Flash Designs as Selection Guide
Tattoo artists use flash sheets as a guide for helping customers select designs. These pre-drawn images often include anchors, skulls, dragons, and pin-up girls that you see hanging up at tattoo shops.
Origins of Flash Tattooing
Flash tattooing got its name for a reason. According to legend, tattooists used flash designs during more illicit periods to quickly show them to prospective clients while running away from law enforcement officers.
Tattoo Shop Culture
Tattoo shops feel complete with walls of hand-painted flash designs adorning them, giving customers something to gaze upon as they shop. Flash designs have long been considered essential parts of tattoo industry culture; they showcase each artist’s approach to tattooing.
Collecting and Selling Flash Designs
Tattoo artists would keep track of which drawings generated the most revenue and would collect them onto “pork chop” sheets to sell as one package – this helped expand the American traditional tattoo genre and unify aesthetic.
Symbolism in Tattoo Designs
Tattoo designs were often chosen to symbolize various things, such as animals, military insignia, and landscapes. Tattoos served as an expression of self-expression and a way to identify an individual – often symbolizing courage or strength, faith or family, and a desire for adventure and exploration.
Meaning Behind Old School Tattoo Symbols
Old-school tattoo flash designs carry many distinct connotational meanings that stem from specific cultures and histories. For example, sailors often got anchor tattoos as a mark of pride while reminding themselves of loved ones back home. Snakes, symbolizing strength and power, were usually drawn coiled up. Women’s head tattoos represented feminine beauty and wanderlust.
Reusable Flash Designs
Tattoo shops aren’t complete without sheets of flash designs hanging on the walls and stored in customers’ binders. Flash is still used for various reasons in tattoo studios. These sheets can cover virtually any topic imaginable, from an artist’s personal work to popular themes like flowers, skulls, and animals.
The Process of Creating Flash Designs
Start by sketching out your design on a sheet of tracing paper. Add another sheet, over your original drawing, and sketch out cleaner, darker lines – this will become the final version of your flash sheet.
Styles of Flash tattoos
People usually associate flash tattoos with old-school styles associated with traditional American tattoos. These designs typically feature bold designs with black outlines and a strong sense of pattern. Color options typically include reds, yellows, and browns; common ways include sailors’ anchors, hearts, swallows, owls, and skeletons.
Using Flash Designs in the Tattooing Process
Tattoo artists use flash sheets to display their work and demonstrate to prospective clients what they offer. When customers select an artwork they like, an artist can quickly make a stencil and begin working on it immediately.
Practicing Drawing and Creating Personalized Flash Sheets
Many tattoo artists find that practicing drawing alone before an apprenticeship helps them refine their abilities as artists. While digitally designed tattoo flash can be included in portfolios, a future mentor will want to see evidence of drawing ability – the best way to show that is by creating personalized flash sheets yourself.
