A Beginner's Guide: Popular Tattoo Styles

After reading this, you'll be able to tell a traditional piece from a Japanese one at a glance, distinguish between neo-traditional and new school without breaking a sweat, and see the differences in blackwork and tribal designs without batting an eye.

1. Traditional

The traditional style was born on the high seas during the 1700s, after sailors like those who sailed with Capitan James Cook first encountered indigenous communities with tattoos and, becoming inspired by their bodily markings, decided to start collecting body art as mementos of their long voyages.

2. Realism

Though classic realism has been a part of the fine art since as far back as the Renaissance, it only found its way to the world of tattoos recently, cropping up around the latter half of the 20th century. Since then, the style has become increasingly refined and extremely popular.

3. Watercolor

The watercolor style is currently in vogue. It's in extremely high demand by the most recent generation of tattoo enthusiasts, who seem to be looking for something new to match the new millennium. It looks like what it sounds like, as if rendered with a brush dabbled in watery pastels.

4. Tribal

Tribal tattoos — i.e. indigenous body art — are the oldest in the world, dating back thousands of years. This style should actually be thought of as multiple styles or more so different traditions of tattooing from aboriginal communities all around the globe.

5. New School

Don't let the name fool you, new school isn't really all that new anymore. It rose to prominence in the weirdness that was the late '80s and early '90s, but lately it has waned in popularity. This is probably because it was very much a product of its time, featuring a highly animated aesthetic that takes after popular entertainment from that period in American history. The style is cartoonish and wacky, featuring caricatures and other exaggerated figures.

6. Neo Traditional

Neo-traditional, as the name implies, is an evolution of the traditional style. It features the core properties of its predecessor, like pronounced linework and extremely vibrant colors but it also has a illustrative quality to it. This is because neo-traditional artists employ various line weights to achieve a more textured and detailed aesthetic.

7. Japanese

The traditional Japanese style, aka Irezumi, originated during the Edo period (1603-1868) alongside ukiyo-e — woodblock prints that were hugely popular among the merchant class at the time.

8. Blackwork

Stylistically speaking, blackwork is a very broad categorical term. It applies almost any body art that's created using solely black ink, but as you can imagine, a lot can be done with this versatile and striking color. Looking through blackwork artists portfolios, you'll see everything from ancient sacred geometry to modern abstract ornamental designs to extremely detailed illustrative pieces.

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