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.
What New School looks like
If the image in your head is simple and iconic — a single rose, a swallow, an anchor — Old School is very likely the right call, and…
Is Old School a good fit for you?
Old School (American Traditional) is the direct ancestor — simpler shapes, a narrower and more iconic subject palette, flatter color.
What drives the price
How to choose a tattoo placement: visibility, pain, how each area ages, working with body shape, and how size and placement go together.
Someone who produces beautiful realism may not be the right person for bold Old School , and the reverse.
Ornamental tattoos explained: mandalas, filigree and decorative patterns designed to follow the body - placement, aging, cost and quality signs.
Compared with Old School, it is the opposite philosophy: thin and subtle instead of bold and built to be read from a distance.
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.