Tattoo Styles & Recommendations
Anime and Cartoon Tattoos
Recommended artists: Serina, Avery, Shy, Carly
Anime tattoos are a popular form of body art that feature characters and elements from anime series, films, and manga. They are often vibrant and intricate, and can depict beloved characters from popular anime series. Anime tattoos can also be illustrative, combining elements of realism with traditional tattooing techniques to create a drawn or animated feel.
Anime tattoos can have many meanings, including: Love for a series or character, Personal values, and Passion for Japanese pop culture.
Anime tattoos have evolved over the decades, and have gained worldwide popularity in recent years. This popularity can be attributed to several factors, including the global phenomenon of anime and its influence on popular culture.
Black & Grey
Recommended artists: Shelby, Avery, Tina, Sara
Uses different shades or dilutions of black ink to create a unique look. Black and grey tattoos can also be used to capture intricate details and expressions, such as the detailed fur and feathers of an animal, or the shading and detail in a portrait. For example, a black and grey portrait of a loved one can capture their likeness and convey their personality and character.
Black and grey tattoos are also known for their ability to look stunning on almost all skin types. The style can include elements like bold edges, classic outlines, smooth designs, shading, depth, and contrast.
Blackwork
Recommended artists: Shelby, Avery, Tina, Carly, Sara
A style of tattoo that use solid black ink to create intricate designs, often covering large areas of the body. They can be simple or detailed, and can include geometric shapes, abstract patterns, figurative scenes, or ornate mandalas. Blackwork tattoos are sometimes called "dark art" tattoos and can be inspired by alchemy, esoterica, or other iconography. They can also incorporate shading techniques like dotwork. Blackwork tattoos can range in size from small pieces that accentuate certain body parts to larger pieces that cover entire limbs or even the body. They can be very visually pleasing and make a statement.
Fine line
Recommended artist: Tina, Avery, Shelby, Carly, Sara
Fine line tattoos are tattoos that use thin, precise lines to create delicate designs. They're often associated with minimalism and are known for their subtle elegance and simplicity. Fine line tattoos can be created in black and grey or color, and can range from small, like a flower on the wrist, to more elaborate, like a geometric pattern on the back.
Fine line tattoos are different from other types of tattoos because they use fewer needles, more precision, and focus more on design than shading. Artists often use a single needle or a combination of small needles to create the lines, and they need to have a steady hand to avoid making mistakes. Each stroke is deliberate and carefully thought out.
Floral
Recommended artist: All artists enjoy and tattoo floral
Floral tattoos are a popular tattoo style that can be aesthetically pleasing and versatile, and can have many different meanings.
They can be used to express personal beliefs, honor loved ones, or commemorate important life events.
The meaning of a flower tattoo can vary from person to person, and can be influenced by the flower, its color, and the wearer's culture.
Here are some examples of flower tattoos and their meanings:
Roses
A classic choice that can symbolize love, beauty, and passion. Different colors of roses can have different meanings, such as:
Red: Love, romance, and passion
White: Purity, innocence, humility, reverence, and new beginnings
Yellow: Friendship, joy, happiness, and new beginnings
Pink: Gratitude, appreciation, and sweetness
Orange: Enthusiasm, joy, energy, and excitement
Sunflower
Can symbolize happiness, growth, adoration, loyalty, and longevity. In Native American culture, sunflowers can also represent strength and fertility.
Orchid
Can have many different meanings depending on the culture, such as refinement, fertility, prosperity, strength, power, bravery, luxury, beauty, warrior's courage, and love.
Poppy
In Roman and Greek tradition, poppies are associated with death, but more generally, they can symbolize eternal sleep and peace. In modern times, poppy tattoos can also be used to remember people who have died in war.
Floral tattoos have evolved over time, adapting to different cultures and time periods. For example, in the 18th and 19th centuries, sailors often got floral tattoos to commemorate their travels, and in the 1960s and 1970s, floral tattoos became associated with the counterculture movement.
Illustrative
Recommended artist: All artists tattoo in illustrative stlye
Illustrative tattoos are a broad tattoo style that can be recognized for their resemblance to illustrations in books, art galleries, or on paper. They can be whimsical and light-hearted, or complex and layered, and can range from realistic portrayals to abstract representations. Illustrative tattoos can use a variety of techniques, including:
-
Line-work,
-
Dot-work,
-
Blackwork,
-
Cross hatching
-
Stippling
-
Detailed shading
-
Vibrant color palettes.
Illustrative tattoos can be inspired by traditionalism and realism, and can adhere to few rules, allowing for a lot of creative freedom. They can be personal to the wearer and the artist, and can incorporate cultural elements to pay homage to heritage and connect with roots. Illustrative tattoos can also tell stories, so our artists listen to our clients' ideas and bring them to life.
Japanese
Recommended artist: Avery, Tina, Serina
Japanese tattoos, or irezumi, are a form of body art that can be used to convey meaning beyond just a cool design. The word irezumi literally means "inserting ink", and the style is known for its large size, detailed line work, and intense shading. Traditional Japanese tattoos, or wabori, are often decorated with mythical beasts, flowers, leaves, and other images from stories, myths, and tales.
Additional Japanese Tattoo Facts:
History
Tattoos in Japan have a long history, dating back to 720 A.D. when they were used as a form of punishment. Criminals were tattooed on the forehead to mark them as criminals, and people with tattoos were ostracized from their families and society. In the Edo period (1600–1868), tattoos began to develop into an art form inspired by woodblock prints and Chinese novels that depicted heroic characters with tattoos.
Technique
Traditionally, wabori tattoos were done by hand using needles attached to bamboo sticks, a method known as tebori which means "hand carved" or "engraved". Today, outlines are usually done by machine, which is called kikaibori, but the result can still be considered wabori.
Symbolism
Japanese tattoos can have a lot of symbolism with most imagery having deeper meanings than their appearance. Much of this can be inspired by Japanese folklore and storytelling.
Neo-traditional
Recommended artist: Avery, Serina, Carly, Shy
Neo-traditional tattoos are a modern take on traditional American tattoo designs that combine classic elements with new-age art forms. They are known for their bold outlines, vivid colors, intricate details, and dramatic highlights. Neo-traditional tattoos often feature more intricate linework and shading than traditional tattoos, which can create a greater sense of realism and texture.
Neo-traditional tattoos draw inspiration from many cultures and traditions, including American, European, Japanese, and more. They may incorporate classic imagery such as swallows, ships, and pin-ups, but also include modern themes and motifs like technology, pop culture, and nature. For example, flowers like roses, lilies, and chrysanthemums are often used in neo-traditional tattoos to emphasize the beauty of nature. Animals such as wolves, bears, and birds may also be used to represent traits like strength, courage, and wisdom.
New School
Recommended artist: Serina, Tina, Shy
New School is a contemporary tattoo style that originated in the 1970s and is influenced by traditional tattooing and caricatures.
New school tattoos are characterized by: Heavy outlines, Vibrant colors, Exaggerated depictions, Imaginative designs, Cartoon-like or surreal elements, Creative shading, and 3D effects.
New school tattoos often feature pop culture figures from cartoons, TV shows, or video games, but almost anything can be made into a new school tattoo. For example, artists might use inventive color palettes and outrageous interpretations to depict non-traditional animals like flamingos, crocodiles, or seahorses. The point isn't to achieve lifelike accuracy, but to go over the top with animal designs.
New school tattoos allow for greater artistic freedom and experimentation, leading to visually stunning and eye-catching tattoos.
Pop Culture
Recommended artist: Serina, Avery, Shy, Carly
Pop culture tattoos are a broad style of tattooing that feature images from popular culture, such as celebrities, characters, and symbols. These tattoos can be realistic, cartoonish, abstract, or flat, and people can customize them by adding other elements that are meaningful to them or the icon.
Pop culture has a significant influence on tattoo trends, and celebrities are often a major source of inspiration. Fans may get tattoos of their favorite celebrities to immortalize them.
Pop culture also includes TV shows, movies, music, and fashion, and all of these can influence people's tattoo choices.
Sacred Geometry
Recommended artist: Shelby, Avery, Tina
Sacred geometry tattoos are a popular style of tattoo that use shapes and patterns found in nature to create symmetrical designs with symbolic meanings. These patterns can be seen in many things, such as the arrangement of leaves on a tree or the spiral of a seashell. Each shape and pattern has its own meaning, and when combined into a tattoo design, they can create a powerful image with hidden meaning.
Traditional
Recommended artist: Avery, Tina, Shy, Sara
Traditional tattoos are a style of tattoo that originated in the early 1900s and are characterized by clean simplicity, bold black outlines, and a limited color palette. They often feature iconic motifs that have deep symbolism and are influenced by sailor tattoos. Traditional tattoos are also known as American traditional or old school tattoos.
Whimsical
Recommended artist: Tina, Serina, Shy, Avery, Carly
Whimsical tattoos are imaginative, detailed, and enchanting, and can be designed to reflect a person's personality and love of the fantastical and surreal. Some whimsical tattoo designs include:
Animals, Adventure, Bones, Botanics, Mythology, Space, Sci-fi, Fairies, Fantasy, and Magic.
