Black and grey tattoos have a storied history with roots in the prison system. Motivated by their need for a creative outlet, prisoners innovated the black and grey style and tattooing process using the limited resources available to them. They tattooed their personal histories on their bodies without any color at all, often relying on ink from pens or ashes from cigarettes. Though the black and grey style was popularized among inmates, it has progressed into the tattoo mainstream. Nowadays, black and grey tattoos are a timeless form of body art, offering more versatility and wearability than vibrant color tattoos.
How, you may ask? For one thing, black and grey tattoos create cohesion among different designs, making them perfect additions to existing ink or as the basis for large-scale work like tattoo sleeves. Black and grey ink can also add timeless beauty to even the quirkiest designs, and many tattoo artists specialize in detailed black and grey work, ranging in style from realism to pop culture pieces. If you’re looking to get an eye-catching tattoo with enduring appeal, check out these enviable black and grey tattoo ideas below.
Black and Grey Tattoo Sleeves
Tattoo sleeves on the arms and legs can be the perfect accessory to any outfit when uncovered. With artfully decorated arms and legs, no extra accessories are needed — most body art enthusiasts agree, any t-shirt, tank top, or dress looks substantially cooler on inked skin. When you need to display a more professional appearance, tattoo sleeves can easily be covered with long shirt sleeves and pants; and for times when you’re feeling just a little edgy, you can roll up your sleeves to reveal just a peek at your ink.
Unlike tattoo sleeves inked in full color, black and grey ink is eye-catching without overwhelming the eyes. Plus, even as your sleeves fade over time, black and grey ink often maintains a lot of its boldness, which contributes to its timeless charm. Inks by Panthera and Silverback strive to formulate the perfect black ink and greywash pigments for that very purpose. You can shop for a wide variety of black tattoo ink at PainfulPleasures.com.
Arms and legs are also the perfect canvases for telling an intricate story in black and grey ink or acting as the backdrop to a unique single design. Whatever your style, black and grey tattoos can add permanent-but-timeless beauty to your sleeve.
Black and Grey Tattoos for Chest and Back
While the arms and legs provide easily visible and flowing canvases for black and grey sleeve tattoos, the more expansive and flat canvas of the chest and back calls for a different style of tattoo. These designs can range from symmetrical and ornamental chest tattoos to intricate full-back displays.
The chest offers a prominent space for designs to to peek out from beneath low-cut shirts. Chest panels in black and grey can highlight the shape and structure of the pectoral muscles or breasts in a variety of styles. The chest is the perfect space for ornate displays featuring perfect symmetry as a focal point of the design. Wings and flowers are especially conducive to symmetrical designs, so tough birds and pretty florals are just a couple examples of popular subjects for chest tattoos.
For tattoo-lovers looking for ink that is both massive and easy to hide, the back is the ideal canvas. The back is the most expansive space on the body, making it the greatest potential canvas for any major ink you desire. With a back tattoo, you have the possibility of the design beginning at the neck and expanding downwards onto the buttocks. For this reason, the historic Japanese Irezumi tattooing style, which is often done in black and grey, makes the most efficient use of the back as a canvas; this style features cohesive designs that can span across the arms, back, neck, butt, and even onto the legs with strict outlines ending precisely where their clothing covers.
Whether you want ornamental tattoos or a design encompassing nearly half your body, black and grey tattoos have unmatched potential to give any design beauty and longevity.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the official position of PainfulPleasures.
