Best Place on Body for a Black & Grey Tattoo
At the forefront of modern tattooing is the style known as black and grey. Aptly named, black and grey tattoos almost entirely utilize black ink shaded to different degrees, which produces dark blacks, super light smooth greys, and everything in between. Despite the fact that there is a limited color palette, black and grey tattoos have tremendous potential for depth, detail, and personality as the artist can work an incredible amount of detail into a piece. Here we will discuss some of the common questions asked surrounding black and grey tattoos as well as the different styles utilized and the best placements for your next tattoo.
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Black & Grey Tattoo FAQ
Tattoos are a commitment and therefore usually come with a series of questions from anyone considering getting inked. Here are some questions you may be asking yourself as you ponder the idea of a black and grey tattoo:
Are Black and Grey Tattoos a Good First Tattoo?
Unequivocally yes! Black and grey tattoos are a great first style of tattoo for someone to get. For one, black and grey tattoos typically take less time to complete than colored tattoos while also being relatively less painful than colored pieces. Black and grey requires less intense shading that is required for colored tattoos to ensure that proper color saturation is achieved. What’s more, black and grey tattoos tend to be cheaper than colored pieces due to they take less time and artists usually work by the hour. This isn’t a rule however, as black and grey tattoos can also be huge, with a lot of detail, and take a while. But this fact lends itself to the incredible flexibility that lies within black and grey pieces. Another appealing aspect to black and grey tattoos for a first tattoo is that, generally, black and grey ink can be covered up easier or be touched up if it's faded.
Will My Black and Grey Tattoo Age Well?
With proper care and upkeep of your black and grey tattoo, your piece will most certainly last! As far as different tattoo styles go, black and grey tattoos usually age the best of them all. This means less touch ups for you and the sharper the piece will look years down the line.
What Kind of Styles of Black and Grey Tattoo are Possible?
As previously mentioned, black and grey tattoos hold a tremendous amount of flexibility and potential. These pieces can be small and fit on your hand or can occupy your entire chest with an almost overwhelming amount of minute detail. In the next section, we will outline some of the more popular styles that people pursue with black and grey ink.
Styles of Black and Grey
Realism
The most popular theme for black and grey tattoos is realism. In these pieces, shading is used to create life-like art filled with intense details. On this list of popular realistic black and grey tattoos is portraits. To capture the contour of faces and hair, the shading of black and grey can depict the life of a person through a picture put on skin. Besides portraits, black and grey realism can also excel with pictures of plants and animals. Skilled artists are able to create the feeling of texture within these pieces that give an incredible aura to those tattoos.
Patterns
The black and grey style can lend itself to different types of pattern tattoos including things like geometric or tribal designs. The shading can create incredible depth within the patterns that have them jump off your skin in ways that full colored patterns can struggle to achieve.
Chicano
A style linked to Mexican American culture, Chicano-style tattoos can excel through the use of black and grey shading. Chicano imagery revolves around Catholic themes like crosses and rosary beads, but also touches on aspects of street culture like cars and skulls. Again, an artist will be able to cram a tremendous amount of detail and realism to these pieces through black and grey shading that creates jaw-dropping tattoos.
Script
As far as tattoo styles go, script is extremely popular. Black and grey is a champion of text tattoos as the shading can create incredible fonts with tremendous feel to them while also being easily readable. A fairly straight-forward style, black and grey continues to dominate script tattoos.
The Best Placements for Black and Grey Tattoos
Black and grey tattoos can look great on many different parts of the body. There are some general tattoo considerations to make before placing them, of course, which are not unique to black and grey. For example, placing a tattoo on the top of your forearm will expose the art to a lot of UV rays compliments of the sun. This will contribute to tattoo fading as the UV can break down the ink molecules. That being said, black and grey tattoos tend to fade the least and will look better faded when compared to colored counterparts. You should still utilize sunscreen to protect your tattoo if you plan to be in the sun for long periods of time.
Also, avoid placing your new tattoo on areas that will change as you age like your stomach and high usage areas like your hands and feet. The change in your stomach size will warp your tattoo and the constant rubbing against your hands and feet will fade the tattoo prematurely.
Instead, consider areas that are easy to hide from the sun and will remain relatively stable throughout your life. Some examples of these areas include:
● Shoulder
● Inside forearm
● Bicep
● Thigh
● Calf
Choose First Class Tattoo for your Black and Grey Tattoo
Black and grey tattoos are a tremendous style of tattoo that can incorporate many different artistic elements into one piece. For the best artists, especially for black and grey tattoos, contact Black & Grey Tattoo Experts at First Class Tattoo in New York City today!
