TattooSmart

It’s always a good idea to check out tattoo designs before inking up. TattooSmart has a look at this Awesome Samoan Tribal Tattoo of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

In early 2003, The Rock traveled to Hawaii to have his family history tattooed on him—a Samoan tradition. Here we reveal the meanings of his tattoo. Traditionally, Samoan tattooing was done by an artist, assisted by multiple people. The tattooist would use two tools, one a bone-tipped rake and the other the striking stick. The rake would be dipped in ink, then struck with the other stick to puncture the skin. The assistants had the job of holding the skin of the tattooee taut so that the artist could work. In his recent interview with Playboy magazine, Johnson did mention that that work took sixty hours total to execute, spread out over three sessions and was composed entirely freehand (meaning the artist worked right on his skin without a stencil or transfer). He did not mention if the tattoo was done with the traditional hand tools or if any of the ink was tattooed by conventional machine.

This is traditional Samoan style Tribal Tattoo Art

Which Tattoo Design Is Best For You?

By Steve Renner

Once you’ve decided on getting a tattoo, the next step is to choose a good tattoo design. What kind of design to choose will vary according to where (on your body) you want your tattoo, what kind of look you want, how big you want your tattoo to be, and other such factors.

When it comes to getting a good tattoo design, you’ll be happy to know that they can be readily found on the Internet or at the various tattoo shops accessible to you. Most tattoo shops will have “flash” books featuring various designs that the tattoo artists at the shop are able to perform. The term “flash” derives from the fact that years ago sheets of tattoo designs used to be tacked or hung on the walls of the average tattoo shop. Clients could come into the shop, pick a design off the wall, and - “in a flash” - the tattoo artist (typically “scratchers” or beginning tattoo artists) would copy the design on the wall onto the client’s skin. With the emergence of the Internet, there are numerous websites containing webpages and ebooks that are effectively flash books.

 It’s one thing to peruse a flash book; it’s another to settle on a tattoo design. You may, in fact, want an original design. For example, you may want the tattoo artist to scratch an image that you’ve seen somewhere… or you may even want the tattoo artist to use their creativity to adapt an existing image (or tattoo) design for your use. In either case, discuss your ideas with your tattoo artist to find out what they suggest, as well as what they’re skilled to do.