General Information / Rules

1. All judges are impartial and unbiased. All entries are considered fairly and equally upon their own merit.
2. The performing artists remain anonymous until awards are presented; judging is based solely on the technical and artistic qualities of each tattoo.
3. Tattoos must be complete to enter.
4. Tattoo models must be present during registration.
5. All tattoos entered into the contests must be performed by artists in attendance at the convention.
6. You can enter in each category with max. 6 tattoos (5 new & 1 old).
7. Each tattooist can participate with 1 previously done tattoo (healed) in each category.
8. A single tattoo can be registered in only 3 different categories (ie: Best color and/or best realistic and/or best of the day)
9. Unfinished tattoo/s can only be completed and enter into the contest only if a fairly considerable work must be done during the convention.
10. Both the tattoo artist and the collector must be present to receive their trophies. In the case that either is absent, trophies will be awarded to the runner up.
11. If you are a judge you may not enter any category you are scheduled to judge. You also may not judge a category that one of your artistic pieces has been entered into. If you need to be excused from judging a specific category an alternate judge will be provided.
12. Photographers from multiple tattoo and life-style magazines will be present to photograph contest winners and participants. The Cyprus Tattoo Convention reserves the right to publish these photographs for promotional and for documentation purposes.
13. May the best tattoo win.

Contest Categories

• Best Friday, Saturday & Sunday. You must have your tattoo done by an attending Artist that day of the convention.
• Black and Grey (Must be only black, grey or white ink used. Tattoos with any color will not be judged in this category) Small (smaller than A5) – Big (over A5 )
• Color (Any style of tattoo as long as it has bright vibrant coloring) Small (smaller than A5) – Big (over A5 )
• Realistic (Must be a representation of something)
• Blackwork (The term ‘blackwork’ covers mainly heavy bold work of body art rendered in solid planes of black ink).
• Japanese (Can be a traditional or modern depiction of the Japanese mythical creatures, legends and art in general).
• Portrait (Must be recognizable as the person portrayed. Must have photo or other acceptable reproduction of the person depicted. Must be a human subject, no unrealistic character/s such as cartoon art).
• Dots (Creation of a pattern with varying solidity or shading using small dots or specks, rather than using lines or solid areas. Dots must cover the majority of the Tattoo).
• Illustrative Blackwork (These tattoos make exceptional use of linework to create images that may have very well been drawn straight onto paper. Popular takes on Illustrative Tattoos can include floral, fine line, and blackwork – which is a style that only uses black ink.)
• Old School (Western or traditional American tattoo style featuring bold black outlines and a limited color palette).
• Neo Traditional (a Neo-traditional tattoo features bold lines, an illustrative look, highly saturated modern colors, and a feeling of dimension without being exaggerated or 3D).
• Best of the Show In this category for a tattoo to be registered; it has to be one of the winners from ‘Best of the Day’ categories.