On “watercolor” tattoos

First of all, a quick look at watercolor as a medium.

floral watercolor original oregon landscape painting nude watercolor painting, naked smile

 

Granted, these are all paintings I’ve done. Maybe some other artist uses messy lines and colors outside them, splashing paint randomly everywhere?

Signet 1 Watercolor Painting By Cape Ann Artist Kate SomersPink-Magnolias-watercolour-painting-by-Joe-Cartwright-743x1024SXSDXLOW

No. Actually, these look if anything MORE precise and controlled than my work does. These are amazing!

Who wouldn’t want a tattoo like that?
So why are people getting sloppy tattoos and calling them “watercolor” tattoos?
I have seen some great tattoos lately that could be classed this way; it’s not that they’re all terrible tattoos or anything. I’ve done plenty of work that looks just like an actual watercolor painting, too. It’s the association of “watercolor” with “outside the lines color and crappy unplanned lines to begin with” that bothers me.

Watercolor is an extremely versatile medium. The tattoos I’m thinking of do not look like that medium, they just look sloppy.

I’ve done plenty of tattoos that look like watercolor paintings. If you’re a tattooer, have you? If you have, post a link in the comments, I’d love to see more examples of this style done right.

watercolor landscape tattoo

zombie tattoo buffalo tattoo  fish and lotus tattoo bird with autumn leaves tattoo