Tattoo Style Categories

Black & Grey

Black-and-grey is a style of tattooing that uses only black ink in varying shades and typically uses a single needle.

 

 

Color

Color realism tattoos are a stunning example of artistry that’s packed with rich color to make the tattoocome “alive”.

 

 

Cover up

Cover-ups could completely hide the old tattoo with a new design, or the cover-up could incorporate elements or the whole of the existing tattoo.

 

Geometric

A geometric tattoo deals with several lines or geometric shapes that come together to form an even bigger shape. Often geometric tattoos have shapes that have a very deep meaning.

 

Illustrative/New School

The New school style is a highly animated aesthetic that features cartoonish caricatures and other exaggerated figures.

After New School tattoo styles, illustrative tattoo styles should be what you are most familiar with. It has just as many colors as it needs, along with lines that look like they could be a drawing on a piece of paper.

 

Japanese (Irezumi)

The traditional Japanese style (Irezumi) tattoos tell a story about Japans rich past, featuring warriors and mythological creatures such as dragons.

 

Neo-Traditional

 

Neo-traditional is an evolution of the traditional style. It showcases precision linework and extremely vibrant colors but it also has an illustrative quality to it. This makes it ideal for things like animals and lively imagery.

 

Surrealism

Surrealism is a philosophy manifesting itself as art and described as the juxtaposition of dreams and reality to create the purported super-reality. It's liberation from the human mind, a revolution of social views and principles.

 

Traditional

Traditional American tattoo style features bold black outlines and a limited color palette typically included yellow, red, green and black. This style was made popular by well-known American tattooists of the 1900s like Sailor Jerry.

 

Trash Polka

Trash polka is a style that looks like a collage of natural and realistic elements including geometric graphics and lettering that creates a bold chaotic piece.

 

Watercolor

Watercolor tattoos are created with much more gradual coloring than traditional tattoos and nearly all watercolor tattoos have no outline.

 

Speciality Tattoo Styles