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.
Is New School a good fit for you?
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…
What does an Old School (American Traditional) tattoo actually look like?
Old School (American Traditional) is the direct ancestor — simpler shapes, a narrower and more iconic subject palette, flatter color.
How to choose a tattoo placement: visibility, pain, how each area ages, working with body shape, and how size and placement go together.
Calf and thigh
How to choose the right tattoo size: detail versus size, how small tattoos age, how size affects price and time, and examples from small to sleeve.
Style and detail Styles that need long shading or colour packing — realism , New School , full colour work — take more hours than linework at the…
Why some tattoo placements hurt more than others - bone, nerves, thin skin, movement - ranked from least to most painful, with a pain map.
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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1 guide
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.