The Ultimate Guide to the Many Different Types and Styles of Tattoos
Tattoo styles have an interesting history from all corners of the world. With modernity and the constant mixing of styles, new innovations in equipment and inks, artists’ visual creativity, and clients wanting to push the boundaries of what is possible- new styles have emerged on the horizons of the tattoo world. So, we thought it would be helpful to give you our insider perspective on the most prominent tattoo styles out there today. With this article, you'll be better informed and maybe grow a deeper appreciation for traditional pieces, Japanese (Irezumi), neo-traditional, tribal, new school, and everything in-between.
AMERICAN TRADITIONAL STYLE TATTOO
The American traditional tattoo style is one of the most fundamental, iconic tattoo styles out there! This style rose to popularity in the United States during the mid-1900s after World War II. Sailors would return home from the Pacific, and hunger for tattoos to show pride for their country. Roses, eagles, pin-up girls, anchors, skulls, and animals were/are common motifs for American traditional tattoos! During this time, 3 tattoo artists really pioneered the style, and their artistry has lived on for decades: Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins, Bert Grimm, and Don Ed Hardy. In terms of technical application, American traditional is defined by bold, black lines and bright colors. Rather than using several shades to create dimension, a Traditional tattoo is typically 2D or “flat,” to give the tattoo the appearance of being a drawing on skin. There may be some shading on certain details, but it is minimal. The shading is usually accomplished with dots or lines and not with gradiation. These tattoo designs are very simple, and strictly involve the motifs listed above.
Artists: Darius Cappelli, Zac Cleminson, Erik Sheppard, Seth Walker
NEO-TRADITIONAL STYLE TATTOOS
Neo-traditional takes the classic American traditional tattoo style to a new level! This tattoo style features a broader color palette and a broader range of motifs than what’s seen in American traditional tattoos. Neo-traditional pieces hold notoriety for their lush and decorative details, and of course, their bright, eye-catching coloring. Popular subjects for these tattoos range from nature imagery (florals, animals) to everyday objects.
Artists: Lawrence, Devin Coley, Matteo Leozappa, Seth Holmes
JAPANESE TRADITIONAL STYLE TATTOO
Japanese-style tattoos, also called Yakuza style or Irezumi, are equally as storied and popular in today’s tattoo culture as the American Traditional style. American bikers to celebrities like David Beckham to investment bankers and doctors all have an affinity towards the Japanese style due to the intricacy and skill it requires from the artist. The motifs that define modern Japanese style tattoos, such as samurai, water themes like kois and the ocean, mythical creatures like dragons, snakes, clouds, and tigers, date back to tattoos of the Edo Period (1603-1868). They all carry historical, traditional meanings that stem from myths, legends, and traditional stories. All of the Japanese traditional tattoos need to be designed by experienced tattoo artists and done by hand. Tattoos became socially taboo in later modern Japanese history, so criminal gangs used them as a mark of being a part of the underbelly of Japanese society, covering their entire bodies in elaborate tattoos. Some of these beliefs still are prevalent today in modern day Japan.
Artists: Fabi Hiromi, Laia Desole, Alex Toniato, Alex Peyrat
REALISM STYLE TATTOOS
Realism, also known as photo-realism tattoos, are exactly what the name suggests: Realistic images on skin! Realism in art has been around since the Renaissance period; however, realism in tattooing became popular in the industry only recently. Similar to many other styles of tattoos, realism became a favored style due to the evolution of extreme artistic talent of tattoo artists. Now, photo-realism tattoos are so accurate and advanced in their application, it feels like you could reach out and touch the subject on skin! Speaking of subject matter, realism tattoos can be based on anything you take a picture of: people, animals, landscapes. You name it, a photo-realism tattoo can be created! Furthermore, realism tattoos can be broken down into 2 categories: color and black and gray. Some artists specialize solely in one of the color palettes, but there are some extremely flexible artists out there who can conquer both!
Artists: Deborah Genchi, Pony Wave, Pony Lawson, Benj Ashmead
PORTRAIT STYLE TATTOOS
Portrait tattoos are a subgenre of the realism tattoo style, which takes physical images of living beings, and focuses solely on their head/face as subject matter for the tattoo. Facial features and other details are meticulously recreated on skin in order to compose a life-like illusion for the tattoo. As you could probably gather, portrait tattoos rely heavily on accuracy and artistic skill from the artist tattooing them; hence why a perfect photo reference of the subject is a must! Popular subject matters for portrait tattoos include celebrities, TV/movie characters, loved ones, and pets.
Artists: Adrian Garcia, Oba Jackson, Nikko Hurtado, Paul Marino
BIOMECHANICAL STYLE TATTOOS
Without a doubt, biomechanical tattoos are the ultimate transformation for your skin! Biomechanical combines the usage of ink and empty skin to create an illusion of robotic or machine parts within the body. These tattoos are often strategically placed based on the form of the client’s body part being tattooed, in order to help push this illusion even further. Biomechanical tattoos mix realism, and anatomical elements together to morph the human body into a robotic masterpiece!
Artist: Chocky Figueroa, Matthew Edewaard, Bogdan Grubas, Marcin Mikos
TRASH POLKA STYLE TATTOOS
Don’t let the name fool you. Trash polka is far from something that belongs in the garbage! Originating in Germany, trash polka pulls from realism, script, and surrealism to create interesting, collage-like compositions, using mainly black and red ink. These tattoos are often chaotic in appearance, and strive to tell a story of some kind.
Artist: Wizink, Ewer Sumati, Sebastian Echeverria, Dem
BLACK AND GREY STYLE TATTOOS
Black and grey tattoos take all color out of the equation, but that doesn’t make them any less fun! These tattoos solely rely on black ink and water to create various shades and dimensions to a piece. Black and grey tattoos are typically done with a single needle, and can be transferred into an array of tattoo styles including realism, ornamental, chicano, illustrative, and floral! This tattoo style is often confused with linework and/or blackwork, due to the presence of black on the skin. You can always differentiate them due to black and grey’s immense presence of grey, along with gradient shadings!
Artist: Ryan Ashley DiCristina, Brad Simmons, Jai Cheong, Matthew Greskiewicz
CHICANO STYLE TATTOO
There could be an argument made that American Traditional- tattoo also encompasses the Chicano style. The Chicano tattooing style was created in the mid-1900s by Mexican and Mexican-American artists in the Southwest United States and Southern California. The Chicano style is traditionally defined by smooth black and grey tones, creating highly illustrative designs that often feature religious, political, and historical imagery, as well as familia themes as reflective of Chicano culture of having strong family bonds. Chicano tattoos are also infamous for gang symbols and lettering made famous in LA by Chicano street culture. Chicano designs also have roots in prison culture. Religious chicano tattoos feature Jesus, virgin Mary, crosses, praying hands and the Pachuco cross. Portraits and realism chicano tattoos include family, lost loved ones, girls or pin-ups, cars, lowriders, guns, masks, iconic 50’s Hollywood celebrities and historic figures from the Mexican revolution. Clowns are a prominent theme as well in Chicano tattoo art. The mantra, “Laugh now, Cry Later,” represents strength and toughness with the duality of the human pain and suffering that’s behind the hard exterior.
Artists: Tatu Baby, Horus Briones, Kimberly Betancourt, Tonia Miragliotta
ORNAMENTAL STYLE TATTOOS
Ornamental tattoos are the height of elegance and tasteful decoration. These tattoos use heavy outlines and shading, typically in black and grey, with intense shapes and patterns to create stunning, decorative designs!
Artists: Agelos TFB, Anais Chabane, Hannah Trunwitt, Maura van Dam
SCRIPT STYLE TATTOOS
A script tattoo is without a doubt, the easiest tattoo style to recognize, as it’s only composed of words! Much like Microsoft Word, the font options for script tattoos are endless, and can be as crazy, or simple as you desire. Script tattoos are an extremely popular style for those getting a tattoo to remember a loved one, usually consisting of the handwriting of said person.
Artists: Staci Chimes, Legeiro, Loren Jones, Megan Massacre
BLACKWORK STYLE TATTOOS
Blackwork tattoos are one of the easiest tattoo styles to recognize due to their intense boldness, and sole use of black ink. These tattoos rely on the skin to create depth and contrast within a composition, rather than shading. Subject matter for these tattoos can be just about anything, and can appear 2D or 3D depending on the composition of the tattoo!
Artists: Marcelice, Nancy Chapman, Estib, Loz
TRIBAL STYLE TATTOOS
Tribal tattoos can be many things to many people. It has recently fallen out of favor, maybe due to the trending popularity of the tribal “Viking-inspired” style in the late 90’s to early 2000’s. However, traditional tribal tattoos are an integral part of tattoo culture, if not the foundation to all tattoos. Tribal tattoos are the works of culture and tribes originating from hundreds if not thousands of years ago. From Polynesian, African, Arabic, Indegineous people of the Americas- tribal has become an all encompassing term used to describe the geometric and minimalist style that are more reminiscent of the dawn of civilization or pre-society.
Artists: Rick Coito, Djon Nuculaj, Vitaliy Petrykevich, Mirko Tomic
STICK AND POKE STYLE TATTOOS
Stick and poke tattoos take all electric tattoo machines out of the equation to place ink into the skin. As the name suggests, stick and poke tattoos are done with a single needle, which is repeatedly placed into the skin by hand to create a permanent image. Stick and poke tattoos are famously referred to as “DIY tattoos” due to their accessibility for the average person in terms of materials. While it’s not recommended, most people have the tools to do a stick and poke tattoo in their own home and have no idea! (Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should though…)
Artists: Livs Lines, Tommy D’Salami, Naia, Amy Jones
DOTWORK STYLE TATTOOS
Dotwork style tattoos utilize an abundance of dots to compose an entire image, and/or shade said image. Derived from the pointillism art style, these dots are meant to blend together from afar, to the point where you can’t even tell only dots compose the image! Pointillism holds deep notirerity in fine art, with artists like George Seurat bringing longevity to the technique. Now, the technique is in the hands of tattoo artists around the world, constantly bringing new ways to interpret and apply the style. Similar to stick and poke tattoos, shaded dotwork pieces are often completed one stipple at a time to maintain accuracy and control over the area(s). Dotwork tattoos appear in a multitude of other styles, including realism, black and grey, minimalist, and ornamental. The beauty of dotwork is that it can be as simple or complex as your heart desires!
Artists: Olyvona, Suflanda, Raues Meer, Susi Ink
HORROR STYLE TATTOOS
Horror tattoos prove that there’s no better time to celebrate the macabre than all the time! Subject matters of these tattoos involve any and everything that nightmares are made of, and can be done in almost any style of tattoo; realism being the most popular choice. While anything scary can be converted into a horror tattoo, most clients gravitate towards having the subject be a famous horror icon!
Artists: Paul Acker, Danny Lepore, Mitchell Dean, Jose Corvo
OTAKU STYLE TATTOOS
Are you an anime fan? Then, the otaku tattoo style is perfect for you! Otaku tattoos are entirely composed of anime-style art, derived from Japanese culture. These tattoos feature exact depictions of anime characters, or scenes from mangas (Japanese graphic novels) to pay homage to the wonderful world of anime! Much like many other tattoo styles, otaku tattoos can be done in either black and gray or color! Popular subjects for otaku tattoos include characters from Pokemon, Naruto, and Spirited Away!
Artists: Jenny Tran, Mars Inks, Chris Pinzy, Churro Tattoos
NEW SCHOOL STYLE TATTOOS
The new school style is every cartoon fan’s dream for a perfect tattoo! New school tattoos feature extremely exaggerated features of the subject, along with heavy outlines and vivid color palettes. The subjects of new school tattoos are often pop culture figures from cartoons, TV shows, or video games. However, almost anything can be made into a new school tattoo!
Artists: Will Gonzalez, Kelly Doty, Kevin Boudreau, Creepy Jason
ILLUSTRATIVE STYLE TATTOOS
Much like American traditional tattoos, illustrative tattoos use solid black outlines to shape the subject on skin. These tattoos keep a very drawn, animated feel to them, rather than a more realistic appearance. Characters from various animations are often tattooed in this style to maintain an exact interpretation of their appearance. With these tattoos, detail means EVERYTHING in order to really accentuate not only the animation art style, but also maintain accuracy in regards to the subject.
Artists: Amelia, Azadal Tun, Valen Bufalini, Shan
SKETCH WORK STYLE TATTOOS
Just like many tattoo styles, sketch work says it all in its own name! This tattoo style gives the perfect balance of messy, and artistic, displaying its subjects as if you were looking at a rough sketch of the drawing!
Artists: Zum Schwarzen Anker, Federico Amaterasu, Liamm Blundell, Helena Velazquez
WATERCOLOR STYLE TATTOOS
Watercolor tattoos need no introduction, the name says it all! This tattoo style takes the bright and vividness of watercolor that we all know and love, and transforms it into a tattoo! Watercolor tattoos are made up of a number of subtle color gradients, along with fading techniques to replicate the appearance that watercolor has on paper.
Artists: Laura Caselles, Thiago Mello, Kenneth Montero, Ren Itsuki Fox
ABSTRACT STYLE TATTOOS
Abstract tattoos are the epitome of creativity and imagination, taking the idea of an object, place, or person and morphing it into a visual representation entirely different from reality. This tattoo style heavily utilizes shapes, lines, and brushwork techniques to create a unique composition that is unlike any other.
Artists: Kristiana Lines, Inked by Bre, Joana, Meester Prikkebeen
SURREALISM STYLE TATTOOS
Similar to abstract tattoos, surrealism tattoos are also about creativity and imagination; however, surrealism focuses mainly on taking realism, and adding hyper-realistic elements to the piece. These hyper-realistic elements typically lean into a more abstract style, however, they can really be anything, so long as they are not an original part of the subject being tattooed! Surrealism tattoos are heavily influenced by the surrealist art style, which is categorized as displaying both unnerving and illogical imagery to provoke the mind.
Artist: Nina Kauffman, Juju Tschu, Em Krieg, Malika Specht
FINE-LINE STYLE TATTOOS
The fine-line tattoo style takes a more simplistic route to representing the beauty of a subject. These tattoos prioritize forms and outlines over color, shading, and texture. Lines in fine-line tattoos are very distinct, and can be straight or curved based on the subject.
Artists: Vod Ink, Megan Dot, Ivan Aguilar, Sara Commodi
CONTINUOUS LINE STYLE TATTOOS
Continuous line tattoos are very similar to fine-line tattoos in regards to composition, only the subject is tattooed with a single, ongoing line!
Artists: Echo Juliet, Sara Green, Lucille Basson, Matthew Rubi
MINIMALIST STYLE TATTOOS
Want a tattoo but nothing “too crazy?” Then minimalist tattoos might be the perfect fit for you! This tattoo style uses crisp, black lines, a limited color palette, and negative space to create a composition that is clean and simple. It’s exactly what the name suggests: minimal!
Artists: Cristopher Blanco, Alina Meshadi, Dorina Sandor, Gulsah Cindaruk
GEOMETRIC STYLE TATTOOS
Geometric tattoos are composed solely of geometric shapes that often come together to build an image, or form an even larger shape. This tattoo style utilizes lines of multiple weights, along with black ink to create its composition. Aside from standard shapes, popular subjects for geometric tattoos include animals, landscapes, and stars/galaxies.
Artists: Britta Christiansen, Mowgli, Malvina Wisniewska, Raghav Rajput
VICTORIAN STYLE TATTOOS
Tattooing became a major cultural and artistic expression in England during Victorian times. Both among the working classes and the aristocracy saw tattoos as being connected to dangerous or adventurous spirits related to the criminal world or travelers to exotic little-known locales. Victorian-style tattoos aim to recreate the relatively simple style used by Europe’s early modern tattoo artists, whose most popular designs included naval and religious images, hearts and expressions of love, and simple portraits.
To check out more styles, Tattd has created an app where you can browse different inspo images of tattoos and then check out artists who specialize in that category. It makes the process of tattooing before, during, and after as easy and streamlined as possible!
