What are Watercolor Tattoos?

Watercolor tattoos are created in the same way and use the same tools as regular color tattoos and black-and-white tattoos. The only differences lie in the styles and techniques of shading and coloring used in crafting these tattoos.

While traditional tattoos typically consist of many areas filled with consistent colors, all merged to form a larger image, watercolor tattoos are crafted with much gentler color gradients. These subtle transitions, where the blending of colors is much less pronounced, help achieve the desired look, which usually aims to resemble the characteristics of a classic watercolor painting.

Another notable difference is that a large portion of traditional tattoos have solid outline/edges, while almost all watercolor designs lack an outline. However, many tattoo artists creatively blend traditional styles with watercolor concepts to produce a mix of designs in a single tattoo.

Common themes seen in many popular watercolor designs range from splatter paint designs to complete replicas of watercolor paintings.

Check out below the immense effort and attention to detail that goes into the process of crafting a good-looking watercolor tattoo:

How Quickly Do Watercolor Tattoos Fade?

Many critics of watercolor tattoos argue that this type of tattoo won’t look good for long and will fade quickly since they consist of very soft colors lacking contrast.

This is true, and lighter colors do tend to fade faster than darker ones. However, an experienced artist can significantly reduce the likelihood of watercolor tattoos becoming unrecognizable over time by applying a solid black base to create more depth and contrast.

These preventive measures taken by tattoo artists allow the tattooed skin to maintain its “framework,” even as the lighter colors start to fade.

This means it will still look much more like a tattoo and much less like a blurry smudge of faded ink, if it starts to fade at all – and it will also be much easier to have it touched up by an artist if you wish to give it another boost of vibrancy and life.

Another argument is that this style of body art is relatively new, so it hasn’t been around long enough to determine how older, aged tattoos will look in 20 or 30 years.

Put simply, all tattoos eventually fade – even the completely black ones. While watercolor tattoos might fade a bit faster; if the artist does a good job, as mentioned above, it shouldn’t make too much of a difference in the grand scheme of things, as it should be straightforward enough to touch up a well-thought-out tattoo.

And we’re not talking about just a few months here. As long as your artist is an experienced professional, your watercolor tattoo shouldn’t fade at all in the initial years, as long as you take care of it and don’t mistreat it (which will be covered in the following section).

A few years down the line, your ink will likely start to fade in a slow, gradual process – just like any other type of tattoo (maybe just a tad faster due to the lighter coloring).

I’ve even spoken to artists who had clients come back 5 years after getting watercolor tattoos, and their skin still looked as vibrant and colorful as the day they got their ink – so remember, it’s not always a tattoo disaster waiting to happen a few years later when you opt for the watercolor style.

How to Delay the Fading of Watercolor Tattoos

As with any ink, there are certain things you should definitely do (and not do) to ensure your tattoo stays in the best possible condition for as long as possible.

With watercolor tattoos, however, it’s especially important to take good care of them due to the increased delicacy of the lighter inks compared to more traditional tattoos.

Here’s a list of things you should keep in mind (and avoid) if you’re considering getting a watercolor tattoo – and want it to look great for years and decades to come:

Choose the Right Artist

As previously mentioned, to ensure your ink remains in the best possible quality for as long as possible, you should definitely choose a tattoo artist who has extensive experience with this tattooing style and knows all the techniques required to ensure the body art looks exactly the way you want it to.

Don’t just go for the cheapest artist!

A less experienced tattoo artist could easily make some mistakes that might eventually lead to the tattoo fading much faster than it would have if it had been crafted by more skilled hands.

Keep It Away from Sunlight

It doesn’t matter if your tattoo is old or new, watercolor or black and gray – the sun will always be its biggest enemy.

Constantly exposing your tattoo to direct sunlight will cause it to fade significantly over time, regardless of its color or the style in which it was done.

Therefore, since your watercolor will be much lighter than most other regular tattoos, it’s doubly important to ensure you protect your ink from direct sunlight as much as possible.

If you do want to show off your tattoo at the beach during the summer, make sure you use a high-efficacy sunscreen with SPF 30+ that contains zinc oxide to ward off the most harmful UV rays that could affect your tattoo.

Mein Lieblings- und meistempfohlenes Sonnenschutzmittel für Tattoos ist die EltaMD UV Sport Sonnencreme Lotion.

Dieses Breitbandspektrum-Sonnenschutzmittel verfügt über alle notwendigen Eigenschaften, um dein Tattoo hervorragend zu schützen und gleichzeitig lebendig und stark zu erhalten. Es bietet einen angemessen hohen LSF von 50 und ist bis zu 80 Minuten wasser- und schweißbeständig.

Am wichtigsten ist, dass EltaMD extrem tätowierungsfreundlich ist und keine Duftstoffe, Öle oder Parabene enthält.

Avoid Friction

Any area of the skin that’s highly prone to friction, such as the tops of your feet or your buttocks, should be off-limits for watercolor tattoos.

Constant friction on any tattoo will cause it to fade faster than usual. So, if you want to give your more delicate watercolor tattoo the best chance to stand the test of time, you should seriously consider placing it in a spot that doesn’t constantly come into contact with something.

Moisturizing

To prevent your skin from becoming saggy, forming wrinkles, and drying out, a good moisturizing cream is essential.

Ensure you use a high-quality, skin-friendly, and fragrance-free moisturizer/tattoo lotion during the healing process to give your skin/tattoo the best chance to recover swiftly and thoroughly.

Continue to use a moisturizing skin cream throughout the life of your tattoo to prevent fading and ensure it looks vibrant and radiant for as long as possible.