Handpoke tattoo – execution technique, symbols, where to apply, cool works

Features and history of technology In Handpoke tattoo

First of all, it should be clarified that a handpoke is a tattoo, but not in the traditional sense. A classic tattoo is applied by injecting paint under the client’s skin. Hand poke does not require a tattoo machine.

In this case, the pattern appears due to manual piercing of the skin. That is, it is not about style, but about the technology of applying images. But this approach significantly changes the whole aesthetics and the result. It is important to clarify for yourself the specifics of this technology in order to correctly explain your wishes to the master.

The origins of this trend are in the tradition of making tattoos. Initially, the authors of tattoos applied drawings to the body, without any machines. All that was needed was a needle, a sharpened stick, or a bone.

Today, in a world where there are so many technical possibilities, hand poke (from the English words “hand” and “pierce”) interests craftsmen and customers precisely for its authenticity. And this method has its own stylistic features:

• the sketches used are very simple, even primitive at times;
• the plot is often ironic;
• the image is deliberately simplified as much as possible;
• mostly just black, monochrome is used.

This method was very popular in Japan, many yakuza from mafia groups preferred to order such pictures on the body. For most people, hand poke is simple and unpretentious drawings, mocking, as if deliberately made with improvised tools.

Handpoke sometimes resembles rock art from prehistoric times. With its simplicity, it often confuses, because against the background of complex and multi-colored tattoos it looks rustic and even limited. But there are many teenagers and connoisseurs who literally love handpoke, love it precisely for such primitivism, a kind of challenge.

Requirements for performers

Note that only very experienced craftsmen can make a handpoke with high quality. Otherwise, you can get a very dubious result. Recall the criminal traditions, prison tattoos and tattoos with aggressive, slang overtones – this is exactly a handpoke in the classic expression.

The master should not only be savvy in manual application. He must be able to draw a sketch in such a way that the result will look like a real “portac”, although technically everything is done just fine

A portacus is a low-quality tattoo, unsuccessful or made in prison by a cellmate. The new meaning of this term significantly changes the attitude towards it, there was even a kind of fashion for portacocks among young people.

Symbolism of the tattoo

Handpok for many carriers is a good way to show their life position and philosophy. Self-irony, postmodernism, deliberate carelessness, simplicity and minimalism – all this delights everyone, both brutal men and scrupulous hipsters, teenagers and the creative stratum of the population.

It is interesting that craftsmen working with a typewriter often imitate this style, stylize an order for a handpoke at the request of the client.

Tattoo is a symbolic tool for communicating with the environment. Today, wearable drawings do not have sacred or status significance, as in ancient tribes and mystical rituals. They are applied mainly for aesthetic reasons. This is a manifesto, a designation of principles, or just a nice drawing that adorns a part of the body.

Sailor or military tattoos are also almost a thing of the past, they seem to be a relic of the guild tradition. But they return in the form of a hand poke, as a set of life attitudes or a comic element of the image.

In our age, many want to be free, to live simpler and easier psychologically. Handpoke frees from conventions due to its frivolous, amateurish and primitive style.

How much does it hurt?

Tattoo Hurts: The key question for every customer: is it more painful than machine application? After all, the manual method involves a deeper and coarser penetration under the skin. But in fact, the degree of pain is no different from the machine.

The difference is in the size and detail of the drawing. Since the manual version is faster and easier, the pain will be much less. Piercing is not so traumatic, it heals faster. You can also check the degree of pain on a special map of tattoo artists on the sites of masters.

Varieties

In this case, there are no divisions based on gender, age or nationality. What is important is the inner content, the meaning of the handpoke.

The male character is often expressed in inscriptions or portraits of brutal movie characters, cartoons, famous personalities. Sometimes guys ask to fill a whole sleeve with different texts or miniature tattoos, not always related in plot and meaning, the body is just a base. These can be animals, caricatures, plant or animal elements, scenes from cartoons, slogans and emblems, even coats of arms with a motto.

Girls act quite boldly, they can fill a hand poke on their face, neck or hands. It’s even popular, especially slogans like “girl power” and other personal or social manifestos.

The drawing can be made in the form of miniature figurines, characters from fairy tales, Marvel superheroes, as well as a stylized portrait of a celebrity, an appeal, an aphorism.

Now you can watch the video, which tells in detail about the equipment and technique for performing a hand poke. The society is even more loyal to porters, recognizing the right of people to self-expression. Handpoke is another way to make fun of yourself and the bourgeois society, it looks like a new kind of creativity.

Photo ideas of handpoke tattoos