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 does an Old School (American Traditional) tattoo actually look like?
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…
Old School (American Traditional) is the direct ancestor — simpler shapes, a narrower and more iconic subject palette, flatter color.
Section: Sun, for the long run →
How to choose a tattoo placement: visibility, pain, how each area ages, working with body shape, and how size and placement go together.
Section: Sun, for life →
Style and detail Styles that need long shading or colour packing — realism , New School , full colour work — take more hours than linework at the…
Compared with Old School, it is the opposite philosophy: thin and subtle instead of bold and built to be read from a distance.
Why some tattoo placements hurt more than others - bone, nerves, thin skin, movement - ranked from least to most painful, with a pain map.
What common tattoo symbols mean - animals, flowers, objects, mythical imagery - why context changes the reading, and real examples.
What a tattoo is: how ink sits in the skin, how permanent it really is, what a session feels like, what you pay for and what makes it good.
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.