Engraving Tattoos

Gallery of engraving style tattoos that can be filtered by subject, body part and size.

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Tattoo artists

Jo Inkdone
room Seoul
58
Tattoos
23
likes
13
followers
Traditional
Engravings
+4

Contact

Shindadone
room Barcelona 🇪🇸
31
Tattoos
7
likes
8
followers
Illustrative
Blackwork
+5

Contact

Subliquidadone
room Barcelona 🇪🇸 · Berlin 🇩🇪 · Florence 🇮🇹 · Ghent 🇧🇪 · Madrid 🇪🇸 · Genoa 🇮🇹 · Nantes 🇫🇷 · Turin 🇮🇹 · Milan 🇮🇹
11
Tattoos
12
likes
12
followers
Blackwork
Illustrative
+6

Contact

Alex Creamdone
room Barcelona 🇪🇸
4
Tattoos
5
likes
3
followers
Blackwork
Illustrative
+7

Contact

Marlène Le Cidredone
room Paris 🇫🇷
17
Tattoos
17
likes
6
followers
Blackwork
Line Art
+4

Contact

Nour Cabailledone
room Ferney-Voltaire
10
Tattoos
13
likes
2
followers
Illustrative
Blackwork
+4

Contact

Diego Guimarãesdone
room Curitiba
8
Tattoos
0
likes
2
followers
Black and grey
Blackwork
+1

Contact

Ruby Goredone
room Gresham 🇺🇸 · Philadelphia
7
Tattoos
11
likes
17
followers
Blackwork
Engravings

Contact

Loïc LeBeufdone
room Geneva 🇨🇭 · Carouge
258
Tattoos
356
likes
104
followers
Blackwork
Engravings
+1

Contact

Lisa Orthdone
room Los Angeles
73
Tattoos
61
likes
38
followers
Engravings
Line Art

Contact

Yuldone
room Vancouver
26
Tattoos
9
likes
1
follower
Lettering
Illustrative
+1

Contact

Melle Alyxdone
room Montreal
208
Tattoos
105
likes
49
followers
Blackwork
Engravings

Contact

Otto D'ambradone
room London
89
Tattoos
32
likes
27
followers
Engravings
Surrealism

Contact

Sam Rulzdone
room Vienna
85
Tattoos
46
likes
23
followers
Illustrative
Neotraditional
+1

Contact

Alex Tabunsdone
room Saint Petersburg 🇷🇺
70
Tattoos
136
likes
59
followers
Blackwork
Engravings
+2

Contact

Kalatu
room Brooklyn
Engravings

Contact

Tomislav Majic
room Zagreb
Illustrative
Engravings
+1

Contact

Sasha Masiuk
room Los Angeles 🇺🇸
Blackwork
Illustrative
+1

Contact

description

Engraving tattoos simulate the lines and textures of carvings, as if the skin were made of wood, metal or stone. These are also sometimes called “etching” or “woodcut” tattoos, depending on the artist’s inspiration and source material.

Engravings are some of the oldest forms of human communication and art, with examples dating back to the Stone Age. Egg shell, bone and rock carvings were present in prehistoric communities around the world.

Woodblock stamps have historical significance in many trades, especially in the printing of texts and textiles. Tattooing also benefitted from the use of carved wooden molds and blocks. Some of the earliest tattoo stencils (tools that transfer designs to the skin as a guideline for tattooers) were made with woodblocks in Asian and Middle Eastern communities.

Engraving and etching, as art forms in the west, exploded during the Middle Ages. With the invention of the printing press, there was a growing demand for mass-produced imagery, as well. Metal and wooden stamps with standardized designs allowed for cheap image reproduction at a high volume. Printing in this fashion was popular until the invention of photography in the 20th century.

In the simplest terms, tattoos mimicking hand carvings tend to have thick and distinct linework with a two-dimensional perspective. Tattoos mimicking machine engravings and etchings may have thinner lines and more complex hatching / cross-hatching (techniques that create the illusion of depth, shading and texture using just lines).

Disambiguation:

Engraving tattoos are not to be confused with “skin carving,” which is another term for scarification. The latter is a more invasive body modification where the top layers of skin are peeled away from the body to create a design with scar tissue.

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