One of the latest fashions in tattooing is the blackout tattoo. This involves large areas of skin inked completely black and should be considered by anyone who believes in the words of Mic Jagger: “I want to see the sun blotted out in the sky.”

There are some among us who were simply born nocturnal.

We don’t understand society’s fixation on the purity of white, the sterilized white cubes of offices and museums, or the joy people feel in the morning. We keep the shades drawn and wait until at least 5:00 pm to set foot outdoors. To suit our behaviors, we prefer blackout tattoos.

Many get blackout tattoos to cover up the drunken mistakes they made in college, but many more just love the look. The style is credited to Singapore tattoo artist Chester Lee, a guy who made news in 2015 for getting the first known eye tattoo.

“Tattoos can sometimes be irrational decisions,” Lee says, “and people end up regretting them. Blackout tattoos are a convenient way to cover them up.”

Traditional tattoos have remained stagnant for decades. The blackout tattoo, however, makes use of negative space to add a completely new dimension to body art. Get a blackout tattoo and join the movement.

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1. Negative Space Blackout Tattoo Sleeves

Blackout sleeves are dramatic. This bold approach that uses large swaths of black ink is inherently limited by the monochromatic nature of the work. That being said, there is one clever way to create more interesting designs in blackout sleeves: negative space. 

By leaving untouched skin exposed and applying densely packed black around it, these artists are able to produce a variety of different patterns and designs in these stark, full sleeve tattoos. The high level of contrast in these dramatic tattoos demonstrates how effectively negative space can be used in blackout sleeves.