How big is a 20 cm tattoo?
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A 20 cm tattoo is 20 cm (7.9 in) on its longest side, a little less than the width of an A4 sheet. It is a large piece: 20 cm runs the full length of most forearms from wrist to elbow, spreads beyond one side of the chest, and covers a good part of the upper back. Expect more than one session.
How long is 20 cm?
Twenty centimetres is 7.9 inches. Lay an A4 sheet in front of you sideways: its short edge is 21 cm, so a 20 cm tattoo is just under the width of the page. A US letter sheet is 21.6 cm wide, a little more. A smartphone is roughly 15 cm tall, so 20 cm is a phone plus a third of another. A bank card is 8.56 cm long, so you would need between two and three cards end to end.
If you searched "20cm tattoo" or "8 inch tattoo", the two are within 3 mm of each other: 8 inches is 20.3 cm. A 20 inch tattoo is another matter, 51 cm long, which is a full back piece or a design running the length of the thigh. When you ask a studio for a quote, give the size in centimetres and say which side it is (tattoo sizes are measured by the longest side), so nobody confuses the units.
What a 20 cm tattoo looks like on the forearm, chest and back
The three pictures use the framing every size page uses (45 cm of body top to bottom for the forearm, 50 cm for the chest, 60 cm for the back), so they line up with the 15 cm and 12 cm pages. At 20 cm the serpent fills 44% of the forearm picture's height, the eagle 40% of the chest picture and the rhinoceros a third of the back picture. The bodies are plaster casts scaled to adult proportions, and bodies differ, so measure yours as well.
What does 20 cm cover on each part of the body?
The Sydney Tattoo Convention guide puts 15–20 cm at a full lower arm, upper back or thigh, and 20–30 cm at a full back, full leg, chest or side rib. Bosphorus Ink calls 16–30 cm large. So 20 cm sits at the point where a tattoo stops being a piece on an area and becomes the area.
- The forearm: a full wrist-to-elbow piece is 15–20 cm, so 20 cm is the whole forearm on most people. On a short forearm it will reach the wrist bone or the elbow crease, which is worth measuring before you settle on it.
- The chest: one side holds 10–15 cm as a medium piece, and large chest work runs 20–30 cm across both sides. A 20 cm design either fills one side from shoulder to breastbone or starts to cross the centre line.
- The back: 20 cm is the top of the medium range and the start of a full back piece (20–40 cm). Between the shoulder blades it reads as a substantial piece, with room left above and below.
- The upper arm and the calf: large runs 15–25 cm, and 20 cm takes in most of the length of either.
- The ribs and the thigh: 20 cm is the top of medium on both. The ribs take a long, upright design well at this length.
How a 20 cm tattoo wraps
At 20 cm the curve of the body starts to matter as much as the length. A limb is round, so anything wider than the flat face of the forearm or calf bends out of sight from the front, and a straight line on paper reads as a curve on the arm. Artists measure along the skin for this reason. A design drawn flat at 20 × 12 cm may need reshaping to sit right on a forearm, and on the chest a wide piece has to account for the dip at the breastbone and the rise of the shoulder. This is where seeing the design on a body from the side helps most: the forearm picture above is a side view for that reason.
What detail works at 20 cm?
Almost anything a design calls for. Bosphorus Ink lists detailed floral compositions at 12–25 cm and ornamental or mandala work at 15–25 cm on the shoulder or back, and 20 cm is inside both ranges. The usual cautions about ink spreading over time (Vatican Tattoo Studio and Black Hat Tattoo describe lines softening and thickening slightly over about a decade) rarely bite at this size, because lines can be spaced generously. The risk at 20 cm is the reverse: a small, simple design stretched to fill a large area can look empty, and its lines may need to be bolder to hold the scale.
How long does a 20 cm tattoo take?
Usually several sessions. Skin Design Tattoos puts 7–10 inch pieces (18–25 cm) at 11 to 18 hours. Aloha Tattoos gives six to ten hours for large thigh, chest and ribcage work over two or more sessions, and eight to twelve hours or more for a full sleeve. Platinum Ink says a full-day sitting runs five to eight hours. The estimates differ by studio and by how much of the design is shaded, so plan for at least two appointments and ask your artist how they split the work.
From a distance
A 20 cm tattoo reads as a whole picture from several metres away. Its silhouette carries first, so a design with a strong overall shape works better at this size than one built from many small, separate elements. On a forearm it defines the arm; on the back, under clothes most of the time, it is a piece people see when you choose to show it.
Questions
How big is a 20 cm tattoo in inches?
A 20 cm tattoo is 7.9 inches on its longest side, almost exactly 8 inches. That is just under the width of an A4 sheet of paper, or a smartphone and a third laid end to end.
Will a 20 cm tattoo fit on my forearm?
On most adults, 20 cm is the full length of the forearm from wrist to elbow, the top of the usual 15 to 20 cm range for a full forearm piece. Measure your own forearm along the skin before deciding, since a shorter arm will not take it.
How many sessions does a 20 cm tattoo need?
Usually two or more. Studio estimates for a well-filled piece of this size range from about 6 to 18 hours of tattooing, and studios describe a full-day sitting as five to eight hours.
Is 20 cm a good size for a chest tattoo?
It is a large chest piece. One side of the chest usually holds 10 to 15 cm, so a 20 cm design either fills one side from shoulder to breastbone or crosses the centre and becomes a piece spanning both sides.
How many cm is a 20 inch tattoo?
A 20 inch tattoo is 50.8 cm long, about 51 cm. That is a full back piece or a design running the length of the thigh, more than two and a half times the length of a 20 cm tattoo.
Planning a piece this size
A 20 cm tattoo is usually drawn for your body, so take measurements of the area to your consultation along with your reference. Set the design to 20 cm on one of plan.tattoo's 74 plaster bodies, look at it from the front, the side and behind, and take the pictures along. Going down to 15 cm keeps a forearm piece off the wrist and elbow; going up to 30 cm means a back, thigh or full chest piece. The tattoo size chart and how to plan a tattoo cover the rest.
Sources: Sydney Tattoo Convention: tattoo size and body part guide · Bosphorus Ink: tattoo size and placement guide · Skin Design Tattoos: tattoo sizing guide · Aloha Tattoos: how long mandala tattoos take · Platinum Ink: how long does a tattoo take · Vatican Tattoo Studio: why micro tattoos blur · Black Hat Tattoo: how small can lettering go