoos fade significantly more than a black and white one, while color does show more change, any tattoo can fade drastically if not properly taken care of or touched up on regardless of the color choices.

February 21, 2013
Where Should You Get Your Tattoo?

Before getting tattooed, it’s important to consider how the areas of the body behave during and after the tattoo process. Some body parts hurt more, take ink differently, are more difficult to cover for work, or wear away faster than other parts. We’ve compiled a list of commonly tattooed areas of the body and important things to know about each of these areas of the body. If you’re still unsure of where to get a tattoo on your body, we will be happy to consult you about your best options.

We’ve also given each body part a “Quality Rating”: a rating for the different parts for quality of the skin and how well a tattoo will hold in that area on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being the worst and 10 being the best.

Head Tattoo / Face Tattoo

As a general policy, we do not perform face tattoos at Majestic. We realize that people often later regret facial tattoos, and from a technical perspective, the face does not have good skin for tattooing and is not a good canvas for quality artistic work. We do not often get requests for tattoos on the back of the head, but we are open to the idea. We also will do behind the ear tattoo work, as it is a decent area for small, simple symbol tattoos or initials. The inside of the ear does not hold ink well, and the lines tend to blur quickly.

Quality Rating: 0-3 at best

Neck Tattoo

The neck is a decent area for tattooing as the side of the neck provides a nice canvas, though the skin on the neck will lose its elasticity faster than any other part of the body. We don’t recommend the neck unless you already have other visible tattoos, because it is very difficult to conceal for corporate jobs or other formal occasions.

Quality Rating: 3-5

Back Tattoo / Shoulder Tattoo

The shoulder and back are great areas to get tattoos, though they tend to be more sensitive to the process than the arms. Not a good area for small detail since the skin stretches so much, and are better suited for larger graphics due to wear. We wouldn’t recommend this area for a first tattoo because it is more difficult to reach for tattoo aftercare and you may get less enjoyment from it since it is difficult to see without a mirror. A lower back tattoo is actually in a good area for tattooing, despite its negative stigma as a “tramp stamp.” One common concern for women with lower back tattoos is that they might not be able to receive an epidural in the future. This concern is somewhat unfounded, and worse-case scenario if the needle has to be placed directly in the tattooed area, the epidural would leave a scar that alters the appearance of the tattoo. If this is a serious concern for you, we would recommend getting a tattoo on a different location on the body.

Quality Rating: 7-10

Arm Tattoo / Tattoo Sleeves

This is Adal’s personal favorite for areas to tattoo. Arm tattoos leave plenty of room for creative special effects because of the unique three-dimensional nature of the surface, which can allow the tattoo to be designed and seen in rotation. We like to approach arms in quarters, especially if you are not sure you want a full sleeve. If you do know you want a tattoo sleeve, it is best to approach it in sections no smaller than one quarter of the arm. The inner forearm tends to have the best quality skin for tattoos as it is protected from sun exposure and wear from aging. The arms also tend to be the most tolerable to have tattooed as far as pain.

Quality Rating: 10

Wrist Tattoo

A tattoo on the wrist is a popular choice, especially since it tends to be small and fairly simple, and can be covered with bracelets or a watch for work. However, they tend to be painful. The creases near the hand should be avoided because they wear away the tattoo quickly with age. Many people are concerned about wrist tattoos penetrating the veins under the skin, though this would never actually happen because the tattoo needle does not ever go that deep.

Quality Rating:3-5

Hand Tattoo / Finger Tattoo

Hand tattoos are not recommended, and in the past it was reserved for people who had run out of space on their arms. Fingers aren’t good quality skin for tattoos and don’t hold ink well. The ink tends to bleed and blur with age. Palm tattoos are pretty much out of the question as they get a lot of wear and it is nearly impossible to get the skin to hold ink.

Quality Rating: 0-2

Rib Tattoo / Side Tattoo

Ribs are super painful to be tattooed, though can definitely hold interesting tattoo designs. As a general rule, places where the skin is stretched more tightly over the bone are the most uncomfortable during the tattoo process. Rib tattoos are very easy to conceal and therefore a very popular choice for more conservative tattoo customers.

Quality Rating: 6-7

Chest Tattoo / Stomach Tattoo

Chest tattoos are very painful to receive but they tend to hold pretty well throughout one’s lifetime. Chests make a nice, flat canvas for symmetrical tattoos with the exception of people who take a lot of sun or wear low-cut necklines (or both). Stomach tattoos are a different story as they can be stretched or contorted if the wearer gains or loses weight, especially if the tattoo is affected by pregnancy. But these tattoos are also easy to conceal and therefore are very popular, and often quite sexy!
Quality Rating: 7-9

Thigh Tattoo / Leg Tattoo

Legs are a good but often-overlooked area to tattoo. They are easy to hide if needed, and tattoo “shorts” (full thigh tattoos) are a unique style that’s sure to turn heads. Since it is a large three-dimensional area like arms but bigger, it is easy to get creative with leg tattoos. Knees are a very painful area to be tattooed but some tattoo collectors still love flaunting tattoos on the front and backs of their knees.

Quality Rating: 8

Ankle Tattoo / Foot Tattoo

The best skin to have tattooed on the foot is right on the top, but because this area is bony, it tends to be very painful. Even though they are often requested, the sides of the feet aren’t good areas for tattoos because of callous build-up and the natural toughness of that skin. Ankle tattoos are a popular choice because they are relatively easy to conceal and they can be quite beautiful as they often look like anklets. They are less painful and tend to hold well over time.

Quality Rating: 7

Interested in getting a tattoo from Majestic? Contact us to set up a consultation.

January 19, 2013