Instagram is, nowadays, the social network par excellence (with Snapchat's permission, of course). Its more than six hundred million users worldwide are proof of that.
Specifically, for some time now we could say that trends are born on Instagram and go viral from there. That's why today we want to share a trend we've detected and love.
On the one hand, it contains tattoos. Who would have told us a few years ago, when tattoos were somewhat «marginal», that later they would become the graphic representation of cool, hipsterism, in short, modernity. Today, tattoos have reached the level of works of art on the skin. And some tattoo artists have attained the status of masters, true artists of needles and ink.
The other element of this successful trend is cats. What can we say about cats that we haven't already? They are loving, adorable, intelligent… In addition to being the kings of the Internet. Those of us who have one know how incredible they are. And how much we love them. That love is so strong that, in some cases, people want to immortalize it. And that's where tattoos come into play.
Getting a cat tattoo, especially if it is your own, is a gesture of love, a message to the world full of connotations. On Instagram, there are more than 143,000 photos with the hashtag #cattattoo and 11,000 with the tag #tattoocat. There are all kinds, and logically, on every part of the body (or at least those that can be seen, because there are surely many that do not pass the social network's censorship filters).
There are minimalist ones, yet sufficiently expressive, such as this one:
And, of course, others that are more elaborate and sophisticated, such as this one:
And with an impressive level of detail and sophistication, as you can see in this one:
But speaking of sophistication and exquisite detail, we must stop to consider one particular case, that of Horitomo, a tattoo artist and cat lover who enjoys incredible prestige in Japan, —and increasingly throughout the world. After twenty years of professional work, during which he has had the opportunity to practice “tebori” (the Japanese art of hand-tattooing). His specialty? Cats. In fact, he coined a concept that has already become popular among cat and tattoo lovers: “monmon cat”. Monmon means tattoo in Japanese.
Part of what makes him unique and has made him a star in the “tattoo world” (currently @monmoncats has more than 58,000 followers) is his talent for speaking about the soul and personality of cats. As a result, their little bodies contain a very rich universe within them. Thus, we see cats with tigers inside them; cats with gardens; cats with other cats… Because every cat is a world unto itself, every tattoo that attempts to represent it should be too.
Regardless of everyone's individual tastes or the tattoo styles we prefer, we have to acknowledge that they are true works of art.
So if you're looking for ideas for getting your cats tattooed, you've seen that Instagram is overflowing with inspiration. By the way, if you're not following us on Instagram yet, now's the time: click @aristopet!