Maori tattoo

Maori Tattoo Designs - How to Get Them Without Roasting Insects

Getting Back Your Mojo With A Ta Moko

Yes, the revered Ta Moko, meaning the 'process' of acquiring Maori Tattoo Designs, has been truly a striking art-form dating back generations. Therefore given their infectious appeal, they have inevitably crossed over from the Pacific Islands to our western societies. The key is however, for us to not let its authenticity be diluted by considering it a mere trend. They are motifs with quintessence.

If we rewind back in time a bit, it all started off with a man and woman's love affair, (in Maori mythology that is...). A tribal Romeo and Juliet, if you will. The man named 'Mataora' at one time during their relationship, assaulted his lady princess named 'Niwareka'. To no surprise, the princess hurt and shamed, left Mataora and returned to her father's monarchy.

Well when this occurred, Mataora was ridden with guilt and earnestly attempted to reunite with Niwareka. He underwent a multitude of trials and tribulations to win her back, which consisted of countless hurdles and hardships during this quest.

Toward the end of his progressively futile attempts, to gain her heart back with repeated begging nonetheless, Niwareka eventually accepted and forgave Mataora for his misgivings.

Look Like A Slob, You'll Get Scorned

The interesting fact however, is when he arrived at her father's domain, Mataora's facial tribal markings, were all disfigured and in complete shambles, due to his long arduous voyage.

Appearing all haggard and disheveled, with face paint that may have looked like Halloween make-up gone awry, Niwareka's relatives scoffed, chided and jeered Mataora, for his less than streamlined symmetrical Maori tattoo designs. His face was just a visionary nightmare.

Little Tribal Grasshopper Learns From Master

Therefore, Niwareka's father thought he could help Mataora, by implementing his tattoo craftsmanship and elected to tutor and mentor Mataora, by guiding him through the intricate art of Polynesian tattoo designs. Whether it was tribal shoulder tattoos, tribal arm tattoos, or even the whole body, the tutoring covered every step.

During this apprenticeship, Mataora also was also taught 'Taniko', which was the implementation of interweaving the semblance of various border colors in this craft. (I would imagine this was the manifestation, regarding the fine complexities of such elaborate patterns).

Eventually, both Mataora and Niwareka returned to the world as everyday mortals, and thus bringing with them the artful mastery of - Ta Moko and Taniko.

No, Not Burnt Furry Critters?

So how does 'roasting insects', or in this case - caterpillars, fit into all of this? Well obviously, pulsating needle guns didn't exist back then and with that, came excruciating hours of injecting ink into the skin - the HARD way. The Polynesians, or at least the Maoris, typically used the bone of the oceanic Albatross bird, as the so-called 'needle'.

Then as another necessary ingredient, they either used burnt gum from the Kauri tree, or, burnt vegetable caterpillars. Poor lil' critters. Who would have ever thought? Flamed-up larva as tattoo ink. How creative is that?

The residue from either of these two soot-like black pigments, were then tapped into the tribesperson with a mallet. Now, we are really looking at a process, which would separate the men from the boys! This tortuous rite of passage acquiring tribal art tattoos, was so unbearable, that musical chants and flute playing was performed, to help quell the evident lengthy pain.

Hmmmm...mallets, bird-bones, burnt caterpillars and flutes, all at once. What an interesting potpourri of components to obtain those awesome designs! Quite exotic actually come to think of it.

No Need For An Airline Ticket

So fast forward to today. I realize that there are many people among us, who actually enjoy the pain of acquiring tribal art designs in some sort of peculiar way. (I even may be a little guilty of that too).

However, I think I'll take the vibrating needle gun, over agonizing tapping mallets. Plus the fact, I'd hate to compromise the butterfly population, by roasting cute and furry caterpillars. I'll gladly make do with the jet black, metal salt dye in the studio instead.

Okay, so we can't just hop on a plane in a heartbeat to the Pacific Islands, nor we really want bird bones inserted in our bodies. But, there is a solution to the tattoo-hunting dilemma without traversing the open ocean...

If you really wish to seek a smooth, easy and very stress-free method of obtaining those striking Polynesian Tattoo Designs, it would be sinful to not check out this little gem.

Here's a resource, where not only you'll have full access to those eye-catching Maori Tattoo Designs plus boatloads of valuable complimentary treats, but also an enormous selection of other tribal art tattoos as well. ( By Marko W. )

Maori tattoo

Maori Tattoo Designs - Where to Find the Best Artwork Online
( By Terry Daniels )

You have probably already seen some Maori tattoo designs and find them very impressive. They are some amazing art, and look especially great as tattoos. You've probably also realized how hard it can be to find quality artwork for this type of design. You are in search of neat, unique designs, but all that you ever find appear to be generic ones. Here is a secret to finding the best, high-quality designs on the internet.

First, you need to think about how most people are searching for Maori tattoo designs and artwork. They use search engines to find information and images of tattoo designs. You probably do this yourself, correct? If you are, then you are finding the exact same designs as thousands of other people. Not only are the designs low-quality and generic, they are used by many other people. So even if you do choose one for your tattoo, it won't be unique. There are probably already a lot of people with the same tattoo designs.

A Google or Yahoo search will usually bring you to some trusted sources when looking for web pages, but this isn't true when it comes to finding galleries of Maori tattoo designs. The images and galleries that show up in your search results are typically filled with basic, generic artwork that nobody should ever choose. First, the designs are probably more than five years old. Secondly, most of the artwork is already posted on dozens of other tattoo sites. There isn't one iota of originality or quality in tattoo designs like that.

Sadly, that isn't even the worst factor.

The worst thing is that these places you find in a Google or Yahoo search will throw any ole' Maori tattoo designs on their website, just as long as it looks all right. Little do most people realize that half of the designs found on such pages are not even drawn by actually tattoo artists, and while they may look great on paper, they won't when inked onto skin. This is pretty sad, because any designs like this are only a waste of your time and money. You will also regret getting them tattooed onto you after you see how poor they look on skin.

So, what is the solution? How can you find quality images? You need a tool that will allow you to search, yet is reliable enough to bring you great results that are hard to find with a typical search engine. You can find such tools at internet forms. Message forums and some blogs represent the opinions of people from all around the world, many of whom know a lot about Maori tattoo designs. Forums are the best places to find quality information pertaining to the tattoo industry, including top-notch designs.

These forums are filled with information and links to sites about which you wouldn't have otherwise known. Most of the links will be much better than the sites you've been seeing in your Google results. To get quality tattoo art, you will have to break away from typical way of doing searches, but you will be glad that you did so when you finally have access to quality Maori tattoo designs!