Flash Art

From LoveToKnow Tattoos

Flash art is a great way to find inspiration for your next tattoo.

What is Flash Art?

Many tattoo artists like to preserve the designs they are especially proud of; and they do so with flash art. The artist will draw the designs on paper, or more durable white card stock, with the intention of then laminating the image. Sometimes it's just one design; sometimes it's a set of designs built around a single theme. Once the card stock is laminated, the design will be preserved for a long time to come, and this flash art will be displayed on the tattoo shop wall, so customers can see samples of the artist's work and get inspiration about which design to choose for themselves.

The best flash art consists of two parts:

A line drawing, which will help your tat artist copy the original lines to get the design just right. Simple black line drawings are much easier to follow without the color.
A full color version, which shows what the completed design will look like in its full glory.

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Sources of Tattoo Flash Art

There was a time when nearly all tattoo artists created their own flash art, but today there are other sources for new designs as well. Tattoo supply websites offer professionally created tattoo flash from some of the top artists in the industry. You can view hundreds of designs, and for a fee, you can download anything you want to your computer and print it out for yourself. Then just take the design to your favorite tat shop where your personal tattooist can ink it to any location on your body.

Tattoo flash can also be purchased at industry trade shows and in tat magazines. Sometimes artists will trade designs among themselves.

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Bootleg Flash Art

Unfortunately, flash has succumbed to a lot of bootlegging in recent years. Instead of legally purchasing sets, some individuals make copies of sets they already have and either sell them to shops at a discount or share them for free with friends.

Who does this cheat? Certainly the original artist who put his/her time and talent into a great design, will not receives a royalty on the sale. But shops and artists who purchase bootleg flash art are cheating themselves too. When a tattoo flash artist becomes discouraged enough to quit creating flash sets, a great source of designs is simply gone. Why bite the hand that feeds, when for a little extra you can legally purchase terrific flash and make sure the whole industry remains healthy and viable?

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Try a Temporary Flash

Tattoo Johnny, an online tattoo store, offers a way to test drive a tattoo before you commit to permanent ink. They sell a kit that contains one sheet of tattoo test paper, and one clear transfer sheet. After you download your design from the site, you can play around with the sizing on your home printer. When you're ready, use your kit and follow the directions for printing. What you wind up with is a temporary tattoo sheet, much like children use. You can put it on the same way, with water, and wear the tat for a day or two to see how you like it. You can even print multiple designs on one sheet of transfer and try out your tattoo in different places until you are sure of what you want. This is a great way to avoid permanent regrets later.

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Freedom of Design

Remember, you don't need to have your flash tattooed exactly as it is on the page. Instead of having the same tat as perhaps hundreds of other people, you can take the design you like and have it customized a bit by your artist for a tattoo unlike anyone else's. Tattoo flash art can be the stepping off point for wherever your imagination takes you.

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