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The lotus is an aquatic, or water-loving, flower that grows in tropical regions of Asia and Australia. The lotus actually lives in water - its roots go into the mud at the bottom of a lake, pond or river, and its flowers and leaves float on top.
The lotus survives. Not only will one plant bloom year after year, but its seeds remain viable much longer than the seeds of other plants. The lotus seeds came from a dry lake in China. Although they have been without water for about 1,300 years, the seeds germinated and grew when planted.
The lotus has great cultural significance in its native lands. Each part of the plant is used in traditional foods, medicines, and teas. Buddhist and Hindu religions consider the lotus sacred. For example, thread made from the plant is used to weave clothing for Buddha statues. Ancient temples are decorated with carvings of patterns of lotus flowers, and the Hindu goddess Lakshmi is often depicted with lotus flowers and standing inside a giant lotus flower. The Hindu god Vishnu wears a crown of lotus flowers and is sometimes adorned with a lotus flower growing on his navel.
Want to draw a lotus flower? This simple step-by-step drawing tutorial will show you how. All you need is a piece of paper and something to draw with, such as a pen or pencil. You can also use colored pencils, colored pencils, markers or paints to color your beautiful flower.
If you enjoyed this lesson, see. Also the following drawing guides: Lily, Tulip, and Sunflower.
Born of mud.
So the lotus flower is not only related, as we said, to deities such as Buddha or the Indian gods, whose culture believes they sit on thrones made of this flower. The lotus flower is a true survival specialist, as its seeds are capable of going hundreds of years without water, only to eventually germinate one day.
In addition, another very powerful symbolism associated with this flower is that it grows in places full of dirt. Attitudes toward the beauty of this delicate perennial flower will change if we see a place that used to be considered damp, muddy and not very attractive. In short, lotuses don't give up, no matter how bad the circumstances.
The meaning of the lotus tattoo
This flower grows in many countries around the world, so it has entered almost all cultures, becoming part of the traditions and beliefs of various peoples. The main ones to promote ideas about this flower are the Buddhists and Hindus who grew up on ancient traditions.
These peoples often use tattoos depicting the lotus flower, showing their desire to get rid of illusions, to force themselves and their creation to awaken. According to some legends, Buddha himself was born from a large lotus flower. Meaning Prince Gautuma, his essence that is eternally reborn. As for the symbolism of the tattoo, everything is quite simple. The lotus is a flower that begins its growth at the bottom of a lake where there is no beauty or light, but only mud and animal remains. At the same time, the flower does not give up, directing its growth upwards, as a result, a beautiful and enchanting flower appears on the surface of the water.
This plant was in culture and religion not only among Buddhists. The lotus is a symbol of reverence in Assyria, Phoenicia, Egypt and Hittite culture. It was perceived as a symbol of human death and rebirth, the lotus being the embodiment of the idea of reincarnation. In Greece the lotus was a symbol of the goddess Aphrodite.
China is the most ancient civilization, which also paid special attention to this flower. For their people, the lotus is an auspicious symbol denoting good luck and good fortune in all creative endeavors. In Tibet, the lotus was a symbol of things unfathomable and mysterious to human perception. The Japanese have invested in the lotus flower its meaning, making it a symbol of chastity and innocence of girls.
Lotus tattoo divided into styles and standard colors
Like all floral tattoos, the Lotus tattoo has many things to inspire you. Whether large or small, colored or black and white, the decision is yours: anything can look beautiful.
Either way, the color of the flower can have one meaning or another. For example, pink or white lotus flowers are associated with purity and devotion. Conversely, blue or purple flowers are associated with enlightenment. If you play with the colors, design and meaning of these flowers, the end result will be spectacular and unique.
Lotus in Abstraction style.
Style Abstraction has no limits to the flight of boundless imagination when it comes to floral compositions with Lotus. It is drawn in such a way that the general outlines of the plant were clear, and the form of artistic display itself is inspired by inspiration. In other variants, incredible objects are used in conjunction with it.
Lotus in the style of Watercolor
Watercolor meets Lotus tattoo lovers with a bright fireworks of colors. The blue color combines perfectly with the red. The effect of watercolor painting is achieved by the concentration of color in the colorful spots, as if it were a real watercolor spot on paper. The outline of the flower is made by contrasting contour lines in black.
Blackwork Lotus
The black lotus by Blackwork is an unconventional sight, especially since it does not exist in nature. It is an allegory, a suggestion of what it would look like if it were black. He is the gloomy counterpart of his light and enlightened brother.
The work is done exclusively with black paint, where 90% is intense, dense ink. The tattoo can act as an overlay for an old, eventually bored tattoo.
Lotus in the style of Geometry
Geometry style tattoo combines a flower with a geometric background design in a composition. It suggests enclosing the Lotus in a frame outlined by a figure, mostly a rhombus. The color of the tattoo, colorful or black and gray does not matter, it looks equally beautiful in all variations. It all depends on the individual preferences of its owner.
Lotus in the Graphic style
In most of the works of the Graphic style tattoo Lotus is a complex plot composition. The flower is one of the elements and not always acts in the main role in the foreground. He is part of the team as a whole forming a specifically directed idea, literally known only to the owner and the tattoo-master.
The tattoo is a pencil flat drawing with clear detailing, made in black and gray.
Lotus in Linework Style
The lotus is a popular symbol and like all famous symbols has many of its variations consisting of lines. It is practically a larger version of Minimalism small tattoos, but more massive and made with bolder outline lines. Shadows, if any, are insignificant, transparent, slightly visible. They are often made in the technique of dotwork or light gravosh.
Lotus in the style of Minimalism
Minimalism is intended for those who want a small, barely noticeable symbol in the form of the Lotus flower, reminiscent from afar of the Adidas trademark emblem of the original version. The tattoo includes only thin lines that accurately convey the idea of the pattern. The whole point of the style is to create a lotus imitation by resorting to the least amount of lines, without losing the simple identification of the flower.
Lotus in the Neotraditional style
A style rooted in Oldschool, in the case of the Lotus tattoo is reminiscent of Asian artistic methods of depicting flowers, specifically Japanese chrysanthemums. The bright colorful petals are arranged chaotically, forming possibilities for a more effective transfer of the color tone of the flower.
The Lotus in Oriental Style
The image of the Lotus is widespread in the East thanks to Buddhism, so you can find it in any design and in any interpretation. The flower can be either a single element of the design or a constituent element of the composition of a large tattoo, such as a sleeve or the size of the entire back.
Tattoos, regardless of the color of the work, are designed with a background that is classic to the style. It is usually water, as the flower adores bodies of water.
Lotus in the Ornamental style
Ornamental is one of the top styles for Lotus tattoos. Indian classical patterns decorated and adorn this flower to this day. The style is popular among fans of spiritual enlightenment, meditation, and body and soul healing yoga. The ornamental depicts the lotus schematically, in the form of an ornament, so that the flower practically dissolves in an abundance of openwork patterns. The color of the tattoo is black.
Lotus in the style of Polynesia
Totally different cultures merged together in the depiction of two symbols. Rarely does anyone do this, so we'll take a look at the specific example above. The image shows one of the popular Polynesian elements, a turtle, patterned and canonically shaped according to the style, encapsulates the Lotus flower within it, decorated in Boho style.
The Lotus in Realism Style
There are four factors that make the Lotus tattoo realistic - increased color contrast, meticulous detailing, proper shadows and the absence of pronounced contour lines.
No matter what design variant is chosen, monochrome or color, observing the rules and having a straight hand the artist is able to create a true work of art body art.
Lotus in the Tribal Style
Treble is considered a patterned style, and the patterns go very well with the lotus image. But in this particular case, these are unique tattoos that intersect with blackwork, and while Ornamental is more suitable for girls, Trible will look great on men (unless of course it is decorated with additional feminine elements).
The Lotus in Chicano Style
Inscriptions with the original font, the background playing on the contrast of details - all this style Chicano. A style capable of turning a man into a bold, cool and modern gangster. Chikano exclusively black and gray style and only in the technique of gravosh (the technique of smooth transitions from light to dark).
Lotus tattoo: sketches
In order for the drawing to be beautiful and organic it is necessary to find a good master, able to pick the best sketch and color scheme to create a lotus tattoo. The picture can be stylized for China, India and other eastern countries, or performed in a psychedelic style. The monochrome image is not popular now, so it is better to give preference to a color picture, paying attention to the choice of color scheme, taking into account the importance of certain shades.
The watercolor style is very popular, but when working with it, it is important to pay attention to the quality of the colors, otherwise they will float and spoil the picture. Graphics or geometric patterns are also often used, which can make the image more interesting and mysterious.
Compositions with other elements
The Lotus tattoo can carry any additional elements or symbols. We should not forget that he is a flower, and flowers in tattoos often serve as decorations and decoration of images. Nevertheless, compositions with other significant in the tattoo elements are conventionally divided into several categories:
Religious
Plot tattoos that combine the image of a lotus with Indian deities (Hinduism) or Buddha (Buddhism). The deities may be inside the flower, but more often the lotus itself serves as an element of the decoration.
Spiritual
Tattoos that indicate the spiritual path of their owner. They display the symbolism of enlightenment, chakras, and mandalas. They are often applied by followers of various Indian teachings of self-improvement and practitioners of yoga.
Amulets
Tattoos that ward off spoilage and remove the evil eye have evolved into a form that combines the powerful protective Arabic symbol Hamsa (five fingers with a human eye) with the Lotus. Tattoos are popular in a mix of several styles, with the flower and hand in Ornamental and the eye in Realism.
With Objects.
Lotus tattoos can be combined with various objects. Combine, not merge into one, as in the style of Abstractionism. Such tattoos may not always carry an idea or have a combined meaning. It's just a beautiful image, without a load of meaning, which many Body Art admirers are passionate about.
With animals.
The combination of the Lotus flower with a snake is considered the most popular theme. The snake crawls out of the bud, or wraps around it. Particularly suitable for those who are passionate about their improvement and those born in the year of the Snake in the Eastern calendar.
Popular places to apply
We did a small analysis of the popularity of Lotus tattoos on various places on the body and found out that the most popular places for a person is his back. 40-50% of people prefer to put the image of a flower exactly there. The place between the shoulder blades on the spine is especially famous, less so on the scapula.
Next comes the hand area, and more specifically the wrist. In this place, the tattoo is easier to hide from prying eyes. It is small and demanded mainly by girls. Behind the wrist follows the thigh area of the leg, famous for its voluminous size lotus tattoos.
The neck area takes the fourth place of honor. Tattoos are usually placed on the throat or on the side under the ear. In front, on the throat, the flower is depicted in symmetry, and on the side it is unfolded towards the face.
Completes the list of top places for the Lotus tattoo forearm. The flower tries to apply to the full length, for this purpose, he draws a stem. The image is made on the inside of the limb and on the outside.
