How to Design a Tattoo with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide
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Image courtesy of @felipepelaquim @ Unsplash.com
So you want to get a tattoo, huh?
Awesome!
But coming up with a tattoo design can be one of the hardest parts about getting a new piece of sexy body art.
And that’s precisely why we’ve put together the following guide on how to design a tattoo, either from scratch or with a little help from our friend artificial intelligence (AI).
So let’s dive right in!
Custom Tattoo Designs Vs. Flash Art
If you’re itchin’ to get a new tattoo but aren’t sure what tattoo design you want, you can pop into your local tattoo parlor and see if they have any flash art available to choose from.
Flash art simply refers to pre-drawn tattoo designs that you can choose from and can likely have tattooed on you the same day.
So if you want something like a simple tribal tattoo design, flash art can be great!
But flash art tattoo ideas really are a dime a dozen.
In other words, flash art is mostly only great if you’re looking to get a small, simple tattoo or something basic, as they’re mostly drawn using basic shapes and common tattoo ideas.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a truly unique design and want to put a bit more effort into it, we recommend finding a tattoo artist that you like and getting them to draw up a custom tattoo design for you instead.
Finding A Tattoo Artist
The first step of how to design a tattoo is to find a tattoo artist that you want to hire.
Now finding a tattoo artist isn’t all that hard. You can probably walk into any local tattoo parlor and find someone willing to tattoo you today.
But remember, you’re the client and you’re the one commissioning them to draw a custom design for you.
So it’s important that you take the time to find an artist who’s style you really like, and who you trust and feel comfortable allowing to prick the perfect tattoo into your skin.
That said, we strongly recommend visiting multiple tattoo parlors and talking to the artists.
Most shops will have their artist portfolios available that you can look through to get an idea of what each artist’s tattoo styles are like.
And even if the first shop you visit doesn’t tickle your fancy, they might be able to recommend other artists that have more expertise in tattooing the tattoo style that you are interested in.
Search Online For Reference Photos
Even before you start interviewing tattoo artists, we recommend looking online at other people’s tattoos to get a better feel for what type of tattoo you want to design.
How to design a tattoo isn’t all that hard. But coming up with a tattoo design that you’re going to love for the rest of your life…
That’s the hard part.
You’re putting a piece of art on your body that’s going to be there forever, unless you go through with laser tattoo removal.
But that’s besides the point.
Finding reference photos, either online, in books or magazines can be a great way to help you figure out what you really love.
Plus, you can and should print off at least a few reference photos to bring with you when you go in to book your upcoming tattoo appointment.
Use Your Own Drawing Skills
If you have a particular tattoo idea in mind, but you can’t find anything online, in books or magazines to use as a reference, there’s nothing wrong with putting pencil to tracing paper and using your own drawing skills to sketch our a tattoo design you like.
Even if you don’t consider yourself a good artist, it can be a good way to bring something tangible with you to your tattoo artist to help them understand what you want.
And don’t worry!
Any good tattoo artist will take it from there, drawing up a custom design based on what you bring into them.
They’re not going to tattoo your child-like drawing on your skin. At least, we hope not.
Know About Different Tattoo Styles
Just like the one tattoo is different from other tattoos, different artist might be proficient in tattooing different types of tattoo styles.
For example, while one artist might be great at doing fine line tattoos, they might absolutely suck at doing portraits.
So here’s a short list of just a few different tattoo styles you can choose from:
Realism tattoo designs – This tattoo style is used to replicate real-life subject models with high-precision. It’s a very intricate tattoo style that not every artist is going to be capable of tattooing real-life images with great results.
Tribal tattoo designs – Tribal tattoos aren’t just from smaller, flash art tats. More complicated tattoo designs can be used to replicate the types of tattoos that different cultures and indigenous peoples have used throughout the history of tattoos.
New school tattoo designs – These tattoos designs often used brighter, more vibrant color palettes, and often take inspiration from more modern films and artwork.
Geometric tattoo designs – Basic shapes and geometric designs can be used to create visually-stunning tattoo masterpieces. Just be sure to find an artist that does solid line work.
Traditional (old school) tattoo designs- Also referred to as Americana, traditional tattoo designs boast that iconic style reminiscent of what sailors would get tattooed on their bodies in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Image courtesy of Mark Adriane @ Unsplash.com
The above list is only a short list of examples of different tattoo design styles, and you don’t need to know all the details of each.
The important takeaway here is that there are different styles available, and what you choose is completely up to you!
Choosing A Color Palette For Your Custom Tattoo Design
Once you show up to a tattoo shop with a final draft of the design that you want, one of the next questions the artist asks is going to be what colors you want used in your tattoo.
Ink colors can be just as important as choosing an actual tattoo design.
Here are just a few examples of color palettes that you might want to choose for your custom tattoo design.
Bold primary colors – Red, yellow and blue are great, bright and vibrant colors that show heal amazingly well on lighter skin tones. Remember though, that colored tattoo pigment pose a slightly higher risk of having an allergic reaction to a tattoo.
Black and grey – Black ink is often used for shading and tattooing clean lines, but entire tattoos can be done using a black and grey color palette.
Watercolor – Watercolors and pastels are great for abstract tattoo designs, where colors almost melt into one another. However, these are generally not recommended for people with darker skin tones.
Custom color palettes – Depending on your tattoo style or design, your tattoo artist might recommend that they create a custom palette for your custom tattoo idea.
Image courtesy of Ivan Verrengia @ Unsplash.com
Remember that it’s extremely important to consider skin tone when choosing tattoo ink colors because different colors will show up differently when healed.
As mentioned, vibrant colors, like blue, red or yellow don’t heal very well on darker skin tones.
Therefore, people of Hispanic or African American descent will often opt for darker colors, or just basic black and grey tattoo designs.
Research Different Art Forms
Throughout the centuries, painters, sculptors, and artists of all sorts have created dozens of different types of artwork, ranging from abstract expressionism to impressionism, cubism, realism and so much more.
So if you’re looking for inspiration for your custom tattoo design, we strongly recommend researching different art forms from throughout history.
And we don’t just mean visual art, even looking at sculptures and carvings, or even stranger art forms like shadow art, can help to stir up ideas in your head for your new tattoo idea.
Looking up different art forms is especially great if you want your tattoo to have any sort of cultural significance.
For instance, if you’re of Japanese descent and want a Japanese tattoo that would make your ancestors proud, you might want to look up different types of Japanese art to find inspiration.
And on top of all that, you can also try combining elements from different art forms to come up with your final design.
Just remember that there’s virtually no limit to what type of design you can come up with, so long as it’s actually something your tattoo artist is capable of tattooing.
Different layers of tattoo ideas can add up into a single, visually-stunning tattoo masterpiece!
Placement Is Important
Yet another important factor to consider is the placement that you want your tattoo put on your body.
Not every tattoo is going to look good on your arm… And some tattoo placements on your body will not be a good idea depending on the image or style that you’ve chosen.
For instance, tattoos on or near elbow joints or knee joints may flex too much and look distorted or weird if not done properly.
Image courtesy of Deniz Demirci @ Unsplash.com
Similarly, other tattoos might just look better on flatter parts of your body like your shoulder blade, stomach or chest.
Either way, the point here is that you’ll need to consider tattoo placement on your body just as much as you’ll need to decide on a final design.
Design Your Next Tattoo Style With Artificial Intelligence – How To Design A Tattoo With AI
If you’re still strapped for ideas for your next tattoo, you can also try designing a custom tattoo with artificial intelligence (AI).
With just a few clicks, AI can instantly generate all sorts of different tattoo ideas, styles and designs that you can browse through to find inspiration for you next tattoo.
You can even try out our innovative AI tattoo generator to help you find that unique design that you absolutely love!
To use our AI tattoo generator, simply:
Describe your tattoo idea – You can use single words or sentences to prompt the AI
Choose your preferred colors – Black and grey, primary colors, watercolor, etc.
Choose the style of your tattoo – Traditional, New School, Realism? The choice is yours!
Let the AI work its magic – The tool just needs a few seconds to work!
Browse – Tons of awesome AI generated tattoo ideas to choose from!
Click Download – Print and get tattooed!
Lastly, once you’ve been inspired and have settled on a design you love, feel free to collect all the information and elements you need, from reference photos and designs you made yourself on tracing paper, or AI generated designs, and bring it all down to meet with your artist.
Designing a tattoo certainly can be a time consuming process.
But instead of drawing rough sketches out by hand, with our AI tattoo generator, you can drastically shorten the design process and design dozens of tattoo with a few clicks, and BOOM you’re ready to get inked!
