Anointed Ink Call (708) 770-2754

Aztec & Cultural

Aztec and cultural tattoos

Warriors, sun stones, headdresses, and the heritage imagery that runs through Chicano tattooing.

Aztec imagery is some of the most rewarding work to tattoo and some of the easiest to do badly. The stonework has actual geometry in it. A sun stone with its rings out of true, or a warrior headdress where the feather spacing has been guessed, looks wrong to anyone who knows the reference, which in this neighborhood is a lot of people.

These are heritage pieces. They usually mean something specific to the person wearing them, and they are worth getting right rather than approximating from the first image on a search results page.

Bring what the piece needs to say and it gets drawn around that.

Call (708) 770-2754

What this covers

  • Jaguar and eagle warriors
  • The sun stone and calendar imagery
  • Headdresses and feather work
  • Warrior and princess compositions
  • Tribal banding and negative space work
Serving Chicago Ridge, Oak Lawn, Worth, Alsip, Palos Heights, Bridgeview, Burbank and Evergreen Park.

Aztec and cultural tattoos, and the scale this work takes

6 tagged pieces in this category, shown alongside 6 more pieces from the gallery that show the density the work calls for. All tattooed by Nestor Juarez.

Black and grey Aztec sun stone medallion with a hummingbird carved in relief on skin
Aztec sun stone and hummingbird, by Nestor Juarez
Color tattoo of a roaring bear wearing an Aztec feathered headdress with red lightning behind it.
Aztec warrior bear in full color, by Nestor Juarez
Two hand tattoos side by side, a skull in a feathered Aztec headdress and a jackal headed Anubis with red ankh symbols
Aztec skull and Anubis hand tattoos, by Nestor Juarez
Aztec sun stone medallion in black and grey set into a solid tribal band wrapping the leg.
Aztec sun stone with a tribal band, by Nestor Juarez
Three panel cover-up showing an old red forearm tattoo, a purple stencil, then a finished winged warrior woman in a crested helmet
Cover-up: old ink to Aztec warrior, by Nestor Juarez
Polynesian style black patterns wrapping a forearm beside a red, white and blue Puerto Rican flag
Tribal forearm sleeve with Puerto Rican flag, by Nestor Juarez
Black and grey forearm tattoo of a woman with half skull face, roses and colored butterflies
Catrina half skull with roses and butterflies, by Nestor Juarez
Black and grey forearm piece with laugh now cry later theater masks and flowing script lettering.
Laugh now cry later masks in black and grey, by Nestor Juarez
Norse forearm sleeve in black and grey with a longship, a raven, a hammer and a snarling wolf.
Norse forearm sleeve in black and grey, by Nestor Juarez
Upper back tattoo of two skeletons embracing inside a tarot card labeled Lovers, with a red rose and sunflower
Skeleton lovers tarot card back piece, by Nestor Juarez
Black and grey tiger with bright blue eyes and blossoms wrapping the thigh
Blue-eyed tiger and blossoms on the thigh, by Nestor Juarez
Color realism tiger head with pink cherry blossoms and a monarch butterfly on an upper arm
Color realism tiger with cherry blossoms, by Nestor Juarez

Questions

Is the Aztec sun stone a calendar?

It is commonly called the Aztec calendar, but the Sun Stone is a monumental carving rather than a working calendar. The imagery is what people want and it is worth getting right.

Why does the geometry matter so much?

Because the stonework has real proportion in it. Rings out of true or guessed feather spacing read as wrong to anyone who knows the reference, which around here is a lot of people.

Color or black and grey for Aztec work?

Both work. Headdresses and warrior pieces often carry color well, while stonework and medallions usually read stronger in black and grey.

Other work

Black & grey Chicano realism

45 pieces by Nestor

Cover-up tattoos

2 pieces by Nestor

Portrait tattoos

15 pieces by Nestor

Religious tattoos

14 pieces by Nestor

Memorial tattoos

5 pieces by Nestor

Color realism tattoos

11 pieces by Nestor

Tattoo sleeves

17 pieces by Nestor

Find us

Visit the shop

We are on 111th Street in Chicago Ridge, minutes from Oak Lawn, Worth, Alsip and Burbank.

Anointed Ink
5920 W 111th St
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415
(708) 770-2754
anointed.ink29@gmail.com

Get directions

Serving
Chicago Ridge, Oak Lawn, Worth, Alsip, Palos Heights, Bridgeview, Burbank, Evergreen Park, Hometown, Palos Hills, Hickory Hills, Chicago's Southwest Side.

Hours

Opening hours
Monday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Tuesday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Wednesday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Thursday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Friday12:00pm to 7:00pm
Saturday12:00pm to 7:00pm
SundayClosed

Plus code M6RM+72 Chicago Ridge, Illinois

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