Flash (tattoo)
Pre-prepared tattoo design
"Death before dishonor" flash circa 1940

Tattoo flash is any tattoo design ready-made for customers to avoid the need for custom designs, or as a starting point for custom work. Tattoo flash was designed for rapid tattooing and used in "street shops"—tattoo shops handling a large volume of standardized tattoos for walk-in customers.[1]: 111  Pieces of flash are traditionally drawn, painted, or printed on paper, and displayed for walk-in customers in binders or on the walls of tattoo shops. Today they may also be advertised online and on social media.

History

Design in a sketchbook circa 1900–1945, showing a price ($2.00)
Tattoo flash sets include a black and white stencil sheet, and they may include a pre-colored sheet as well

The term "flash" is derived from the traveling carnival and circus trade in the late 1800s: an attraction needed to be eye-catching to draw in the crowd, and that visual appeal was called flash.[2] Tattoo artists working at those carnivals would hang up their designs in front of their booths to catch people's attention, so they adopted "flash" as a term for this artwork.[3] Traveling tattoo artists developed sketchbooks of designs that were easy to transport and show to potential customers.[4]

The development of electric tattoo machines in the 1890s enabled faster and more precise tattooing.[5] More tattoo artists started to work from shops as a full-time profession.[4] To fulfill increased demand for tattoos, especially sailor tattoos, artists bought and sold sets of pre-drawn designs.[6] These "flash" designs were on larger sheets of paper than sketchbook pages, intended to be framed and hung on walls.[4] Many of these designs were relatively simple — with black outlines, limited colors, and limited shading — to enable quick work.[6] Skilled professional tattoo artists sold flash to other artists, who sought out quality designs to advertise to potential customers.[4] This process of selling and buying attractive sets of designs helped shape American traditional tattooing into a more consistent genre.[4]

Many common flash designs are still in this "old school" style.[7] For example, Lew Alberts (1880–1954), known as Lew the Jew, was a prolific tattoo artist who created and sold many sheets of tattoo patterns.[8] In 2009, a scholar wrote that a large amount of the conventional designs on the walls of contemporary shops were based on designs by Alberts.[1]: 17  August "Cap" Coleman also contributed to the development of American traditional flash, refining designs to be more readable and durable with strong black outlines and black shading.[9]

In the 1980s there was a shift in iconography from badge-like images based on flash to customized large tattoos influenced by Polynesian and Japanese tattoo art, such as sleeves.[10] By the year 2000, most tattoo studios had become custom shops, with the flash serving largely as a reference for ideas. Most tattoo designs are created by the tattoo artist developing an idea brought in by the customer.

Materials

Flash may be drawn by the individual tattooist for display and use in their own studio,[1]: 101  or traded and sold among other tattooists. Hand-drawn, local tattoo flash has been largely replaced by professional flash artists who produce prints of copyrighted flash to sell at conventions or through the Internet.

Tattoo flash is commonly printed on 11x14 inch sheets in North America. Tattoo flash may come with an outline, also known as a line drawing, printed on a separate sheet, so that tattoo artists do not need to draw the linework themselves.

Generative AI and the Evolution of Tattoo Selection

The traditional tattoo selection process has historically relied on "flash"—pre-drawn, repeatable, and often derivative designs—largely because collectors often struggle to articulate their specific aesthetic desires to an artist. However, the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the mid-2020s has introduced a shift toward hyper-personalized design, potentially moving the industry away from static flash templates.

Generative AI allows tattoo collectors to move beyond selecting from a limited set of images. Through visual prompt engineering, collectors can generate dozens of variations for a single concept, such as a "bio-organic floral sleeve". This iterative process allows for the discovery of unique designs that exist in the gaps between established artistic styles, such as a blend of 16th-century woodcut and 21st-century cybersigilism.

While traditional flash served as a necessary starting point for those without design training, AI now acts as a "translator" that helps clients simulate and simplify complex ideas for the skin. AI-generated references serve as a high-fidelity visual language that helps close the communication gap between the collector and the artist. Rather than rendering flash obsolete, this technology may shift the artist's role toward becoming a curator who refines a high-fidelity vision that the client has already validated through AI experimentation. In this new paradigm, the "human premium" of the tattoo artist remains essential for the technical application and the adaptation of digital concepts to the unique contours of the human body. According to artist and researcher Nazarii Kuryliak, "While AI has transformed the way designs are conceived, the actual artistic process of tattooing remains rooted in transferring these concepts onto skin." [11] 

References

  1. ^ a b c Vail, David J.; Sanders, Clinton (2009). Customizing the Body: The Art and Culture of Tattooing. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-59213-888-3.
  2. ^ Reiter, Jon (2010). These Old Blue Arms, The Life and Work of Amund Dietzel. Solid State Publishing Co. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-578-05967-9. Archived from the original on 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  3. ^ "Vintage Tattoo Flash". Motor City Tattoo Museum. 2018. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lane, David C. (2020-11-13). The Other End of the Needle: Continuity and Change Among Tattoo Workers. Rutgers University Press. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-1-9788-0747-1.
  5. ^ "Edison and the tattoo". New-York Historical Society. 2011-09-09. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  6. ^ a b Festa, Joe (2013-02-06). "A Short, Incomplete History of American Traditional Tattooing". New-York Historical Society. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  7. ^ Michalak, Jodie (February 18, 2022). "Flash vs. Custom Tattoos". Byrdie. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  8. ^ "Lewis "Lew the Jew" Alberts". Tattoo Archive. 2016. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  9. ^ Wertkin, Gerard C. (2004-08-02). Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-95614-1.
  10. ^ Schildkrout, Enid. "Inscribing The Body." Annual Review of Anthropology 33.1 (2004): 319–44. JSTOR. Web. 28 January 2013.
  11. ^ Куриляк, Назарій (2023-12-29). "THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN TATTOO DESIGN: A TWO-MACHINE CONFIGURATION FOR UNPRECEDENTED BLACK AND GREY REALISM". PHYSICAL CULTURE AND SPORT: SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE (4): 113–118. doi:10.31891/pcs.2023.4.15. ISSN 2786-6653.
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