Chicano tattoos. Chicano Style Tattoos Chicano Lettering Tattoos

Chicano is one of the most famous styles in tattoo art. And, despite its relative youth (and Chicano appeared and became widespread only in the middle of the last century), this style is one of the most popular and easily recognizable.

This style has its own history. The word "Chicano" itself does not have an exact translation, one of the main assumptions is a distorted form of the word "mexicano", which denoted American Mexicans. Initially, Chicano tattoos were a distinctive feature of Latin American gangs and, along with their owners, migrated to prison dungeons. For a long time, Chicanos remained the privilege of the criminal strata of the population, but, years later, they crossed this threshold, and today a Chicano-style tattoo does not at all report anything bad about its owner.

But at the same time, Chicanos were not only a symbol of belonging to a particular street gang. In these tattoos, there was also a deeper meaning - the futility of being and the highest justice, to which each of us comes sooner or later. Therefore, the Chicano was often associated with the popular "dance of death" plot, depicting death leading different people. This adds a certain mysterious, even sinister meaning to the Chicano style tattoo.

Despite the fact that Chicanos today are free from prejudice, as mentioned above, this style still retained some characteristic features. In particular, sketches usually include mostly black and gray gradients, no particularly bright colors are used when drawing in the Chicano technique. Although today you can find red or some other colors in a tattoo made in the Chicano style, you will not see a riot of colors, these will only be concise and unobtrusively placed accents.

Moreover, Chicanos are also characterized by some specific plots related to the themes of faith, money and wealth, criminal attributes such as weapons, cards, dice, and girls, often with national patterns on their faces. Moreover, today the most popular pattern is precisely the latter. Weapons, cards and money were most often associated with the group to which the owner of the Chicano belonged, so today drawings on this topic are not particularly popular.

A radically opposite situation has developed with the drawings of girls - today they are practically the hallmark of the Chicano. Most often, girls are depicted with national patterns stylized as a skull, which makes them especially recognizable and eerily beautiful. Usually these gloomy beauties are called "Santa Muerte", which translates only as "Holy Death". It is by "Santa Merta" that today everyone recognizes the Chicano style, this is the most famous drawing, probably because it immediately attracts attention and remains in memory.

The theme of religion is no less popular. Very often in Chicano tattoos you can find images of St. Mary or Jesus Christ. After all, the Chicano was born in the poorest areas, where religion was one of the ways to survive in the harsh reality and not lose faith in tomorrow. Although sometimes religious images are also presented in rather gloomy colors, the hard life of the Mexicans, among whom this direction of tattoos originated, left its mark on the overall picture of the Chicano.

Lettering is also very popular in Chicano. Today, this is no surprise to anyone, but tattoos in the form of important dates, names and sayings originated precisely among Hispanics who made themselves Chicano tattoos while in prison. These inscriptions, made in the form of a tattoo, supported people in difficult moments of their lives, reminding them of important life principles and laws that should not be deviated from.

There are no specific patterns specific to Chicanos. There is only the technique of performance and the main currents and plots. After looking at a variety of photos of tattoos, you can create your own, original and, at the same time, reflecting the Chicano style exactly as it originated in Latin America more than half a century ago.

Appeared in the USA in the middle of the last century. We owe its appearance in the art of tattoos Latin American criminal subculture when wearable drawings were a symbol of belonging to gangs and confirmation of a person's passage through prison. It was in American prisons that the first Chicago-style tattoos were made using a simple needle and black ink (the same is Chicano). Only 50 years later they began to go beyond the aisles of gangs and be used by ordinary people, regardless of belonging to criminal groups and racial and ethnic groups.

The Hidden Meaning of a Chicago Tattoo

This type of tattoo had two semantic meanings: pragmatic and philosophical. The first was related to identification of a person to a particular gang which greatly simplifies communication on the streets. The second reflected a certain life position - deep faith in God and in the triumph of justice, as well as the transience of life and readiness for death at any moment.

Chicago tattoo locations

Initially these were arms and shoulders, later they moved back and even hips.

Currently the most popular Tattoo sleeve when the drawing completely covers the entire length of the arm from the shoulder to the hand, and often the hand itself. These are not separate pictures, unrelated to each other, but whole compositions, including various images, smoothly intertwined into one plot. The tattoo sleeve is suitable for both men and women.

Who chooses Chicago style

Chicago looks very brutal and courageous on the male body. Sketches with weapons are suitable for a man who wants to demonstrate his strength and ability to stand up for himself. The drawing of a woman with a bandage on her mouth is suitable for a silent and secretive person.

Chicago style tattoos are also suitable for girls. Sketches with religious images, inscriptions, the image of Holy Death are especially popular among girls. This type of tattoo is chosen by women prone to adventurous adventures, seeking to show others their strength and independence.

Tattoo art never ceases to develop and improve. In search of new ideas and styles, tattoo artists turn to interesting traditions and cultures of many countries, and also look for sources of inspiration even in those areas of life that for many years were a separate isolated topic that was not accessible to general understanding. Many popular types of tattoos appeared and developed for a long time in a criminal environment, and then, having lost their marginal status, became in demand among the general population, for example, the Chicano tattoo became popular.

Origin of style

The Chicano style is considered relatively young. It originated in the mid-twentieth century in the United States and for the first decades was in demand exclusively in criminal circles. The fact is that this type of tattoo was invented by representatives of Latin American gangs operating in the United States. Each gang had its own slogan, its own laws and principles, which were applied to the bodies of group members in the form of tattoo images. So in this way, the criminals easily identified each other, finding themselves in a street showdown or meeting in places of detention.

It happened that when they saw an interesting image on the body of a cellmate, other prisoners also stuffed a similar pattern on their body. Gradually, the popularity of the tattoo increased, and it began to fill up not only with representatives of the underworld, but also with law-abiding people. Currently, the image in the Chicano style is considered a separate type of tattoo art and is not a criminal tattoo.

Despite the fact that images in the Chicano style have ceased to be an attribute of the underworld, their themes and plots are quite brutal, which makes the tattoo more of a masculine type of tattoo art.

Plots and meaning of tattoo images

Since the founders of the style were Mexicans who illegally hunted in American cities, then the theme and storylines of the Chicano tattoo were appropriate.

The illegal activities and wild life of Latin American criminals contributed to the fact that pistols, playing cards and dice were often depicted in the tattoo. In addition, Latinos, especially those from the poorest segments of the population, are extremely devout and religious. Therefore, religious subjects, images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, as well as crucifixes and quotations from Holy Scripture, fragments of prayers are often used in tattoos.

Another interesting topic in Chicano tattoos is the image of girls who, on the one hand, indicate the loving nature of the owner of the tattoo, and on the other hand, declare his heterosexuality, which was important in case of going to jail.

The hallmark of a tattoo in this style are images of girls in the form of “Santa Muerte” (Holy Death). Such images are associated with the Mexican holiday "Day of the Dead" and the tradition when women put on the dress of Death. The tattoo has a symbolic meaning, it denotes the futility of being and the idea that everyone is equal before death, so sooner or later they will say goodbye to life.

It should be noted that this style of tattoo is still evolving and undergoing some changes, for example, images of weapons and quotes taken from biblical texts are becoming a thing of the past. They were replaced by philosophical sayings that do not have religious overtones.

This is interesting! Chicano-style tattoos have some world-famous stars, such as rapper Eminem, as well as rock drummer Travis Barker, who plays in the band “Blink-182”. However, perhaps the most famous celebrity with images in this style is the Mexican actor Danny Trejo, known for the films Machete, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids.

The color scheme of the tattoo

Since the tattoo originated in the criminal circles of poor Mexicans, and for a long time it was stuffed only in doorways and prison cells, the main color of the images was black pigment. This tradition continues to this day. Black color and gray shades are the best way to convey the true meaning of the tattoo (philosophical reflections on life and death, about fate, about faith in God and the Highest Justice on earth). The black and white Chicano pattern gives brutality and masculinity to its owner.

In recent years, in addition to black dye, tattoo artists have begun to use other shades. Chicano-style images appeared in color. However, despite this, the general concept of the drawing is preserved. The tattoo should be strict and serious, so the color pigments used when applying the tattoo cannot be bright and flashy. Inconspicuous shades are applied.

The Chicano style emerged around the 1940s and quickly caught on with Hispanics. Such images instilled fear in people, because they were worn by members of gangs and groups. From the drawing, it was possible to determine to which bandit clan its owner belongs. The presence of wearable drawings demonstrated their devotion to the gang and their principles.

The modern method of tattooing uses tattoo machines, at the same time they used a needle and ink. This made it possible to form the basic style inherent in the Chicano tattoo. Bright complementary colors were avoided in every possible way, and the lines were applied clearly and according to the model.

In general, the Chicano is an ethnic group living in the States in the 16th and 17th centuries. Over time, the group split up. Its representatives settled in the territory of modern Colorado, New Mexico and Texas with Arizona. So no one could understand the meaning of the word "Chicano". Even today it is not known what it means.

The traditional images for a Chicano tattoo on the arm are Christ, the Virgin Mary and St. Lucas. With the development of this trend, images of Santa Muerte appear, which came from a Latin American religious cult. Of course, the Chicano style is gloomy, but it has a sublime meaning - love for the family and loyalty to one's surroundings.

Other times have come, and now Chicano tattoos can be seen in today's youth. During its existence, it has changed, so many add brighter colors to it, which were previously inapplicable.

The Chicano style tells the story of Mexican culture. Despite its relative youth (the style appeared in the 20th century and has been developing to this day), it is very rich in symbols, signs, and the national color of Latin America. It has a criminal aspect, and real romance, and even gloom. All this is reflected in the famous Chicano tattoo plots, where beautiful girls play the main roles, inscriptions, the theme of money, religion, risk and death. Very often, all these motifs are intertwined in one sketch - the work turns out to be large and interesting.

There is also a separate Chicano font, reminiscent of calligraphic handwriting. It can also be compared with the Gothic font. Letters are characterized by decorations: they are curved, complemented by decorative elements, but at the same time the text is easy to read. The font is neither too thick nor too thin. It perfectly balances, and this is another sign of style! In principle, there are no too rough contours and color transitions in it. Yes, and bright colors are not peculiar to him. Mostly Chicano girls and other subjects are depicted in black, shades of gray, with the addition of white. Other shades are rare and in limited quantities. But sometimes, in the portraits of Santa Muerto there are red, yellow, blue and even pink.

Chicano tattoos for men

Men's sketches of chicano are, first of all, beautiful inscriptions in the original font. Lyrics often have a romantic, philosophical content. After all, initially they reflected the difficult and dangerous life in criminal areas. Mexicans - gang members, applied tattoos of a religious nature, depicted various symbols that could protect. The philosophy of style speaks of justice, love, honor. And it often contains an image of a woman with national patterns on her face. She symbolizes the goddess who is fair to everyone and never leaves a request without attention. This heroine is beautiful in her incarnation, but such work needs a decent scale. For a portrait, the shoulder or lower leg is perfect.

Tattoo in Chicano for girls

Refined romance and vibrant Chicano stories appeal to many girls. Those who aspire to be mysterious choose inscriptions, images of roses and, of course, the legendary Santa Muerte. They embody sincerity, the feminine and maternal principle, the concepts of eternity and love. Of course, a lot depends on the master and his ability to embody a complex pattern on the skin.