None of the tattoo placement options are as popular as hand tattoos. The sketches of the images located here are infinitely varied, the pain of application is minimal, and the ability to display the design or hide it from strangers inspires many to choose their hands as the canvas for a tattoo.
Lighthouse on hand in color
History of development
Probably, no type of tattoo has such a long history as hand tattoos. This is due to the fact that here the image is easiest to notice.
It is curious that in many cultures, tattoos on the hands were a purely feminine decoration. Thus, in the Mbaya tribe, only women covered themselves with patterns from wrist to shoulder, pricking the skin with cactus spines or fish bones, and introducing soot mixed with saliva as paint. Eskimo women also had compositions of lines and arcs on their arms. And the women of the Khanty and Mansi peoples hid the meaning of the tattoos on their hands even from close men.
Tattoos on the hands had, first of all, informative and identification functions, helped to distinguish friends from strangers and told about the biography, character and worldview of the wearer. IN Medieval Europe there was a tradition of stamping on the body a sign associated with a person’s craft. For example, butchers decorated their left hand two axes with a bull's head.
Pilgrims to Jerusalem dreamed of bringing with them a tattooed cross from the Holy Land. In addition, lifelong hand painting was typical for the punishment of criminals and robbers, so that every person, looking at them, would immediately understand who he was dealing with.
Now the informative function has faded into the background, although it continues to exist in some individual cells of society: the army, prison, clans and groups. Most people apply images for aesthetic purposes, preferring abstractions.
On men's hands Polynesian, Celtic and Slavic motifs, fantasy sleeves, plots involving a variety of animals: wolves, dragons, lions predominate. Women more often strive to immortalize events and internal experiences that are important to them on their bodies. Hence the love for inscriptions and dates, astrological symbolism. No less popular are floral patterns, bright floral motifs, stars and hearts.
Rose on hand in color
This is interesting. Famous people of this world love to attract attention to themselves. Hand tattoos are one of the most simple way bring this idea to life, because their hands are always under the gun of cameras. Rita Ora wears a dainty feather on her inside palms Cara Delevingne will boast a lion face on her finger, and Zoe Kravitz will all-seeing eye on the bend of the elbow. Ireland Baudwin has a stylish black arrow on her forearm, and Emma Stone has unusual bird's feet on her wrist. Supermodel Kate Moss surprised fans with a small anchor on the inside of her arm. Olivia Wilde wears "All love, A" on her arm as a tribute to her uncle Alexander. The bracelet on Scarlett Johansson's wrist is very interesting: it is a chain with the hammer of the thunderer Thor and an inscription that speaks of her love for New York.
Tattoo on arm in old school style
Why are hand tattoos so popular?
I have several stars on my wrist and a swallow on my shoulder. I like my tattoos, and I think others do too.
Victoria, Veliky Novgorod
- The ability to choose one of the parts of the hand, experiment with colors and sizes, because a wide variety of sketches look equally good here.
- Relative painlessness of stuffing, compared to other parts of the body.
- The ability to hide the image under clothes with long sleeves.
- Convenience of applying a pattern to this area, both for the master and for the customer.
- The skin here is less susceptible to changes with age or weight gain, which means your pattern will remain in its original form for much longer.
Tattoo on arm in biomechanical style
Advice. Be especially careful when choosing a specialist and a salon, because your hands are the most exposed place and will most often be visible. The work must be done very well so that you are not ashamed of it and do not want to cover it up later.
black rose tattoo on hand
Areas for drawing
- Fingers. Ideal place for small symbols and rings. It is worth remembering that the images here are not so durable, because the skin on the fingers is renewed very quickly.
- Palms. A very rare, but nonetheless common location option. Hidden signs and amulets are placed here.
- Back of the hand. Tiny images and subtle inscriptions are usually located here.
- Wrists. A popular area for applying small drawings, floral patterns and lettering.
- Hands. Unconventional, but very interesting choice for brave individuals.
- Back of the hand. The design here is hidden from prying eyes, and this option is chosen by those people who only want a conscious demonstration of their decoration.
- Forearm. Often, a tattoo filled here smoothly flows into an image on the shoulder.
- Shoulder. One of the most popular options for medium-sized drawings. The smooth skin of this area allows you to place various portraits here, and those with pumped up muscles are famous for their greatest love for drawings on the shoulder.
Such different tattoos on hands
The sleeve is the pinnacle of art
When I decided to get a tattoo, I didn’t even have any doubts about where to get it. It seems to me that hands are the ideal canvas for body art. I put the grin of a wolf on my shoulder and never regretted the choice I made.
Grigory, Smolensk
Very beautiful tattoo on the hand in the style of realism
The most difficult, responsible and time-consuming of all the options for a tattoo on the arm is making a sleeve. It is curious that tattoos on the arms, the meaning of which are so diverse, largely unite their symbolism in the extensive composition of a well-made sleeve. Today, the sleeve has become an attribute of both men's and women's tattoos, and is rightfully considered the pinnacle of the artist’s skill.
The topic of our article today is devoted to tattoos on the hand. In it we will talk in more detail about how much a tattoo on a hand costs, whether it hurts to get a tattoo on the back of the hand, as well as on the inside of the hand. We'll also talk about tattoos around the arm, tell you how to find great designs for arm tattoos and where to get cool arm tattoos. If you're interested, keep reading.
Hand tattoos are considered one of the most common. They can be found in almost every person and this is not surprising, because it is hands, so to speak, that are available to us every day.
Also in great demand are images of a feather, hieroglyphs, stripes, pulse, compass indicating direction, hourglass, names, etc. Women prefer to get simple tattoos on their arms. If you dream of a body design, you can find many tattoo ideas on the Internet.
Hand tattoo for girls – flowers 
Tattoos for girls – roses 
Men's hand tattoos are distinguished by the fact that they often depict predatory, noble and fictional animals (dragon, deer, bear, phoenix, octopus, lion with a crown, etc.), angels, and skulls on their hands. Lion hand tattoos are applied to the body by strong and self-confident individuals. These are often leaders who know what they want and how to get it.
Forest tattoo on the arm is also common. Men are attracted to images of trees (the tree of life), religious symbols (a cross on the arm, Orthodox and Catholic crosses), images of weapons (pistols), Celtic symbols (Thor's hammer) or heroes of Slavic fairy tales (heroes), etc. Often on the body and hands you can meet a wolf tattoo on your arm. Such images are painted on the body by men who are not afraid of difficulties, they are brave, courageous and faithful.
Men's arm tattoo - wolves and lion Equally popular among men and women are images of flames, text on the arm, inscription tattoos on the arm, various winged expressions, etc. Often this is a tattoo on the left hand.
However, there are those who love old style, skulls and bones, maps, weapons and other similar motifs. Dragons, snakes, and wild animals are no less popular.
Skull and skeleton tattoos 
Tattoo on hand in linework style 
Tattoos on the arms are most often on display, but they are easy to hide if necessary.
This is one of the favorite places for masters, because there are no problems with either the relief or skin turgor. You can apply drawings of any size, color and complexity without fear for their quality.
Select a sketch
- As extensive is the design of a tattoo on the hands, so are its sizes. Since hands consist of different parts, tattoos can be applied in different ways. For big works Sleeves are most often used:
- The long one represents an extensive tattoo covering from the shoulder to the wrist, representing both a complete image and a composition of several small drawings, merging into a single whole.
- When applying a half sleeve, the design is located on the upper or lower part of the arm.
- There are also so-called quarter sleeves. This is when the sketch is drawn from shoulder to elbow.
Today, hand tattoos for men are most often symbols - dragons, lions, eagles and other paraphernalia, which are signs of power, strength and courage.
Women prefer small pictures that are more gentle and congenial to them - flowers, stars, zodiac signs, and sometimes small inscriptions. Women's hand tattoos look great - bracelets made up of small flowers, pictures or inscriptions. This ornament is good to place on the wrists or forearms.
Images of a small format can also decorate men’s shoulders, especially if it is a bracelet with an woven ethnic ornament.
Many people apply tattoos on their hands only on the outer part, forgetting about the inner part. This is completely wrong, since this is just as good an area for application. They look especially good
Men's hand tattoos are considered the most popular group of tattoos. Men's tattoos on the arm include tattoos on the shoulder, forearm, elbow and wrist. With the help of a tattoo on his arm, a man can emphasize the beauty and relief of his body, masculinity and show his character. In this collection you will find many ideas for inspiration that will help you create your own unique sketch for a tattoo on your hand.
Men's Hand Tattoos on Forearm
Men's Arm and Elbow Tattoos
Men's have their own history and have even formed some stereotypes around themselves. Elbow designs used to be considered a masculine theme. Most likely this is due to the fact that they had a connection with criminal tattoos, although this connection is quite mediocre. Today, the art of tattooing has stepped forward both in technical terms and in freedom of interpretation. Men rarely choose elbow tattoos as their first tattoo. This is most often a continuation of the overall composition of the tattoo on the body. The most popular elbow tattoos for men are abstractions or ornaments.
Men's Tattoos on Arm and Shoulder
Men's ones especially help to emphasize the dignity and character of a man. Large drawing on embossed hand looks truly courageous and harmonious. Men's hand tattoos are rarely small, since they can be invisible and simply get lost on a strong shoulder. Preference is given to large, detailed sketches that occupy most of the shoulder.
Men's Tattoo Sleeve
Men's arm tattoos that cover almost the entire area of the arm are called tattoo sleeves. A sleeve tattoo can be one integral composition and include many different parts.
Find good master and getting a tattoo is half the battle. But choosing a suitable sketch and understanding the meaning of the drawing applied to the body is another task. Let's look at which tattoos on the left hand will bring happiness to their wearer, and which ones are best avoided. After all, drawings on the body have incredible power, can change a person’s personality and carry a meaning hidden from other people.
Does it make a difference which hand to get a tattoo on?
Some people don't hesitate to get a tattoo wherever they like. Others take this issue seriously. But any outside intervention changes the essence of a person. Each image carries its own meaning and energy. Is there a difference between the right and left hand in terms of applying body art? Let's look at this issue.
So on right hand Tattoos are made by those people who are not afraid to show strength of character. After all, the drawings on this half help strengthen strong-willed qualities. It seems to be good, but sometimes such qualities become uncomfortable for some people. The desire to achieve one's goals becomes so strong that a person stops paying attention to the close people around him. He is completely in his own world of achievements and victories. But, as they say, to each his own.
Fingers
Tattoos on the fingers of men's left hands used to represent the numbers of a military unit or the letters of a lover's name. Now there are many original ideas, which can be demonstrated or hidden by applying a tattoo to the side of the finger.
If you resort to palmistry, you should remember that a tattoo applied to the thumb hands.
Women tend to decorate their fingers, putting special meaning into the images. For protection, runic signs, hieroglyphs and small inscriptions are used on foreign language. For decoration and self-expression - drawings of animals, birds, patterns, etc. Each image has an individual meaning for each person.
Which design to choose for a tattoo on your left hand is, of course, up to you to decide. But you should always approach this matter carefully. After all, a tattoo is a part of a person’s soul and body, which will reflect him as a person.
