Getting Sleeved: Full Sleeve Tattoos How To

What the heck is a sleeve tattoo and why would I care you ask yourself? Well, sleeve tattoo are hot and a lot of people are curious about them. For example not only what are they but how much do they cost, where can I get one? or How much time will it take to get a tattoo done. This article contains a ton of useful information to get your started with sleeve tattoos.

What Is A Sleeve Tattoo? So if you are wondering what I am talking about it is a large arm tattoo. Sleeve just comes from the shirt sleeves that typically cover our arms and a sleeve tattoo is a full tattoo design that frequently covers up the whole arm in the tattoo design. You can get a variety of different lengths which will mean different amounts of the arms will be covered. For example a half sleeve tattoo is typically from the should down to the elbow or forearm area. A full sleeve then is all the way down to the wrist with the tattoo design.

While there are many ways to go about getting a sleeve tattoo most people typically fall into one of two categories. First they might have started by getting individual tattoos on their arms and then later connect all of these together with some larger tattoo design. The second way is to get one large tattoo that covers the whole area. The style or type you chose will depend on the existing tattoos you already have in the area and what your goals are.

Connecting Tattoos: One way to end up with a sleeve tattoo is to take already existing tattoos that are on the arm and somehow find a unifying theme to connect them together. For example one might have a horseshoe tattoo for good luck on their bicep and want to connect this and extend the design down their arm. So they might decide on some flames and a pair of lucky dice to go with the horseshoe.

Complete Project: Another method that is pretty easy to understand and exactly as the title states is done by getting one complete tattoo design for the entire sleeve. Instead of connecting individual random tattoos the person starts with a blank slate and designs the entire sleeve at one time. This can make for a beautiful and unified looking tattoo and is often a nice way to go.

Sleeve Tattoo Inspiration Ideas and Designs: Once you have chosen the method for getting your tattoo done then it is time to think about what design and tattoo you want for your full sleeve. This can be a hard and sometimes frustrating process. However, if you learn to enjoy the journey along the way the process will flow much more smoothly. Take your time in getting a full sleeve tattoo since this is a big commitment and something that you will live with for the rest of your life. Therefore you don't want to rush into anything. Instead take some time and think about what tattoo designs inspire you and what themes speak to you. Look at a lot of other pictures, flash and tattoo designs other people have done for their full sleeves. You don't want to just flat out copy but rather gather ideas and resources from other people's inspiration and then see if their is a unifying theme that you can use in your tattoo. Speak with a professional tattoo artist about doing a custom design and let him know the things you like and don't like and see what he or she can come up with.

Popular Sleeve Tattoo Designs: Of course your tattoo needs to be individual and unique to you so these are just some suggestions of ideas that have been done often and make great full sleeve tattoo designs.

Flame Tattoo Sleeve - Flames are a great tattoo design that looks wonderful on the arm and as part of a overall sleeve tattoo. Very frequently these flames will start off down at the wrist and then burn their way up the arm. Towards the end of the flames other elements can be incorporated into the design.

Sleeve Tattoo Designs: Tribal - Tribal sleeve designs are another great tattoo design that can commonly be done as a sleeve. Tribal tattoos are typically made up of large bold lines done in black and they look great from a distances and really stand out. Therefore they make great sleeve tattoos designs. Don't feel you have to go with the standard tribal designs either as there are many different native cultures that used tattooing. You can go with something really unique like a Maori tribal design.

Tattoo Sleeve Ideas: Celtic - Another way to go and one that is very popular is to integrated a Celtic tattoo design into the sleeve. Just think about Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. He has a pair of wonderful Celtic forearm tattoos that could easily be extended into a full sleeve. There are step patterns, spirals, human and animal along with the classic knot work designs. These again make use of bold black lines of ink which can be intricate and bold at the same time.

Sleeve Tattoo Ideas: Floral Patterns - Flower tattoos can also make a great looking full sleeve tattoo. More typically used by women, but in no way only for women, flower or floral tattoos can offer a wonderful look and feel about them. They are often very delicate and can look almost tribal depending on the design. Flowers are also great design subjects because they offer a variety of symbolism behind them.

Time, Cost and Commitment If you are thinking about getting a full sleeve tattoo then you should be prepared ahead of time. This is typically a big project that will cost a good deal of money and time. Prices and times will vary greatly depending on the design chosen for the tattoo and the shop. However a good guide is they take around 20 hours of work to get done and can cost between 1,000 to 2,000 dollars. The popularity of the shop and artist will change the price a good deal as will the amount of business they currently have. So shop around and don't be afraid to ask questions. Find a tattoo artist you are comfortable with.

If after reading all of the above you are still excited to get a full or half sleeve tattoo then by all means go for it. They can make a wonderfully bold statement and a wonderful piece of body art. Just make sure you spend some time before getting started researching the design and the artist you want to work with. These are the two most crucial elements to getting a wonderful sleeve tattoo.