Straight answers to the things that stop people booking a tattoo — from the first idea to a healed tattoo. Each guide points you at real, credited work in the catalogue, and health guides quote dermatologists who specialise in tattoos.
How to spot good neo-traditional work
These two get confused constantly, and it's understandable — Neo-Traditional literally grew out of Old School, keeping its most important structural idea while opening up everything else.
What does an Old School (American Traditional) tattoo actually look like?
Characters get huge eyes and exaggerated proportions, colours are saturated and often neon, and everything has a sense of movement.
If the appeal is color and softness but you're nervous about long-term fading, ask about a Neo-Traditional piece instead — it keeps bold, saturated color but anchors it…
Bold black outlines and flat or saturated color — Old School, Neo-Traditional, Blackwork, Tribal — are built to still read clearly decades from now.
Neo-Traditional shares Japanese tattooing's bold outlines and saturated color but works at a much smaller, single-image scale — a real option if you love the look but aren't…
Dotwork tattoos: images built from thousands of dots - geometric, ornamental and shaded work - fit, aging, cost and quality signs.
Nine stages from a vague idea to a healed tattoo. Every guide ends with a link to the next step, so you can read them in order — or jump straight to where you are.
The worries people mention most — and where the honest answer is.
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Health guides quote dermatologists who specialise in tattoos word for word. New to the words? See the tattoo glossary. How guides are written and corrected: editorial policy.