The Meanings and Aesthetics of the Butterfly Tattoo Design

One of the most popular tattoo subjects for women is the butterfly tattoo design. It’s delicate, sensual and visually beautiful.

There are many meanings behind butterfly tattoo designs that make them especially significant to women, although sometimes there are unusual reasons for picking the butterfly tattoo design.

Actress Vanessa Hutchinson has a Butterfly Tattoo Design on her neck that has several very personal implications: beyond being a way to express her passion for animals, her name is a derivative from the work butterfly in Latin.

Even more significant is a little piece of trivia that gives her Butterfly Tattoo Design even more resonance in her life. Shortly before she was born, a butterfly landed on her mother’s belly.

So, tattoos have very different meanings for each person who wears them.

A good place to begin when you are first choosing a Butterfly Tattoo Design is with the common associations that come from butterfly designs.

Butterfly Tattoo Design Folk Lore from Various Cultures

Many cultures attach spiritual and romantic meanings to the real or portrayed image of the butterfly. You can use these meanings to interpret your own butterfly tattoo design.

In Japanese folk lore a butterfly is a good omen and both Japanese and Greek culture it is the personification of the soul. In Russian folk lore it represents women. In Mexican folk lore the butterfly tattoo design represents abundance and happiness.

Intertwining two butterflies is the symbol of love in China, and many cultures and civilizations have associated the beautiful butterfly with rebirth, because of the way it enters a cocoon as a moth and is born again as a butterfly.

Even Native Americans attach deep significance to the butterfly that you can carry over to your butterfly tattoo design.

They believe the butterfly can carry your wishes to the “Great Spirit” giving the beautiful creature a deep spiritual meaning. The butterfly tattoo design also is a designation of loyalty in many cultures.

Butterfly tattoo design symbolism also includes changes in life (transformation, rebirth of your goals or ambitions), love, joy, luck and freedom.

Reasons to Choose a Butterfly Tattoo Design

The butterfly tattoo design is a relatively “safe” design because the things it represents are not likely to change during your life. Unlike some more drastic artwork, you are probably going to enjoy your butterfly tattoo design forever, and it will always be a symbol of beauty and freedom, even if your other personal meanings for it change.

Creating Your Butterfly Tattoo Design

One of the great things about the butterfly tattoo design is that the subject matter is in itself so varied. There are literally hundreds of thousands of different types of butterflies.

They range from very small to extraordinarily large like the Queen Alexandra butterfly with over a one foot wingspan.

Butterflies are almost always vibrant and colorful, which makes them the perfect subject for a tattoo designs. The butterfly tattoo design has many patterns to choose from as well.

With all of the natural variety of species, butterflies make excellent subjects just as they are, but butterfly tattoo design styles often incorporate even greater variations from whimsical and comical to mysterious and fantasy elements.

Other items like flowers and symbols are often combined with the butterfly tattoo design to give it even deeper meaning for the wearer as well.

It is possible to incorporate many other tattoo styles within a butterfly tattoo design as well, so if you are into tribal markings, but do not want the severity of a strictly tribal tattoo, or prefer more colorful styles, you can interlace the tribal ideals into the wings or body of the butterfly tattoo design you create.

Butterfly tattoo design is not limited to a single picture. Interlocking butterflies can create bands or swirling ribbons of beauty that stretch across, or around your body.

Click Here To Get The Best Ideas In Butterfly Tattoo Designs!

The Intimidating Butterfly Tattoo Design?

You can even make your butterfly tattoo design more severe, and intimidating. In nature, the bold markings on the delicate wings are meant to scare off predators. Many butterfly wings have what appear to be eyes on the backs of the wing to give attackers the impression they are approaching a large animal, not a harmless little butterfly. Your butterfly tattoo design can even incorporate real ‘eyes’ to show a depth of the soul, or seeing a new life.

Where to Place Your Butterfly Tattoo Design

There is no wrong place to ink a butterfly tattoo design. However, keep in mind that the deep, rich color of such a vibrant tattoo will likely fade with time, and that exposure to sunlight will hasten that fading.

The butterfly tattoo design lends itself well to more frequently covered areas of the body such as the stomach, legs, shoulders and back. Putting the butterfly tattoo design in these locations improves your chances of keeping your tattoo looking great with minimum touch up work.

If you have a low pain threshold, avoid placing your butterfly tattoo design in areas where the bone is close to the skin. These areas include the feet, hands, shoulder blades, spine, ankle, hip and ribcage. Fleshy areas of the body are much less painful to tattoo.

Another good reason for placing your butterfly tattoo design where it is easily covered by clothing is so you can hide it when you need to.

Although social stigmas for women with tattoos are lifting, many jobs still restrict all employees, regardless of sex, from having body art that shows.

Choosing the Artist for Your Butterfly Tattoo Design

You want to pick an artist with talent, that only makes sense. However, there are other considerations when choosing the artist who will create your butterfly tattoo design. You should feel comfortable that the artist understands your symbolism, and desire for the tattoo, and also shows quality samples of similar work.

Most of all, you want to be sure the studio where the artist works is clean, brightly lit, and hygienic. The artist you choose for your butterfly tattoo design should always use fresh, pre-packaged needles every time he begins his or her work, and also the highest quality inks.

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Still Haven’t Found That Perfect Butterfly Tattoo Design?

 

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