Okay, so you've been collecting several pieces of body art through the years and now you've reached a stage where you feel that you want all of the work brought together. This is an accurate description of how the majority of half and full sleeve tattoo designs come into being.
Over the years and as you get used to living with your ink, you will add more body art and reach a point where you feel that the art looks a bit of a mish mash. This is where you may need a central theme to tie all of the work together. This can be done through simply adding shading in between the existing pieces, or for a really perfect effect, why not add some Japanese style artwork?
The japanese style relies on plenty of bold panelling and swirls and these can all be broken up through a plethora of background features: such as waves, flowers and even stars. If there are any existing pieces that you are not entirely happy with - fear not, as you can always incorporate the Japanese style to cover these tattoos up.
If there is sufficient space, in between your pieces of body art, another great idea to sleeve your arm is through tribal tattoo work. These simple and effective black line patterns can be moulded in absolutely any way you choose and they may well bring a perfect uniformity to the work that you have already had done. The same could be said of Celtic tattooing and sometimes, this can look even more awesome than tribal work. If you are in two minds over this decision, make good use of these two categories for designs on this site and discuss your suggestions with a competent tattoo artist.
Nowadays though, an increasing number of individuals are getting full sleeves done from the word go. It has definitely become completely acceptable to sport full designs down the entire length of your arm. At this stage, the world really would be your oyster.
The current trend is toward black and grey work, as a full sleeve, and you will see a number of famous people proudly adorned with this type of work. This work does look great, there's no denying that fact, but think hard about a total lack of color on both arms - maybe you might prefer to have one sleeve done in this style but the other with plenty more color and definition.
