Black and gray tattoos

Sooner or later, all things old are new again. 

That's why you'll find Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co. in a reimagined warehouse space on one of Nashville's oldest streets. That's also why you'll find black and gray tattoos making an epic comeback not just here in Nashville but across the globe. 

Appropriately dubbed Jailhouse tattoos, black and gray tattoos originated in prisons during the 1970s. With limited access to materials, prisoners used items like guitar strings dipped in cigarette ashes or pens to create tattoos. But, dig a little deeper, and you can trace black and gray tattoos to ancient Egypt, where they were found on female mummies. Go even further back, and you’ll find references to these tattoos in the Bible (that’s circa 700 B.C.).

But here they are again! Black and gray tattoos are not only resurfacing under the guise of Realism tattoos, Portrait tattoos, and Lettering and Script tattoos, they are becoming a statement tattoo all their own.

The black and gray tattoos that were once simple drawings made without colorful pigments have evolved into a skilled art form in which tattoo artists use meticulous shading techniques to create realistic eye-catching tattoos.

Skilled black and gray tattoo artists know just how to dilute the ink, tune the machine to the proper speed, and apply shading to the skin. A great black and gray tattoo can stand the test of time, so if you see one you like ask how long ago it was done.

Finding the right tattoo artist to create a black and gray tattoo is much like finding a unicorn—that’s what we call a Nashvillian who was actually born in Nashville. It's not easy. But, look hard enough and one will surface.

You’ll find some of the industry’s most renowned black and gray tattoo artists right here at Hart & Huntington. Here in Nashville, black and gray tattoos are about as hot as our chicken!