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Hawaiian arm tattoos is one of the biggest and hottest growing
trends in the art of tattoo design and leg band tattoos. As this trend goes
a lot of people think to themselves, well of course. At least that is
what I said to myself at first. You can hardly drive more then 10
minutes on the freeway in southern California where I am from and not
see a big SUV like a Lincoln Navigator or a Cadillac Escalade and not
see a Hawaiian sticker. Things with flowers designs, or turtles,
dolphins.
This trend of Hawaiian design has then met it's match with the
whole tribal tattoo movement. Tribal tattoos have been the hottest
thing in the tattoo world since sliced bread or the old school WWII
era Hula dancer. You see these influences have been all around us for
a long time my grandpa even has one of those Hula Girls tattoos still.
Granted it is a little saggy and faded now but he still has one on his
forearm nonetheless. So the whole tribal tattoo and the growth in
interest for Hawaiian designs have combined to make a hot and growing
market for Hawaiian tattoos. This is really an up and coming thing and
it not huge yet. However many tattoo artists are spotting the trend
and jumping on it already.
Of course there is a lot of controversy on this subject also like
anything. If you look on the internet there is a controversy about
getting Kanji and Japanese Tattoos also. Anytime you try and take the
designs of a culture and do not depict them accurately it creates a
sense of bastardization or what I call the "Disney Effect" towards the
culture. I mean how would you feel if you were in China and someone
said, oh you should try this hot new restaurant out it serves this
great food that is really American. They have fried chicken and apple
pie that is the best." Well, at first you would be excited right? Sure
it would be nice for a good home cooked meal if you have been out of
the US for a long time. However once you get there you see the place
has really tacky and awful reproductions of 50's art and the all the
food tastes kind of strange. It would probably bee kind of close or
resemble what you were thinking of but it would be missing something
or a few key ingredients. I bet this would leave you feeling a little
sad and like your culture was not totally understood.
Well, I can not speak for you and maybe you will feel different but
I was pretty sad when after staying in Japan for 3 months I was
invited to a 1950's classic hamburger joint. When we got there it was
Elvis with a funny accent playing on the jukebox and when my hamburger
came it had a fried egg on top of it with teriyaki sauce. WOW what a
surprise that was for me. I kind of felt weird about being in the
place that had tried to recreate something from my own culture.
So, the same controversy rolls on in the world of tattoos. Anytime
you get a tattoo design from another culture just make sure you go
with a professional. Do not have your friend trace out some Kanji in a
book for a tattoo and don't go and rip some design of the internet
because it states that it is Hawaiian. Go to a real custom tattoo
designer and have them do the research and come up with some designs.
After all this is going to be on your body for the rest of your life
and since Hawaiian arm band tattoos and leg tattoos are typically big
it will be a significant investment in pain, time and money to get the
thing done. So you should consult with a professional and get top
notch work done.
   
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