Tattoos are a powerful method of self-expression, allowing you to decorate your body with pieces of art that represent you and your interests. Artists are continually honing their skills and coming up with new tattoo styles, allowing for more personal pieces as well as speciality techniques that they become renowned for. While some may think that following new tattoo trends is risky, it offers for more modern styles to develop and the ability to customise your piece further. Looking for inspiration for your next piece of ink? Check out our predictions for the most popular tattoo trends 2022.
Latest tattoo trends
While the popularity of a style shouldn’t impact your tattoo choice too much, it’s always good to know the ever-emerging tattoo styles. The tattoo scene is continuously evolving, allowing for new skills, specialities and styles to emerge. With this comes the chance to find a style you truly adore, regardless of how popular it may be.
Cuff tattoo
Typically tattooed in a black, dotwork style, cuff tattoos have quickly become a popular style. As the name suggests, a cuff tattoo is one that encircles the wrist, arm or ankle, wrapping around to make a complete tattoo. If you’re confused as to how this would look, imagine a bracelet of ink. While they may be on-trend, it’s incredibly easy to make a cuff tattoo completely unique and personal to you. From pretty floral styles to bold, traditional symbols, there’s an abundance of ways to make this style your own.
Miniature tattoos
Big and bold tattoos have always been on-trend, but 2022 is the year of small scale ink. Dainty yet impactful, miniature tattoos go hand-in-hand with the fine line style that’s become increasingly popular over the last year. These delicate tattoos are easily hidden, making them the perfect choice for those who have to keep them covered for work. They may be small, but they’re undoubtedly mighty and can be placed pretty much anywhere on the body without looking over the top in professional environments.
Sketch tattoos
Sketch style tattoos are incredibly intricate and unique, if not deliberately unpolished. They’re typically tattooed with black ink, creating a fluid piece that looks like its jumped straight out of an artist’s notebook. Some tattooists prefer to do this tattoo style completely freehand, although others prefer to use a pre-sketched stencil.
Black ink tattoos
Dynamic and daring, black ink tattoos aren’t for the faint-hearted. While styles using primarily black ink, such as dotwork, are highly popular, many artists are now favouring larger blocks of black over partially shaded designs. What would initially be shaded is left bare, with just the skin peeking through to separate each area of the design. Black ink tattoos certainly aren’t a new concept, but they’re definitely hitting the mainstream for ink lovers in 2022.
3D Line Tattoos
If you’re looking for something that truly pops, a 3D-effect tattoo may be for you. Many people think of those hyper-realistic 3D tattoos that remain popular, but in this case, these tattoos are overlapped lines in traditional 3D-colours such as red and blue. They’re typically tattooed with a fine needle with little shading, making the coloured lines stand out even more so. Unfortunately, they don’t actually work with 3D glasses, but you’ll have plenty of fun convincing people they do, should you get one.
Subtle matching tattoos
Matching tattoos are considered to be a risky move but are also a popular way of cementing a certain time or relationship. This has resulted in people staying away from large declarations of love and names, instead opting for more subtle pieces. These often don’t match exactly, working as standalone pieces rather than an obvious couples design. This could include a sun and moon symbol, lyrics or a bow and arrow.
Getting a tattoo is an incredibly personal thing, but there’s no harm in getting inspiration. We predict that the above techniques are going to continue growing in popularity, but the tattoo world is ever-changing. From shading to design, it’s certain that techniques are going to evolve, resulting in a plethora of new styles.
If you’re also looking to get your first tattoo, be sure to check out our Ultimate Guide to Getting Your First Tattoo as a starting point!
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