Moon tattoo ideas, meaning and designs

Getting a phase row right

Decide how many phases you want before anything else, since eight is the standard set and rows of five or seven force you to drop phases in a way that has to make sense. Then decide the direction of travel. A row read left to right that goes new through full to new again is the usual arrangement, and reversing it is a choice rather than a mistake as long as it is deliberate.

Each moon needs to be at least 1.5 cm across, and 2 cm is better, with a clear gap between them. Tight rows of 8 mm moons on a collarbone look precise for three years and then become a dotted line. A row of eight moons at 2 cm with gaps needs about 25 cm of skin, which is roughly a collarbone or a forearm.

What to check before the stencil goes on

• The eight phases in the right order, with no duplicates
• The lit side correct for the hemisphere you live in
• Each moon at least 1.5 cm across with a visible gap between them
• Gibbous phases clearly different from quarters, not almost full
• The row following a natural line on the body rather than cutting across it

Drawing a full moon that looks like the moon

A realistic full moon is recognizable because of its markings. The large dark plains, the maria, sit in a specific arrangement, with Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis in the upper half and Oceanus Procellarum spreading down the left as we see it. The bright crater Tycho sits near the bottom with rays streaking out from it. Get those roughly right and the moon reads instantly.

Random craters scattered evenly across a circle read as a golf ball. Most artists work from a photograph and simplify, keeping the big shapes and dropping the small craters entirely. Dotwork and whip shading both suit this, though dotwork needs at least 8 cm so the stipple at the edges of the maria has room to stay separate.

Size, placement and style

A plain crescent works at 3 cm and a detailed full moon wants 8 to 12 cm. The crescent shape suits curved areas: behind the ear, the inner wrist, the back of the neck and the shoulder cap. Phase rows want a long straight run, so collarbone, forearm, spine and the line under the chest are the usual choices.

Blackwork moons with solid fill last longest. Dotwork moons are the most popular and the most variable, since a thinly stippled moon can lose its edges over fifteen years. Fine line crescents hold well because the shape is simple. If you want the moon to still be crisp at twenty years, ask for heavier stipple than looks right on the day.

Combinations, and what people change

Moons pair with almost everything, which is why they turn up as a frame around another subject more than as a subject themselves. A crescent holding a botanical, a moth or a small landscape is one of the most requested designs in fine line work. Stars alongside a moon need care, since a crescent and a star sitting together is a specific symbol in its own right.

The change people ask for most often is adding a date, usually a birth. A phase row where one moon matches the phase on a particular night is a good version of this, and it takes thirty seconds to look up. Getting that phase wrong is the sort of thing you will notice every time you look at it.