Moon/Detritus Tree/Collapse for Stephanie, by Noel’le Longhaul, based out of Providence, Rhode Island. Noel’le’s tattoos are almost always product of long, intimate, and involved consultations, working intensely and closely with their clients/collaborators, considering each tattoo to be an individual psychic and spiritual medicine, crafted specifically for its bearer.
Anonymous asked: can you explain what exactly black work means? you recently posted a fear and loathing tattoo and I'm just wondering why it doesn't exactly qualify. thanks!
There isn’t really a set definition, the main things that show up a lot in what are broadly considered blackwork are some or all of the following.
- Large areas of solid black
- large geometric shapes
- Stippling used for shading (aka dotwork)
- Inspiration from various old world tattooing traditions (the Maori patterns as an example)
- Radiating patterns (aka mandalas)
So while I did think that was a rad as fuck tattoo, it’s a little too illustrative and uses shading techniques that aren’t really emblematic of the general “genre” of blackwork.
