In the past, residents of the South Pacific used tattoos as a way to mark their skills. Tattoos were also used as a way to ward away evil spirits and disease. Tattoos were seen on fingers and on the wrist, as well as featured prominently on the face and neck. Tattoos have also been used to designate membership in a clan as well.

Along the way, Japan also began to use of tattoos as well. The Japanese people used tattoos for religious and ceremonial rites. Tattoos were seen in the western regions as well, although they certainly weren't well accepted at first.

Beginning in the late 1960s, tattoos really began to become popular again. What we are seeing today is a tattoo renaissance which has taken its inspiration from places such as the French Polynesia, Thailand and Japan and raised the practice in the Western hemisphere to advanced artistic heights.

Today people are not people content with walking into a studio and choosing some stock 'flash' design off the wall, with little regard to its placement of their bodies. People want their body art - and it really is art - to symbolize something personal to them.

Modern tattoo artists no longer see the human body as a blank sheet of paper that they can draw on and toss away. Tattoo artists are not willing today to place dull lifeless designs in a seemingly haphazard way, but they tend to treat the body as a three-dimensional canvas onto which each tattoo is placed, to live in balance with the body and existing tattoos.

There are millions of stock flash designs out there for tattoos ? including different color combinations that have helped to make tattoos the phenomenon they are today. Tattoo artists today commonly use the stock flash as a starting point from which to add their own artist's spin.

Today tattoos are more common than ever, particularly small tattoos. Men and women alike have tattoos, some small tattoos, some large tattoos encompassing their entire body. You must be realistic about your expectations, and take into consideration that this piece of art will be with you forever.

Most people who decide to get tattoos today choose them for their symbolic meaning, as well as the beauty. Although there are still some people who get tattoos strictly based on the design, some of those people tend to regret their choice of tattoo later on in their life.

Tattoos can be quite eye-catching, and capture a lot of positive attention.