Several dots put together to create an artwork
About
In practical terms, all tattoos are a set of dots, inked with pigments that, together, create a bigger picture. So what makes Dotwork a style of its own? Simple: the artist’s ability to harmoniously use dots of different sizes to create sensations of depth, contrast, and continuity.
This is done by coordinating quantity, distance, position and the size of the dots per opposition to the traditional needle strokes (used to create solid areas or lines).
Origin
Focusing solely on the use of black and grey ink, this style became popular during the ’90s and was inspired by post-impressionist techniques such as Pointillism.
This style should not be confused with handpoke, which refers to the technique used to create the tattoo. A dotwork can be made using electric tattooing machines as well as handpoke technique.
Design
The most common features of this style are symmetric patterns, 3D effects and the use of negative space (through the absence of dots). In any dotwork, a random dot’s presence is irrelevant per se, but all the small contributions produce the essence of this artwork.
Virtually any style can be used alongside dotwork, thought illustrations and blackwork are the most common ones. Almost all dotwork is made using solely the color black.
copyright:The Alpaca