Tattoo Styles Explained

Hello fellow Steemians! Today I decided I wanted to share with you a few of the different styles of tattoos found all over the world. There are a few sub categories and lesser known styles, but today I decided to just stick with the more well-known and popular styles. Feel free to use this as a handy guide, and (If this is possible?) Show your tattoos in the comments! Before we get started I just wanted to state that I am not a tattoo artist myself, however I love tattoos and learning about how they are made, their aftercare and the design process.

Tattoos have been around for centuries, in 1991 a frozen body with over 57 tattoos was discovered, and it was 5000 years old! Different cultures sport them for different reasons, such as to show status or wealth, or to protect against illness.

~Traditional American style/Old school style~

Traditional tattoo style was brought to life by Sailor Jerry during WWII. Considered one of the great grandfathers of modern day tattooing, his strong colour palette and bold lines continue to thrive in today’s tattoo scene. Sailor Jerry was the very first westerner to be taught by the great Japanese tattoo masters. But he didn’t stop there. He continued to build upon their techniques and created his own style. All in all an upstanding guy.

Here’s an example of a traditional flash sheet done by Sailor Jerry himself. As you can see the colour scheme is quite muted and features a lot of bold black lines, as well as being quite 2D. I highly recommend this style if you want something that (Assuming you take good care of it over the years) will require minimal touch ups.

~Neo Traditional Style/ New school style ~

Neo traditional style is self-explanatory. Still hanging onto its traditional roots, Neo traditional style has become very popular in the last couple of years, pioneered by todays artists that created a modern variation of the traditional style. The two-dimensional look of a traditional tattoo is replaced by complex shading and detail that makes the design jump right off the skin! This style is my favourite, and I have two in this style!

Done by one of my favourite artists Brandochiesa, who lives in Florence, Italy.

~Realism/blackandgrey~

Realism tattoos are made to look as if you’ve got a photograph pasted to your skin! If you go to a quality artist with a good reputation, you can be certain you’ll be walking out with a top-quality piece. A realism piece can be either blackwork (featuring only grey shading) or colour. Typically featuring a lot of detailed shading and fine linework, a realism tattoo is perfect to show your love to a family member or a personal hero.

Great colour realism by Charles Huurman.

~Dot-work Tattoo~

Dot-work tattoos are one of my personal favourite styles, and I have two dot-work pieces on my body. Dot-work tattoos have been around for a long time, and were traditionally done “hand tapped” (Ouch!) Dot-work tattoos have seen a surge in popularity in the recent years, as more and more young people opt to get inked up. If you hate pain like me I recommend starting off with a dot work piece, as the needle they use to do the “dots” hurts less than the traditional shading needle. Dotwork is usually black and white, and often features sacred geometrical shapes.

Dot-work sleeve done by Nissacro, who I do believe is in Osaka Japan at the moment. (Fully booked though :()

~Watercolour style~

First up let me just tell you that getting a watercolour tattoo is probably going to be a mistake. Why you ask? Because to create the watercolour effect the artist must dilute the ink, and without the solid black lines to give it dimension it will probably fade to a shapeless blob within 5 years. I beg of you to not get a watercolour piece. There’s a saying in the tattoo industry “Bold will hold” and watercolour tattoos definitely aren’t bold enough!

Oh sure it looks cute now, but this cute wolf won’t stand the test of time. Trust me on this one guys. I couldn’t find the artist for this one :(. If you know who the artist is please let me know so I can give credit!

Thanks so much for reading! Hope this helped make the world of tattoos a little easier to understand! Feel free to message me with any questions you may have!