Tattooing is an expressive form of art that dates back millennia and is observed with differing significance in cultures across the globe.
Archaeologists have found tattoos on mummified skin dating as far back as 3370 B.C., according to a Nov. 28, 2019 article by Authority Tattoo, a tattoo content website.
Archaeologists haven’t discovered why so many ancient civilizations practiced tattooing, but some theories suggest it reflects the location and culture within the civilization themselves, according to the same article.
Scientists believe convicted criminals were tattooed to warn society they could not be trusted in Chinese cultures dating as far back as 2100 B.C., while tattooing in ancient Egypt was for decorative purposes and mostly done on women.
For Samoans, tattoos represent dedication to their culture and the skill of tattooing is passed down from father to son. The Samoan community also held traditional tattooing ceremonies to mark a young chief's ascension to leadership, according to the same article.
Regarding the U.S. and its tattooing culture, Scott Weeks, a tattoo artist at Marks of Art in San Jose, said the permanent art used to be perceived adversely.
Weeks, who’s been tattooing for more than 40 years, said most people he tattooed in the early stage of his career were in the military, in biker gangs or trouble-makers.
Now people from all walks of life come in to get tattooed, he said.
“If you would have told me 40 years ago that I'd be tattooing even the soccer mom phase [back] 20 years ago, [and on top of that] I'd have been doing a lot of people that you wouldn’t think would have a tattoo, I would have laughed at you,” Weeks said.
William Armaline, sociology professor and director of the San Jose State Human Rights Institute, said while the Bay Area’s societal perception of tattoos has changed, that may not be the case elsewhere in the country.
He said there’s still a negative association with people who have tattoos in the U.S. depending on others’ interpretation of their art.
“Tattoos and tattooing have and will always have a variety of meanings in society,” Armaline said. “The context [of the tattoo] is where [it’s acceptability is] being determined,”
A 2019 survey showed about 30% of Americans have at least one tattoo compared to a 2012 survey that reported only 21% of Americans having one, according to a Nov. 10, 2020 article by Authority Tattoo.
Tattoos’ rise in popularity has resulted in more parlors opening up, which might be good for consumers, but those who have been in the tattoo business for a long time say this might not be a good thing.
Weeks said when he started out as a tattoo artist it was common to have apprenticeships, where the student would follow and learn from an experienced tattoo artist. This would last a handful of years to ensure quality work from the apprentice when he or she was ready to tattoo on their own.
He also said apprentices would be binded to a contract saying they wouldn’t tattoo anyone within a 20-mile radius or so to ensure people respected the shop’s territory and didn’t steal customers away.
Today, it’s a bit different with tattoo shops being at every corner of America.
“40 years ago, 50 years ago, if you opened up that close to a shop and that person was very old school [and] traditional, they'd come knocking at your door with a bunch of people behind them,” Weeks said. “[They’d] either [be] telling you to shut down, or destroying your shop or even firebombing.”
These traditional operations aren’t the only aspects of tattoo culture rapidly changing.
Hiram Carrillo, a tattoo artist at Sacred Oath in San Jose, said even the artwork that goes into tattooing is evolving compared to traditional-style tattooing.
Traditional-style tattooing, also known as American or old school, started to gain popularity in America in the 1930’s as a way to symbolize rejecting the American dream and rejecting American society, according to a Nov. 14, 2017 article on Funhouse Tattoo, a tattoo content website.
Traditional-style tattoos have thicker lines with solid colors and usually illustrate a skull, ship, cross, a pin-up girl or a sailor.
As tattooing started to gain more mainstream traction in the U.S., artists started to play around with different styles that represent different meanings.
Neo-traditional style, also known as new traditional style, focuses more on the detail, aesthetic and art of the tattoo with a larger emphasis on color gradients for depth instead of solid, 2D colors.
“[Neo-traditional style is] not so flat . . . it has more of a 3D take to it, adds more dimension to it [and] adds more colors too,” Carrillo said.
Neo-traditional, which emerged in the ’80s and ’90s, has increasingly appealed to young adults because the new style serves as an outlet for creative freedom and precision.
“Neo-traditional, where you still [have] your bold lines but more detail [and] more college stuff, [is] probably the best way to go about getting tattooed and get stuff that's not necessarily classic,” Sweets said.
Sweets added if there is a tattoo image out there that’s classic, there’s a reason behind it.
