Watercolor Tattoos – Where Gentle Splashes Of Colors Meet Ink

Watercolor technique means using pigment dissolved in water and bound by a colloid agent so that it adheres to the working surface when applied with the brush.

Watercolor may be transparent or opaque and the term arises because, in varying degrees, water is always used in the largest proportion and, in the purest application of the medium, twice—both to mix pigments and to dilute the colours.

Because the style of watercolor tattoos is more delicate and fluid than “traditional” tattoos, it’s easy to think that they’re created with different equipment. However, watercolor tattoos are actually created in the same way and don’t require any different set-up.

The only difference is that an artist must learn a number of techniques—including blurs, bleeds, fades, and runs—to achieve a watercolor look, which is why it’s important to find an experienced and trained artist.

Watercolor tattoos are not done with special inks or needles. Every tattoo artist learns a variety of techniques as they study.

To create the watercolor look, an artist needs to practice softer lines and shading.

Typical techniques employed in watercolor tattoos include:

• bleeding,
• gradients,
• splattering,
• layering,
• and scumbling.

These techniques elevate the appearance of your tattoo and give it a light and fluid look.

Some watercolor tattoos are fully saturated, but on a gradient, with an artist sometimes using multiple shades of the same color.

One other way is for artists to create these effects by actually watering down their inks, then layering them – just as a watercolor on canvas would work!

It’s all about practice, and studying the juggernauts in the watercolor world – it’s a technique that takes time to master.

For all tattoos there is a usual tattoo healing timeline that you should be aware of.

Apart from that, there are some other factors to consider, too:

• the value and tone of the skin. 
• the skin’s frequency in the sun
• how well one takes care of their skin.
• the range of contrast in the tattoo such as subtle color and saturated tones.

Finally, the quality in the execution of the tattoo is the most important element. All of these and more play into the longevity of a tattoo.

Watercolor tattooing is actually a young tattoo trends, and as such it’s not easy to talk about the longevity of the tattoos.

Now, a new trend in the tattoo community is bound to create some sort of debate and discussion, and watercolor tattoo is no stranger to that.

As with many new tattoo trends, the old school is disputing if these tattoos are a good investment because no bold black outlines or strong pigmented colors are used.

Thus, many believe these tattoos will ultimately fade more easily.

The issue is that since the style is so new we don’t have many examples of long-terms watercolor tattoos to use as evidence.

While we can see some forms of watercolor tattoos fading quickly with blurring, this may arguably be the fault of the artist themselves attempting a style they aren’t properly trained in.

With watercolor tattoos being so popular, there are few truly great watercolor tattooists that fully understand the medium yet.

An adamant supporter of the watercolor tattoo technique, Joel Wright argues that it’s not uncommon for all tattoos to need a touch up at some point, especially when it comes to the fading discussion.