Ornamental Tattoos

Ornamental tattooing takes its vocabulary from decoration rather than from illustration — metal filigree, architectural scrollwork, the mehndi patterns of henna, the symmetry of a mandala. The defining move is that the design is drawn to the body: an ornamental chest piece is built around the actual line of your sternum, an armband around the actual taper of your arm. That is why serious ornamental work is usually drawn freehand onto the skin rather than printed flat and slapped on. A quick test for whether something is really ornamental: if the design would look wrong on somebody else's body, it is.

Because ornament is usually cut in thin line with a lot of small internal detail, it inherits fine line's ageing problem — crowded filigree closes up as ink spreads, and lace that looked airy at healing can read as a grey patch a decade later. The fix is spacing rather than simplicity: experienced ornamental artists open the gaps between elements, keep one clearly dominant shape so the eye has an anchor, and put the heaviest weight where the design crosses bone. Ornament also has to survive movement. A pattern laid over ribs, hip or the inside of the arm distorts as you move, so the layout has to be judged on a body in motion, not on a flat photograph.

It suits the sternum, the spine, the outside of the upper arm, the shoulder cap, the hip, the back of the neck, and wrist or ankle bands — anywhere a symmetric or repeating pattern has an anatomical line to organise around. It suits people who want a tattoo that reads as jewellery rather than as a picture. It does not suit an isolated small placement with no axis to work from. Browse the full style index if you are still deciding, or open any design below for its prompt.

Ornamental vs. the neighbouring styles

Against geometric: geometric is constructed — measurable shapes, repeated angles, compass work. Ornamental is decorative and follows anatomy. They overlap in the mandala, which is why so many pieces get filed under both, but a geometric design can be drawn on paper first and an ornamental one really cannot.

Against fine line: fine line is a technique and ornamental is an intent. Most ornamental work is executed in fine line, but a fine-line butterfly is not ornamental, and a heavy black ornamental band is still ornamental.

Against dotwork: dotwork is one of the standard ways to shade the inside of ornament. If you want an ornamental piece with depth rather than pure outline, stipple is usually how you get it.

Against blackwork: ornamental blackwork exists and is one of the strongest looks going, but the rhythm is different. Blackwork wants a dominant mass; ornament wants the gaps between elements to keep breathing.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Mehndi — The henna pattern tradition ornamental tattooing draws its body-following layouts from.
• Wikipedia: Filigree — The metalwork technique behind the jewellery-like linework and the term itself.