Tattoos are more popular than ever before.  It is estimated that nearly 1 in 4 people have at least one tattoo.  When deciding on a tattoo design, there are many different styles to choose from, giving people a chance to be creative. The article below will explore some of the most popular tattoo designs (not necessarily forearm tattoos).

Tribal tattoos are among the most popular designs. Tribal tattoos have a history dating back many hundreds of years and they continue to evolve and become more and more complex with their designs and styles. Tribal tattoos can either be the traditional black style that cover the arms and the legs or the more colorful styles that can cover every area of the body. The colorful, more modern look is becoming more and more popular when compared to other styles.

The “old school” styles of tattoos continue to be popular. Anchors and other more ‘retro’ designs are making a great comeback these days and are not just tattooed on sailors. These styles were very popular back in the 1960 and 70s. We are pleased to see that they are re-gaining their popularity

Lower back tattoos are the most common for women. The lower back is one of the most sexual and sensual areas on a women, making the ideal spot to have a tattoo. Tribal designs are the most popular, although dragons, flowers, and other symbols make great tattoos as well. The lower back offers plenty of natural curves, which can make for an innovative tattoo. 

Dragon designs are another popular type style of tattoos. They were popular in the past, and are now starting to get their popularity back. There are a lot of different dragons to choose from, including the mythical dragon and ancient Chinese dragon. Dragons are great on the chest or shoulder for males and the back for females. Dragon tattoos can be virtually any size, although most males tend to have them cover one side of their chest or the upper region of their arms.

Celtic tattoos are also popular as well (and our favourite). They are mostly seen with those who have a Celtic heritage (in particular Scottish, Welsh, Irish or Cornish), although many with no Celtic heritage have them now because they offer a variety of symbols and designs, providing universal meanings for everyone. 

There are several other types of tattoos out there, although the above are the most common. Tattoos can be very creative and innovative; it all depends on what you want. If you’re looking to stand out and be truly creative – you can always have a professional tattoo artist design one for you.

If you are looking for inspiration or a more standard design you could start with checking out the links below.

The sites below provide literally thousands of tattoo design ideas. All you have to do is register and choose your design, print it off and take it down to your local tattoo parlor.

Each of the sites below categorizes the designs to make it easy to find what you are looking for. The popular designs (including Tribal Tattoos, Dragon Tattoos, Flower Tattoos, Lower Back Tattoos, Anchor Tattoos, Forearm Tattoos and Celtic Tattoos) as mentioned above can all be obtained from these sites.

Chopper-Tattoo (provides you with literally thousands of award winning tattoo designs – easy to browse)

Tattoo Me Now (3,523 designs (and growing!) in 40 categories with over 37,000 customers).

Print My Tattoo (7,500 tattoo designs ready to be printed and used, with unlimited downloads).

Technorati Tags: Anchor Tattoos, celtic tattoos, Dragon Tattoos, Flower Tattoos, Forearm Tattoos, Lower Back Tattoos, tribal tattoos

If you do a general Google search for Tattoo or Forearm Tattoo designs, you will more than likely come across the Chopper Tattoo website (and the associated image below). 

Chopper Tattoos was put together by a team of tattoo experts who are well known within the tattoo industry for their contributions to tattoo design and tattoo art.

Chopper Tattoo is a tattoo design website with a database of about 4000 tattoo’s, specifically set up to help you choose a design for your next tattoo.

You can download and print as many designs as you like, and can combine different designs to make your own custom tattoo.

There are many different tattoo categories (about 38) to choose from in the membership area of Chopper Tattoo.  Once you’ve found a design you like, simply select it and you can print it out to take to your chosen tattoo artist.

Membership Costs

In my opinion the Chopper Tattoo memberships are priced fairly.   The site offers a flexible membership, depending on the length of time / amount of tattoos you require.

- 1 Month – $19.95
- 2 Months – $24.95
- Lifetime – $34

So if you only want one tattoo, then a one month membership is really all you are likely to need.  But if you are wanting multiples, then you probably want the lifetime membership.

Chopper Tattoos – Negatives

The signing up process is a bit sparse.  I am naturally wary of entering my name and e-mail address.  To their credit though, I must admit that I haven’t been bombarded with junk e-mails or spam as a result.

You will need plenty of time to trawl through the site – there is some really cool stuff on the site which is mostly a distraction. 

Chopper Tattoos – Positives

The site is very easy to use, it doesn’t matter if you are a complete beginner or an expert.  Just follow the simple steps and you will get the tattoo you are after.  As you become familiar with the way the site works you will get more out of it.

You don’t need to buy anything else.  If you have your computer and printer, that is all you need.

Chopper Tattoo categorizes the designs to make it easy to find what you are looking for. The popular designs includes Tribal Tattoos, Forearm Tattoos, Dragon Tattoos, Cross Tattoos, Star Tattoos, Lower Back Tattoos, Butterfly Tattoos, Celtic Tattoos, Fish Tattoos, Egyptian Tattoos, Gothic Tattoos and Armband Tattoos.

You can find tattoos according to size, color and keywords and so that you don’t have to pass on several pages to find out your design. 

Click here to go to the Chopper-Tattoo site

Technorati Tags: Armband Tattoos, Butterfly Tattoos, celtic tattoos, Cross Tattoos, Dragon Tattoos, Egyptian Tattoos, Fish Tattoos, Forearm Tattoos, Gothic Tattoos, Lower Back Tattoos, Star Tattoos, tribal tattoos

History
Tattoos are as popular today as they were in ancient times, but for different reasons. We wear them as decoration the ancients wore tattoos as permanent war paint. Their tattoos were designed with one thing in mind and that was to instil as much fear in their enemies as they possibly could. Wars were fought hand to hand and in battle warriors bared their chests in order to make sure that their tattoos were highly visible to the enemy. Tattoos indicated toughness and fearlessness when faced with danger. Tattoos were also designed as a method of identification, much like soldiers today wear ‘dog tags’.

Popular tattoo choices
Celts once covered a large area of Europe and had their own languages and culture, not to mention religion. The symbols they used in those days are incorporated into the highly popular Celtic tattoos used today.

The Celts worshipped gods and goddesses, animals and the land, and as they were exposed more and more to Christianity, their symbols and shapes started to change into crosses and stars. One of the reasons for this adaptation was to avoid conflict with Christian beliefs. But, these adapted elements are what remains and what is most seen in traditional tattoos.

Celtic Knot Patterns
Although many traditional Celtic designs are copied in tattoos, perhaps one of the most recognizable and coveted tattoo is the knot. Knots resemble interwoven vines and are arranged to form a particular shape, for example a heart, but their shape can be almost anything a person can think of, from circles to the more complex star shape.

A Celtic knot also carries with it the symbolism recognizable by anyone who has even a slight knowledge of Celtic art which is that it represents continuous life as well as the season’s cycles and the complexity of nature.

Animals were very important to the Celts, animals such as butterflies, dogs and geese. Butterflies were especially held in very high esteem by the Celts because of their beauty. Dogs symbolize loyalty and good luck while eagles are linked with death, so are ravens and other birds. Horses were sacred to the Celts and a tattoo depicting a horse is linked to mystery and magic. Power can be symbolized by a Celtic art tattoo of a bear while the dragon is associated with both power and magic. Sometimes an animal will be the main focus in a tattoo while others may form on a part of the background.

The number three, 3, has always featured highly in Celtic designs and is typically found somewhere in the design, at times even hidden deeply within it. It can be small or large.

Cross
The Celtic cross is without doubt perhaps the most recognisable of all Celtic designs and is a very popular tattoo subject. They are highly religious in their nature and quite often Celts will wear the design as a proclamation of their ethnic roots.

The Celtic tree of life is quite self-explanatory, it follows the same style as the knot and the cross but it is composed of interweaving lines which form branches around a tree trunk. It represents the beginning and end of life and also the eternal nature of the world we live in.

Claddagh
A Claddagh, though maybe not as well known is popular and is perhaps more recognizable to those of Celtic and Irish heritage. Consisting of two hands clasping a heart covered by a crown. When represented graphically in the form of a tattoo, it stands for everlasting love and loyalty.

The beauty of body art
Celtic designs are beautiful when incorporated into a tattoo and there are a host of different choices suited to both male and female. Almost every tattoo studio will offer a wide variety of Celtic tattoo designs.

Celtic art in the form of tattoos is very often seen as bands around the arms or on the wrist. More recently Celtic designs are being tattooed on the lower back. Celtic art is usually always done with black ink and the lines can be a combination of thick and very thick. Celtic tattoo designs have their origin dating back several thousand years and their aesthetic value has grown ever more popular since then as they are beautiful abstract works of art.

About the Author:
Tim Lazaro is a Celtic Symbol enthusiast. Visit All About Celtic Symbols for more expert advice on Celtic tattoo designs, understanding Celtic symbols, tree astrology, and other topics you can use right now if you wish to gain a better appreciation of symbols in Celtic society.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tim_Lazaro
http://EzineArticles.com/?Popular-Celtic-Tattoos-Explained&id=2439337

Technorati Tags: celtic cross tattoos, celtic knot tattoos, celtic tattoo designs, celtic tattoos, claddagh tattoo

A large majority of the people searching for Celtic tattoos end up using popular search engines for finding designs – this has become the predominant for finding tattoo artwork of all kinds. The major drawback with this method is that search engines are not really suited for finding niche tattoo websites that feature unique, one-of-a-kind Celtic designs; instead the kinds of sites that tend to dominate the first few pages of results are cookie cutter websites featuring unoriginal generic designs.

The problem with these sites is that they are designed to appeal to the largest possible online audience to generate hits and become popular with search engines. They usually feature the same old designs that are at least a few years old. Such Celtic designs have been inked on so many bodies over the past few years that they border on being cliché. Chances are that the same tattoo designs that show up on such highly ranked pages have already popped up on hundreds of other sites on the internet as well as on thousands of people around the world.

Another huge problem with picking Celtic tattoo artwork off these sites is that they are not specifically designed to be used as actual tattoos. While most of the artwork may look good to the casual viewer, they will not look as nice inked on the body. Looking good on a computer monitor or on a printout and looking good on a human body are two very different things. The people who run most these popular sites throw in any random Celtic artwork and designs without giving much thought to their suitability as tattoos. Individuals who use these designs often end up getting inked with tattoos they are not completely satisfied with – a fatal blunder when dealing with something as permanent as tattoos. 

There is hope, however. Internet discussion forums and message boards have risen to be a viable replacement for search engines when it comes to finding niche content like original Celtic tattoo designs. Tattoo forums provide a wealth of information first-hand from tattoo aficionados who have been through it all and are eager to share their experiences, good or bad, with others. Forums are a great place to find links to lesser known websites and galleries of original and fresh Celtic artwork that are perfect for tattoos. Since these links are gathered by living, breathing human-beings that are passionate about Celtic tattoo designs and not search engine algorithms, they are vastly superior to anything churned out by Google, MSN or Yahoo. While most internet users are more familiar with using search engines, it pays to take the extra time to learn how to navigate online forums – many will find it well worth their time and effort.

Article taken from ArticleCity.com

Technorati Tags: celtic tattoo artwork, celtic tattoo designs, celtic tattoo ideas, celtic tattoos