I haven't done much research before into tiger tattoos, so I was surprised and excited to find some pretty cool ones out there.

Because of the nature and body structure of the tiger, it's a little more difficult to work with than other tattoo themes because most offer more flexibility than solid body mammals do, and still retain their essence.

One thing I particularly like about the tiger tattoo is what you can do with its stripes, which in the case of leaving the color out and only using dark inks, really come out fantastic; at least in my personal tastes and observations.

Tigers of course are able to be presented in the orangish/red colors, which can really look good, but I just like the darker colors and stripes, which can really stand out strongly.

If I were a tattoo artist, and with a growing number of people searching for unique tiger tattoos, I would go the darker colors and lines, and let the others do all the orange heads and side of bodies that are available from everyone.

One that did include color, but was still compelling was one that showed the huge claws of the tiger as a major part of the tattoo, which you can see below. The only thing I didn't like about this was the tiger's right eye, which loses the fiere look the left eye has. Other than that, it's a great tattoo. 

Another thing that could be done to improve the tiger tattoo would be the inclusion of the type of environment it stalks in, but the not make the environment so realistic, but shadowy, and again, with dark lines.

I could see a tiger with color looking great in this, or the other way around, having the environment colored but the tiger dark and the stripes and claws prevalent.

In looking at some of the attempts to put the tiger together with another figure, I also found that didn't really work too well.

Those who follow the fung shui way will like the tiger and dragon together, as it would make sense to them in what they represent. But for some reason I just see this creature alone and stalking, and a tiger just doesn't seem to work well with other real or mythical animals.

Of course this is my personal preference, and other people may really like it.

This tiger tatto pic below was one of my favorites, because of the way the artist kept all the lines dark, and adding or shaping the moon in the background gives a great effect.

Another part of what made it good was the small, detailed jungle trees and foliage which add to the overall strength of the tattoo. This, even if on a smaller level, should be what tattoo artests look for on their clients.

Obviously it's up to the client, but this is awesome to me for a tiger, and looks much better than the tiger body or head with nothing else around it. 

So there's my take on tiger tattos. They're more difficult and challenging to make, not only because of the many intricate details which make a tiger what it is, but also because of the difficulty in adding things the really enhance the tattoos.

It's hard to identify, but you know it when you see it.

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