Dotwork is that unique case when a dot does not mean stop. On the contrary, it all begins with her! The most fantastic projects grow from a point and become something incredible. Lines and even completely painted areas help to enhance the effect and create a “framework” of the composition, and splashes of contrasting colors help to add depth. Black is always taken as the basis, and red and blue are contrasted with it, and in exceptional cases - purple, turquoise, yellow and other colors. The most popular shapes for finishing work are circle, rhombus, triangle and all kinds of abstractions consisting of these shapes. Although geometry does not limit the range of style possibilities. It is closely related to engraving and graphics, ornament, new school and blackwork. No other method allows you to define shades and midtones so beautifully, which is why “dot work” is always unique! Despite the fact that the process is labor-intensive, the technique is ideal for three-dimensional drawings. Sometimes the patterns are folded into the sleeves, sometimes they fill the shoulder or the entire back at once. The spectacle is unique and incredible! Finding a worthy example in modern tattoo catalogs will not be difficult.
Men's tattoos in dotwork style
The dotted style is subject to strict logic and does not accept chaos. That is why it is good for voluminous projects: sleeves, tattoos on the calf, shoulder, back. The dots create shape and allow you to make ideal transitions from dark to light without rough or sharp boundaries. You can depict almost anything using this technique: from a pattern in the smallest detail to a portrait. Men's do-it-yourself sketches contain images of animals and sea creatures. Wolves, owls, foxes and lions are embodied in luxurious designs and adorn their owners. Make sure of this by visiting the Tattoo Academy gallery.
Dotwork style tattoo for girls
Work consisting of dots can be either very rich or light and translucent. And this is a huge advantage for girls. For them, we are ready to create a lacy, weightless sketch for the most beautiful tattoo. A butterfly, dragonfly, exotic flower or mandala - whatever you want. Also, if desired, the project can be black and white, color, or consist of two or several contrasting shades. The job doesn't have to be big or small. The dots can form an ideal object that suits you 100%.Dotwork tattoo (English dotwork - “dot work”) is a tattoo style in which the design is made using a special technique and consists of dots. Due to the different density of points, a gradient and transmission of light and shadow is created. Tattoos can be made entirely in the dotwork style, or can be integrated with other styles. For example, in combination with blackwork (large areas of dense black paint).
Blackwork technology is considered complex. Only with extensive experience and a high level of professionalism can they create high-quality tattoos in the dotwork style.
Distinctive features of Dotwork Tattoo:
- predominantly black color
- symmetry
- geometricity
- large size
It is worth noting that masters can use style and technique as an expressive means, going beyond the usual characteristics of style.
Popular Stories Tattoo Dotwork
Tattoo Dotwork Ornaments
The ornament requires high skill and a good sense of symmetry. The master needs to create a harmonious sketch, and then transfer it to the skin, taking into account the anatomy and characteristics of the skin. Dotwork style ornaments can be placed on almost any part of the body and are universal for both men and women.
Dotwork Tattoo with Animals
If we combine our favorite tattoo theme and a progressive tattoo style, we get bright, contrasting tattoos in the dotwork style. The drawing should be large so that all the details and nuances can be clearly read on it.
Tattoo Dotwork Abstraction
The Dotwork style fits very organically into abstract tattoos. If the ornaments are a structure with a symmetrical composition, then they can be chaotic, asymmetrical, but at the same time look stylish and non-standard.
Men's Dotwork Tattoos
Men most often choose. It could be a sleeve that combines other styles, or it could be a mandala on the back or. Using the dotwork technique, the depth and volume of the drawing are conveyed very well.
Women's Dotwork Tattoos
Girls prefer ornaments and mandalas on the shoulder and. Dotwork in tattoos with natural motifs, for example, in tattoos with animals or nature, looks very unusual. Even in a small sketch, using dots you can create beautiful transitions and an airy effect.
FURFUR continues to deal with the current state of affairs in the world of tattoos. Not long ago we talked about Soviet prison tattoos, which became a special fetish in the West. Today, as an alternative to the tired old school, we will talk in detail about another technique in which the emphasis is on dots - dotwork.
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With the most careful finishing work, each point is placed separately - therefore, such work takes a long time, is expensive and requires a lot of patience from the master. There are quite a few application techniques - finishing tattoos are done both with a classic induction machine and with your hands (the so-called hand-poking). Dotwork requires not only patience from the tattoo artist, but also skill - poorly placed dots turn blue and blur. But a good finish not only looks great, but is also better preserved - due to the loose skin between the points and the stability of the point itself: the points usually go deeper under the skin. There are not many people in the world who can do quality finishing work. And real masters can be counted on one hand. |
Dotwork can be called both a style and a technique: in its pure form, dotwork is an ornament using dots. Dotwork itself as a technique can be used in any direction - even in the same old school |
Master's comment
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Ivan Hack First of all, you need to be a mathematician and be able to calculate a drawing and build ornaments in vector graphics. And finishing work is just a tool |
Dotwork is a tool, and then the multifaceted world of ornaments and mathematics opens up to you. To do this professionally, you either need to have a mathematical mind or be a designer-illustrator. Every day I have to build elements in vector graphics, think through the composition, and calculate ideal symmetry. Here is one person in Kyiv who draws everything by hand, draws everything with a compass and builds it along a ruler. Unfortunately, I don't have time for this. In this regard, my mathematical education was very useful to me. I don't place dots one at a time, but fill large areas in several passes, and that's it - ready. It wasn't easy: I I tried to develop my own techniques so that the dots did not intersect or line up in unnatural rows, but lay easily and organically on the skin. Later, the process went easier, automatically. |
Unfortunately, due to the increased popularity of dotwork, many inexperienced craftsmen began to take on work using this technique. People come to me all the time wanting to fix their bad tattoos. This is not always technically possible. But once a person starts getting tattooed in this style, it’s difficult to stop him.
8 main finishing touches
It is believed that dotwork as a technique was invented by the Englishman Xed le Head - so, at least, he claims himself. If he is a little disingenuous, then, without a doubt, it was he who brought the genre its popularity: today the movement is as closely associated with his name as jeans are with Levi Strauss. In the 1990s, Ksed was the first to fill the body with repeating patterns using only geometric shapes.
Another pioneer of the genre is the Danish tattoo artist Colin Dale, who also practices other traditional techniques with might and main - for example, stitching (“stitching” the skin). Dale is engaged in “traditional tattooing,” as Colin himself calls it - he has set up a studio in the center of Copenhagen, where he invites all tattooists working in ethnographic styles without using a machine - from Borneo style to Japanese techniques. Dale's own style could be called neo-Nordic, with a predominance of Celtic motifs - runes, pictograms, and so on.
There are many touching stories associated with him. For example, he once traveled to Sweden with one of his clients to get a pattern done on her face because it was prohibited by Danish law. Another time he tattooed a 103-year-old woman.
If the iconic Xed le Head and Colin Dale are closely associated with the British and Scandinavian school, then for the Belgian center for the development of finishing work, the main name is Daniel Di Mattia. Dan works at Calypso Tattoos and belongs to the old school of tattooists: he has been working for 20 years. Dan is considered one of the best black and dotwork tattooists. The largest work remains the body of his ex-wife Marisa, famous tattoo blogger Needled.com and author of a series of books on the art of black and white tattooing.
At this stage, the popularity of the genre is associated with the American artist and tattooist Thomas Hooper. The series of documentaries about the Gypsy Gentleman tattoo begins with him. Today Thomas is so famous that posting his tattoos on your tumblrs can become bad manners. Thomas actively exhibits as an artist and participates in the fashion industry - he collaborates with designers Helmut Lang and is one of those tattooists whose work is liked even by those who usually do not approve of tattoos.
In his large-scale works, Thomas mixes natural and geometric patterns and combines them with oriental motifs and birds. You should contact them at one of the most interesting tattoo parlors in New York - Saved Tattoo.
As a rule, all the main tattoo artists are on good terms with each other - Jondix from Spain, for example, is friends with Cooper and Xed le Head. By the way, they did more than one tattoo together - those clients were lucky.
Jondix is praised for her precision and detail. He started tattooing with small drawings and even in his large works he continues to show small details. An architect's diploma gave Jondix a love of geometric forms, and his Spanish origin gave him a penchant for mysticism. He can be called the main protagonist of European esoteric tattooing with a pronounced interest in the East - Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and mantras appear in his works every now and then.
Thomas Thomas works at the legendary Into You Tattoo studio of the great Alex Binney - teacher of Xed le Head. Thomas often visited this salon and studied there himself. Thomas was dissatisfied with almost all modern masters and developed his own version of the neo-tribal style. His work consists of a huge number of lines and dots and looks very detailed, but has almost no details as such. Thomas' signature style has become a closed pattern that looks like one whole - like an optical illusion suit that starts on the back and goes to the arms and legs.
Mark Reidman studied with Gerhart Wisbeck, one of the main masters of the old school. In his works he combines tribal and ethnic motifs, optical illusions and the East. His tattoos are almost always done in black and red. His particular love for swastikas also brought him fame: he named his first tattoo parlor “Swastika,” which caused a big stir in Germany. Not long ago, Mark closed his salon, protesting against the mass production of tattoos; in addition, he stopped attending tattoo conventions and traveling - in general, the word “eccentric” suits him better than anyone else. He now sees one client a day and believes tattoos should become a more personal and memorable experience. For the same reason, he does not make blanks, but draws directly on the body.
Michael E. Bennett, a tattoo artist from California, recently joined the world of dotwork. Do-it-yourself work itself is not so widespread in America - except for exceptions, such as Cooper, this practice remained increasingly European.
Michael belongs to a new wave of tattoo artists - those who discovered this style around 2008. Michael gets tattoos at the famous Californian studio 2Spirit Tattoo. Although Bennett likes Jondix, Cooper and Xed le Head, he is most influenced by Coleman's heavy lines and soft shadows - so following him, Bennett calls his tattoo style "traditional".
Dot tattoos are considered the most complex and painstaking to perform. There are very few artists capable of tattooing in this style, and only a few professionals. But high-quality finishing tattoos are real masterpieces of body art, radically different from the usual tattoos. They have their own characteristics and rules for introducing pigment under the skin. We will introduce you to the dotwork tattoo style more closely, tell you about their subtleties and advantages, and show you the most beautiful dotwork tattoos.
Features of dotwork tattoos
Dotwork literally translates as “dot work”. This is the whole essence of such tattoos: they are filled pointwise, each point is placed at a certain interval, and the result is voluminous, rich and truly mesmerizing designs.
Dotwork style tattoos have their own characteristics:
- As a rule, black ink is used for such dot tattoos, but in principle there are no color restrictions as such.
- Small tattoos are not performed in this style, as they will simply look ugly, and the design will not be “readable”. Dotwork tattoos love space.
- Such a point tattoo can be filled either with a conventional induction machine or manually.
- Dot style tattoos are easy to read from a long distance. There are no clear lines in them, and the volume is created due to the gaps in the skin between the points and the depth of pigment introduction.
- Finished tattoos are painful. Experienced people say that the pain with dotwork is much stronger than with traditional tattooing. This is also explained by the fact that the work takes much longer, and as you know, the longer, the more painful it is.
- Such dot tattoos look clear for a long time, since the dot technique allows you to introduce pigment deeper under the skin.
Do-it-yourself tattoos are a very difficult job. It's not even a matter of the time that the master spends when creating a drawing. To get a high-quality dot tattoo, the artist must have a mathematical mind and be able to calculate symmetry perfectly. During the work, the points should not intersect, the rows should line up naturally. Some artists, when creating sketches of dotwork style tattoos, spend hours drawing out designs using compasses and rulers.
Dotwork tattoo stories
As a rule, sketches of tattoos in the dotwork style are all kinds of ornaments, geometric patterns, contour drawings, and abstractions. Thanks to the storyline, dotwork tattoos do not bother their owner for a long time.
In this style, a wide variety of drawings can be made, including portraits, and they look amazing. However, the professionalism of the master is very important here. Girls often choose floral motifs, ethnic patterns and religious symbols. The meaning of dotwork tattoos directly depends on the chosen design. The dot style of tattoo is often combined with other techniques, serving as an excellent background for or.
To whom do we owe the appearance of dotwork tattoos?
Just as high-heeled shoes are associated with the name Christian Louboutan, dotted dotwork tattoos are associated with the name Xed Le Head. It is impossible to say with certainty that it was in his head that the idea of dotwork tattoos arose, because this direction has been known since ancient times, when representatives of African tribes decorated their bodies with dotted patterns. But Xed Le Head definitely popularized the genre.
In the 90s, he began tattooing dots on his own body. As the pioneer of the genre himself says, before his first tattoo he didn’t know how to draw at all, but just wanted to “do something” and he liked it. In Russia, you can count the number of do-it-yourself artists on your fingers, but in Europe this style is more popular.
The process of creating a dotwork tattoo
A dotwork style tattoo is created according to the following step-by-step instructions:
- Having found an experienced artist who has experience creating tattoos in this genre, first of all you will have to discuss with him what kind of image and on what part of the body you will have.
- Then the master will transfer the sketch to the skin according to the principle of transfers, having previously cleaned and disinfected it. Some artists draw the outlines of the future tattoo directly on the skin.
- When creating a traditional tattoo, the work begins with filling the outline. In a dotted tattoo, areas of the image are immediately filled with dots.
- When the work is completed, the skin will be treated with an antiseptic and a bandage will be applied on top.
Periods serve more than just punctuation to mark the end of a sentence. As you can see, with their help you can create masterpieces. How do you like this dot tattoo technique? If you have tattoos made in this style on your body, share your impressions in the comments below.
Video: How to get a do-it-yourself tattoo
In modern society, a tattoo is not considered an attribute of people who have been or are in prison. Today, people get tattoos to stand out from the crowd, to show their individuality, and not their belonging to any criminal caste. There are many types of tattoos, as well as their execution options. One of the unique types of implementation is a tattoo in the dotwork style. This is a dot tattoo that forms a specific pattern.
Dotwork style tattoo: origin story
This style appeared in the 6th century BC. Even then, various tribes left dotted patterns on the human body. This became known thanks to cave paintings made by ancestors from Africa. They depicted people whose bodies were covered with ornaments in the form of dots.
Such henna designs also existed in Ancient Egypt. There people decorated their bodies with various ornaments. There is an opinion that this type of painting appeared in India. But this judgment is erroneous, since this type of body art appeared much earlier. In Asia, it began to be used only in the 12th century.
The closest parents of dotwork today are considered to be divisionism and pointillism. These directions appeared in the 19th century. Craftsmen made circular drawings from rectangular dots. Today, this style has not lost its relevance, but has reached a new level of popularity.
Ideas for dotwork tattoos
Due to the nature of their application, such tattoos require filling large spaces of the body, since small works are simply “lost.” Below we will look at the most popular motifs that are used in dotwork sketches.
Animals
Animals occupy an important position in this style. Basically, their image demonstrates similar traits in the character of the person and the depicted beast.
A dotted wolf tattoo means that a person has independence, while a wolf tattoo indicates the desire for freedom and inner strength.
Birds symbolize the desire for bright changes. Marine animals demonstrate an attraction to luck and a love of experimentation. A large predator, such as a bear or a lion, symbolizes the tough character of the wearer.
The fox denotes intelligence, cunning, as well as the cheerful disposition inherent in the bearer.
Flowers
The image of a lotus is often found in dotwork tattoos. Basically, this flower is made in the style of geometry, realism or ornament. The main meaning of the lotus is power, divine conduct, inaccessibility and strength. Sakura symbolizes the transience and fragility of life.
Scull
The dotted skull design is the most popular motif among men. This element is especially popular among rock musicians, metalheads and bikers. Wearers often perceive this sketch as a talisman and protection from death. With its help, they try to show their courage and bravery before the upcoming trials. For young people, it means determination and lack of fear.
Patterns
Very often, do-it-yourself tattoos are decorations for the body and do not carry any meaning. However, in cases where the patterns represent a mandala, the tattoo can tell about the wearer certain information about his character.
In the event that the lines do not have precise shapes, and the colors used are predominantly light in color, the tattoo symbolizes the gentle nature and romantic nature of the wearer. If the drawing is red, then most likely it speaks of a person’s need for love and care, as well as an explosive nature.
Geometry
Geometric shapes in dotwork tattoos are used mainly as the main part of the entire design. Moreover, each geometric figure has its own meaning and carries a separate meaning.
The triangle pointing downwards symbolizes earth and water, and the figure pointing upwards represents water and fire. A divided diamond signifies the strength and power inherent in man. The love of travel and the stars is symbolized by a hexagonal star. It also means a connection with the other world.
Best Places for Dotwork Tattoos
Do-it-yourself tattoos are placed on almost all parts of the body. Sometimes when drawing large sketches they combine blackwork and dotwork. Blackwork is drawings made in solid black. Such combinations look great on a man's body. The best places for this combination are the area on the back or chest.
A tattoo on the forearm is a great option for girls. The shoulder is usually used as an extension of the sleeve. A sleeve is a tattoo on the arm that is inked from the wrist to the shoulder. The least common tattoos are on the leg.
Sketches of tattoos in dotwork style
Despite the fact that this style was originally created for men, modern girls often use do-it-yourself tattoos to decorate their bodies. This is because some tribes in Africa consider women as sacred givers of life.
Most often, drawings are selected for girls that are applied with minimal space in black. Images of different color saturation symbolize femininity and fertility.
Mostly women apply such tattoos on their forearms and arms. A similar tattoo on the back adds eroticism to a woman’s body.
A detailed examination of tattoos made with dots shows a large amount of floristry and geometric shapes, as can be seen in the photo.
Photos of finished works
Popular dotwork tattoo themes include abstract style ornaments, skulls, birds, labyrinths, animals, girls and clocks. The photo below shows the best works of masters from all over the world.
