Black ink in an essential color for tattooing because of its depth and versatility. Many tattooists use black ink to apply the initial outline of a tattoo design to the client's skin. Black is also used in a watered-down form to create various shades of gray that are used to shade and define the design before applying color, or in designs that are primarily --- or completely --- black and gray. Black ink is used to darken lighter colors, as well.
White tattoo ink --- though seldom noticed --- is also an essential color for tattoo art. White is generally used as an enhancement color to discretely highlight certain areas of a tattoo, such as eyes, stars, glass or any portrayal of objects that have shiny or glimmering effects in their realistic form. Professional tattoo artists also use white ink to lighten darker colors. For instance, white and red make pink, and white with navy can produce several shades of blue, such as sky or baby blue. Though they are not as common as black, gray or color pieces, depending on your flesh tone, you may be able to have a completely white tattoo as well.
Like most other forms of visual art, tattooing designs are often colored in using the basic primary and secondary colors: red, blue, yellow, purple, green and orange. Tattoo inks are available in hundreds of shades and colors, but most colors are derived from these basic six colors. Professional tattoo artists are generally skilled at mixing inks to create custom colors, and many prefer to blend their own inks. A talented tattoo artist can create seemingly endless varieties of ink colors by mixing only red, yellow, blue, black and white inks.
In recent years, the art of tattooing has become much more socially acceptable and more and more people are getting tattooed. Correspondingly, the ultra violet (UV) tattoo ink colors that were once rarely used are becoming more common. UV tattoo inks come in the same colors as regular tattoo ink but have a more vibrant and fluorescent appearance due to phosphorous additives. What sets UV inks apart from regular tattoo inks is that they are invisible in regular light and can only be viewed under a black light.