Tattoos have a history that extends far back into the furthest reaches of time. For millennia tattoos have been used to help differentiate members of tribes and regions and even of religions. But the concept of tattooing did not catch on in the Western world until 18th century explorers discovered "tatau" in Polynesia; a technique that became popular among European sailors and then spread to the general populace of Western societies.

Tattoos are made by inserting indelible ink into the skin’s dermis layer in order to change the skin’s pigmentation for (usually) decorative reasons. In some places and times tattoos were created by hand-tapping the ink into the skin. This could be done with sharpened sticks, bones or any sufficiently sharp object. More modern times have seen the use of needles used in the process of tattooing, and until the invention of the electric tattoo machine, this process was done completely by hand, resulting in a broad range of image quality and continuity.

There are any number of organic and inorganic dyes and pigments that can be used in tattooing, extending from things like titanium dioxide to carbon black, quinoline, naphthol and dyes made from ash or acridine, with many tattoo artists allowing the customer a choice of not only designs, but dyes and pigments as well.

For decades tattoo designs were drawn on paper or cardboard and were referred to as a "tattoo flash." Tattoo flashes were used and still are used to give the walk-in customer ideas for tattoos and to give the tattoo artist a pattern with which to work.

The tattoo artist uses a stencil to draw the design onto the skin, and then outlines it with a single-tipped needle and thin ink. Shading is then done using a thicker ink and a variety of needles and color can be applied, this is usually done more than once to ensure even coloring.

With the advent of computers to produce high quality tattoo flashes, the improvements in tattoo designs have been quite impressive, ranging from complex single-line designs to impressively blended black and gray shading, sharply delineated colors and realistic portraiture, all of which are a far cry from the blue and black fuzzily outlined tattoos of years gone by. And while anyone can learn to use tattoo equipment, it still takes a real artist to create true tattoo art and the true portfolio of a real artist is not in how many tattoo flashes they have on their walls, nor even in the equipment they have on hand, but on the number of satisfied customers they have serviced.