Biomechanical tattoos

Biomechanical art (also called Biomech) is a surrealistic style of art that combines elements of machines or alien tissues with human organics. Rendered with distinct realism, biomechanical art expresses an internal fantasy world, most typically represented with human or animal anatomy where bones and joints are replaced with metal pistons and gears, but infused with muscles and tendons.

various biomechanical tattoos

Biomechanical art was popularized in 1979 when Swiss artist H.R. Giger designed the alien creatures in Ridley Scott's Oscar winning movie Alien. After the popularity of Ridley Scott's 1979 movie Alien, tattoo artists began tattooing images taken directly from the movie, and from artist H.R. Giger's Necronomicon series. As the biomechanical tattoo art style became increasingly popular, tattoo artists such as Guy Aitchison and Aaron Cain began designing their own original, biomechanical art, creating one of tattoo's most popular contemporary tattoo art movements.


The most popular themes for the biomech tattoos are:
- the cyborg / robots tattoos (the skin is torn and reveals mechanical and robotic components that are enhanced by natural systems in the human body); they are typically done in black and grey, with white highlights, as these metallic, monochromatic colors are usually associated with machinery, but often red ink is used to portray muscle or tissue while blue ink is used for cables and wires. More recently, the style has evolved to sometimes include bright, unnatural colors for the wires and gears.

biomechanical tattoo: cyborg arm

- alien infestation (fusions of alien tissues with mechanical components underneath a person’s skin)

biomech tattoo: alien creature

- human body parts (bones, muscles, skulls, heads, faces, eyes, hands etc) or even human fetuses

biomechanical tattoo: human eye

biomechanical tattoo: human bones

- various animals or parts of the animals (snakes, octopuses, tentacles)

biomechanical tattoo: tentacles emerging from the head

- mythical creatures and beasts, demons, zombies, monsters, etc

biomechanical tattoo: a monster inside someone's body

Since these tattoo represent the future and the unknown, they can really be anything you desire and you can let your imagination can run wild. Creativity is key with all of the possibilities in a Biomechanical tattoo.

The best and most artistic biomechanical tattoos use an understanding of human anatomy to blend the natural body into the artificial machine components. Biomechanical tattoos often mimic the contours of muscles and bones, following the human musculoskeletal system. The point of these tattoos is to appear natural or even possible, to be believable and realistic. These tattoos are only successful when they appear to trick the eye, known as a trompe l'oeil in artistic terms. The tattoos don't need to be actually plausible, but must appear so. Talented artists fuse the human body (particularly muscles, tendons, and bones) with gears, wiring, circuits, tubes, and levers. Because of this, placement is an essential component of even the best designs. The biomechanical tattoo must be placed over the correct joints and muscles in order to look as believable as possible. Furthermore, the artist must be able to blend the tattoo into the normal, un-tattooed skin. If the biomechanical tattoo looks like a sticker or out of place then the entire effect is ruined, even if the actual tattoo is nicely executed.

Posted by Unknown 15:07 0 comments

Sun and Moon Tattoos

Sun and moon joined together in a design symbolizes the union of opposites. Nearly in all the cultures throughout the world, the sun is a masculine figure and signifies strength and power. On the other hand, the moon is considered as a feminine figure and represents calmness and unflappability. The sun is the active principle whereas the moon is the passive principle. Therefore, the coming together of the sun and the moon is similar to that of the yin and yang or the good and the bad. As we find references of the sun deity in several ancient cultures, similarly, we also find references of moon worshipers, as the moon was considered a goddess.

Sun and moon tattoos signify the basic principle of life, i.e., where there is good, there will also be bad. They also represent the fact that everything has a dark and a light side. Nothing in the world we have created is perfect. The essence of being human is the lack of perfection. Both these ideas occur simultaneously in everyone’s life and there cannot be only good or bad in any person’s life. As the sun rises and sets everyday, every person has his days of glories and nights of darkness in his life. Some people also believe that the union of the sun and the moon represents unity in diversity or the feeling of oneness. Another interesting significance of sun and moon tattoos is the unification of the masculine sun and the feminine moon. Sometimes, the intertwined half sun and half moon tattoos are used to signify love and marriage.

The sun and the moon also represent cycles. Everything has a cycle: that which lives must die. Cycles are a necessary part of life, and they make life all the more worth living.



Sun Tattoo Designs
The sun is the most powerful symbol among all other tattoo designs and hence, is donned by large number of people. The sun stands for light, power, strength and vigor. Similarly, it is also believed to represent fertility, reincarnation and harvest. As mentioned above, the sun was worshiped since a long time, as there can be no life on the earth without the sun. Tattoo lovers have the sun in various forms and patterns colored on their bodies. In astrological terms, the sun represents Yang energy, which is masculine in nature.

Moon Tattoo Designs
The moon plays Yin to the sun’s Yang. The moon is also one of the most popular symbols for its mythical meaning. Similar to the sun, the moon is believed to give light at night. This astrological body is feminine in energy, and is considered a symbol of the feeling side of human nature.As a deity, moon worship is even older than sun worship. It is also a feminine symbol and stands for motherhood. The moon is also believed to control the emotions of human beings. Some people also believe, that in the ancient times, moon worship was more common than the sun worship and it is even considered as an older form of worship than the sun worship. The phases of the moon were also noted by the ancients to have a direct affect on the Earth. The moon’s gravitational pull governs the tides, and her distinct phases were also used to create the first calendars civilization had ever known. In fact, some cultures and religions, still follow the lunar calendar. Moon tattoos make glorious use of this astrological body in all her phases. Designs include full moons, crescent moons and everything in between.

Tattoo Ideas
The first way you could approach this tattoo would be to mix the sun and moon together into one singular design. You could choose to give the sun and moon each a face, to give them that hint of humanity. Or, you could leave them plain to represent them as beings of nature. You could also consider separating them, making it into two separate tattoos. For this type you could use opposite sides of your body, representing the cycle of day and night.

One of the most popular design for the Star-and-Moon tattoos

The main design of the Star-and-Moon tattoos

The same design as in image above, this time in a coloured-tattoo

Sun and Moon depicted as two creepy human faces

Sun and Moon tattoo: an abstract representation

the Sun and the Moon tattoos represent the idea that everyone has a dark and a light side

brightly coloured Sun-and-Moon tattoo

the intertwined half sun and half moon as a symbol of love

the intertwined half sun and half moon tattoos are used to signify love and marriage

Sun-and-Moon surrounded by little stars

the celestial patterns such as the sun, moon, and stars make great tattoo designs

Posted by Unknown 03:33 0 comments

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoos (VIII)

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoos - the last episode

Posted by Unknown 02:41 0 comments

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoos (VII)

In the recent years, even in the russian prisons the criminal tattoos are slowly becoming unfashionable and many of the ex-convicts are trying to get rid of the tattoos (usually, the methods used to remove the tattoos are causing damages to the skin and permanent scarring).

Posted by Unknown 07:33 0 comments

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoos (VI)

The criminal tattoos are becoming less and less popular in the russian prisons. Most of the new inmates don't know anything about the meanings of the old criminal tattoos and they are getting all kind of tattoos.

According to the old inmates, in the past times, the inmates used to have to answer for their tattoos and harsh punishments were meted out to inmates who couldn't give the right answer. The usual punishments included severe beatings, the breaking of the arms of the offenders and the cutting off of the tattoo along with the skin.

Posted by Unknown 06:13 0 comments

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoos (V)

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoo (V)

Getting a tattoo in prison can be very risky for the health; AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis and syphilis are just a few examples of diseases that can be transmitted through tattooing.
There are over 100.000 convicts with TB in the russian prisons, and aprox 20.000 of them have an incurable form of tuberculosis.

Posted by Unknown 03:27 0 comments

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoos (IV)

The mark of Cain: the russian criminal tattoo, episode 3. The first episode can be seen here and the second episode can be seen here. The 3rd episode can be seen here

In this episode: details about the White Swan, the toughest prison in Russia

A tough convicted has the right to get a tattoo on the eyelids - usually a message like "Don't dare to wake me up!" - an avertisment for the other convicted to keep quiet when the tough guy is sleeping.

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