Beauty
Inspo for this year’s biggest body art trend.
You may have stumbled upon someone — IRL or on social media — with a collection of seemingly random scribble-like tattoos on their arms and legs, like a cute dolphin, a slice of pizza, a flower, a random sentence — or all of the above. This patchwork style of ink is known as “ignorant”, and it’s a tattoo trend beloved by celebs like Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, and Emma Chamberlain.
Ignorant style tattoos are simple designs that often look like doodles. The more you can scatter across your body, the better. According to Kasia, a resident artist at High Hopes Tattoo in Bushwick, Brooklyn, this type of tat is believed to take inspiration from the ’90s-era graffiti artist Fuzi, who initially brought the scrawling art to the streets before expanding to the world of body art.
Ignorant tats are a purposeful step away from more standard designs, like traditional, realism, or new school. Unlike beautiful portraiture or hyper-real images, “ignorant style tattoos are somewhat simplistic in nature,” says Aja-Noelle Poe, a tattoo artist with Ephemeral. “They don’t have real shading and are mostly made up of crude line work or simple line work.” And that’s totally the point.
Rather than discrete placements like behind the ear, ignorant tattoos look best when they’re out in the open. “I usually see them in places that are in plain view, like the arms, neck, legs, thighs,” Poe tells Bustle. “Sometimes they’re on the ribs, but people mostly want them to be visible to show them off and have them serve as a conversation starter.” Keep scrolling for a closer look at the body art trend that’s taking off in 2023.
1
Mix ‘N Match
The ignorant style pokes fun at the idea that tattoos have to be super meaningful, Poe says. If you like a particular drawing or feel like getting tattooed on a random Tuesday, that’s enough of a reason to get some ink. This sleeve pairs random designs like a radish, a snake, and houses for a look that’s totally unique.
2
Animal Love
Poe notes that you could also opt for a single ignorant-style drawing, like this whimsical bunny surrounded by florals. “It really depends on your mood and the type of image you want to put out,” she says.
3
Storyboard
Poe notes that her clients typically start with one ignorant-style tat and then immediately ask for more to create a “patchwork” sleeve consisting of multiple pieces of art. “They become like a storyboard,” she says.
4
Random Words
Words, cheesy mottos, random quotes, and self-aware messages all fall into the ignorant tat category. “I’ve seen a hilarious tattoo that said ‘this is not a tattoo’ or one that simply stated ‘deep and meaningful’,” Poe says. She’s also had clients come in with a sentence a friend wrote on a napkin as inspo.
5
Surreal Drawings
The best thing about ignorant tattoos? They run the gamut from wacky and scribbly to simple and pretty. You could totally get a silly cartoon right next to a beautiful line work tattoo — the more random, the better.
6
Patchwork
Spacing also doesn’t matter with this trend. If you’d like to layer your ignorant tats or cram them next to one another, do it — there’s no right or wrong way to rock this style of ink. And your artwork doesn’t necessarily have to “go” together — just look at this collection of Matisse-like dancers and words layered right on top.
7
Otherworldly
This tat shows off an alien’s perspective with a scrawling of “humans are weird” next to a simple hand-drawn extraterrestrial.
8
Funny Art
Remember, there’s nothing serious about ignorant tattoos. If you’re struck with a play on words, envision a surrealist scene, or are overcome with the desire to tattoo a bowl of soup on your leg, go for it. With this trend, anything goes.
9
Feelings
Take inspo from a tat like this one that features one word and a cartoon-like drawing that represents that word, and voila: You’ve got an ignorant tattoo.
10
Florals
Start with a staple tattoo design that you love, like a classic floral, and turn it into an ignorant-style piece of body art by making it scribbly and adding a phrase or quote of your liking.
Sources:
Kasia, resident artist at High Hopes Tattoo
Aja-Noelle Poe, tattoo artist with Ephemeral
