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.
A skull in bold traditional linework reads as classic memento mori; the same skull rendered in soft realism can read as a portrait study.
What does an Old School (American Traditional) tattoo actually look like?
How to spot good neo-traditional work
Neo-Traditional also updates Old School, but keeps things more illustrative and elegant; New School goes for cartoon energy.
Japanese (Irezumi) tattoos: large-scale compositions of dragons, koi, tigers and waves - fit, sessions, cost and how to spot good work.
Where a traditional tattoo is built from a bold line first and color second, watercolor often inverts that: the color is the drawing, splashed and layered the way…
Tribal — flowing, body-following, traditional
Ornamental tattoos explained: mandalas, filigree and decorative patterns designed to follow the body - placement, aging, cost and quality signs.
Old School (American Traditional) Neo-Traditional Realism Watercolor Blackwork Tribal Japanese (Irezumi) Dotwork Still torn between two?
How to choose a tattoo placement: visibility, pain, how each area ages, working with body shape, and how size and placement go together.
Tribal tattoos: bold black patterns that follow the body, their cultural roots, fit, aging, cost and how to spot respectful, well-made work.
Almost any style can be executed as dotwork instead of traditional shading.
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.