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 New School 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.
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.
Style and detail Styles that need long shading or colour packing — realism , New School , full colour work — take more hours than linework at the…
Someone who produces beautiful realism may not be the right person for bold Old School , and the reverse.
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.