There are tattoo designs to suit any part of the body, however there are some placement areas that require more consideration than others and that includes hand tattoos which can look really cool but also have a few disadvantages to them also. As this is a very prominent area, a tattoo in this area is going to be visible pretty much all of the time – unless you are prone to wearing gloves a lot – and will be impossible to conceal. Of course, some areas of the hand are more likely to attract attention than others and that would include the backs as these are constantly in full view whatever you are doing. On the other hand – literally – a tattoo inked on the palm area will not be as noticeable as we tend to keep our hands palm down a lot of the time. The inner edge of your hand is another option for tattoos of this nature or the outer edge; however these areas of skin are much narrower than other parts of the hand so your choice of design would be more limited here. A smallish design that is long and narrow would be your best option, and written names, words and text are ideal but would be especially cool is inked in a foreign script such as Sanskrit, Hebrew or Arabic. Not only do these look really cool but they are in keeping with one of the biggest tattooing trends in recent years which has seen the more traditional picture images use in body art replaced with words and writing instead.
Whatever design appeals to you for hand tattoos, one of the basic rules for body art in this placement area is too keep it fairly simple with a minimum amount of lines and detail as this will ensure that the ink on your tattoo does not ‘bleed’ or smudge, distorting the end result. A good example of an image that works well in this area is the star; either as an outline in black or dark grey ink or several tiny ones together in similar monochrome ink shading however floral designs are another favourite that can look good here. If you want a flower or vine design tattooed on your hand, this could be extended towards or around the wrist or around and onto the palm or fingers. Once again however, as these images will be fairly small, it is important to keep the detail to a minimum for best effect.
One of the main disadvantages of hand tattoos is that they often do not have the longevity of other designs due to the amount we use our hands and constant exposure they have to the sunlight. Every time you wash your hands, rub them together, sweat, clap or even hold something in them, then you are more than likely giving your tattoo reason to fade much quicker. However, while there is a good chance that a tattoo design on your hand may need touching up every few years, this will not break the bank as designs for this area tend to be smaller and involve less work so they are not expensive to create initially or re-do.
