An overview of the Tattoo Styles
There are several tattoo styles that are in use, however, the most commonly chosen styles are as under.
Traditional or Old school Tattoos style
These tattoos are also known as classic American tattoo style or Western Tattoo style. This style of tattoo reflects the tough history of the Americans and counter-rebels cultural styles. The specificity of these tattoo styles includes the following traits
- There is simple shading
- The outlines are thick in nature
- The coloring is saturated
- The colors used are bight
- Usually a symbol or elemental design is made
The history reveals that this style was initially originated from Norman Collins, who had mastered this style from Japanese artists. The style also involves the use of achievement symbols and signs on the body such as the use of pin-up girls, daggers, roses, hearts, eagles, skulls and animals. These tattoo styles first appeared in the US navy soldiers who used to mark these symbols on their bodies.
New School Tattoos style
If you want a new look in your tattoos then a New school tattoo is a best fit for you. New school tattoo is actually the modern modification style of an old school tattoo. These tattoos represented the bizzaree styles that rose in 80’s and 90’s that followed the legacy of the aesthetics at that time. This style has the following salient features
- The colors used are vibrant
- The style usually involves cartoon look with exaggerated figures
- The comic symbols highlight this type of style.
- Usually involves the shading that gives a 3-D effect
Minimalists Tattoo Style
The characteristic feature of this style of tattoos is ‘short and simple’. These tattoos convey the message in a short way by just a symbol or style. These tattoos leave the admirer acquire more about the message that is represented by the simple symbol that you have on your body. The characteristic features of this style are as follows.
- Usually black ink is used in this style
- The empty space left in the style is filled with fine lines to fill the theme
- The style is simple yet philosophical
- Very little shading or no shading of colors
- Often used in unusual places of the body like in the inner lip, between fingers etc
Realism Tattoo Style
This type of style is a fascinating way to engrave your body the way you see it. Historically, this style originated in the Renaissance period but gained its popularity in the latter half of the twentieth century. This type of art-work is done by an expert because this tattoo-style is perfect and accurate way of portraying someone or something very classic. There is a wide range of styles that can be chosen in this category (e.g. there can be anything in the nature, human, animals etc.). Another overwhelming this abut this style is that it can be used in any color, any shape, any shade with ample filling space on the body. The salient features of this style are as follows
- It can be of any color from black to grey to vibrant colors.
- It is a theme-driven style
- It can accurately depicts a shape (It can be anything from nature even imaginary, like Monsters etc)
Hand-Pocked Tattoo Style
As does the name suggest, this type of tattoo style is usually done manually through needle. The arranged looks in analogy to the tattoo machine, however, the needle is arranged in such a way that it looks like a pencil which can draw any shape on the body. This type of tattooing involves less invasive techniques and less painful as compared to other tattoos. A simple design produced through this needle can meet the heights of the imagination. The salient features of this style are as follows
- It usually involves one ink, mostly black
- Involves less invasive technique
- Gives rise to a simple usually decorative design
- One of the manual classic styles
Chicano Tattoo Style
Although, this art style originated behind the bars, it has influences many young individuals throught its mysterious and dominating attributes. This type of style refers to the Chicano, which has been the selected identity of many of the Mexican Americans. This style highligts the historical features of the Mexican revolution, Pachuca culture, and Los-Angeles low-riders. In other words, these styles the marked attributes of the gangsters. This style has the following salient features
- The style is smooth and shadowed
- The color used is usually black and grey
- Several layers of contours by using fine lines give it 3-dimensional look
- It’s usually a patchwork combined together to produce a masterpiece
Tribal Tattoo style
As the name suggests, this style of tattoo includes various tribal styles in it. This style is considered as one of the oldest style of tattooing that originated thousands of years ago. Traditionally, these type of tattoos were imparted on the body as a mark of tribal recognition. This style of tattoo includes pictures, symbols, and numbers etc. that act as conveying the strong message of spiritual, motivational or ceremonial purpose.. For example, a triangle drawn with shades indicates the strength, while a sea turtle indicates the sense of protection. The salient features of this style are as follows.
- These tattoos are drawn in various colors, usually black with shading
- Thick lines drawn that follow the muscles
- Geometric shapes with bold lines
- Usually large in size
Biomechanical Tattoo Style
This style of tattoo is an excellent way to indicate the machinery involved in the functioning of your body. This style replaces the mechanisms behind the skin and depicts on the skin. This style is usually drawn to indicate the entire organ. For example, you can draw it on the entire arm, leg, chest, backbone etc. where the biomechanics pattern of that organ is drawn. Imagination and sci-fi movies are the best way for the creation of this art. The salient features of this style are as follows
- These tattoos are drawn in 3-D conformation
- The usual anatomy of the body is mended by wires, hydraulics, motors and beyond.
- The pattern indicates the functioning of what lies underneath the skin.
Portrait tattoo Style
As the name suggests, this style of tattoo depicts a portrait of a loved one or a famous person. This is one part of the realism because the style includes the real images of the persons. This style usually involves of the creation of the picture with various vibrant colors usually black color with its shading. This style is an excellent way to create hyperrealism by drawing a portrait of the loved one on your body. It requires excellent skills from the tattooing artist to give the portrait a 3-dimentional outlook. The salient features of this style are as follows
- This tattoo style applied real images on the body
- Drawn in various sizes from small to medium to large ones
- Tattooed in various colors or one black color with shading
Anatomical Tattoo Style
This style is an excellent way to draw body parts on the body parts. Tattooing a body part on the surface of the body is an adorable way to show respect to your own body parts. The organs drawn on the body vary from heart to brain to eyes to ear etc. These styles are drawn in various sizes from small to medium to large and involves various patterns to draw it (It involves hyperrealism, to realism to gray shading with black coloring). This style is often used to remember the honor of your body parts or remembering the incidence or accident that involved the body part. There are various ways to draw them, for example, you can draw leg on your leg or draw lungs on your lungs or other parts of the body etc. The salient features of this style are as follows
- Real images of the body parts are drawn
- May be tattooed in color or black with shades
- Drawn in small to medium size
Trash Polka tattoo style
This style was originated by Simone Pfaff and Volker Merschky in Germany in 90’s. This style is basically a combination of any existed tattoo style with graphics and calligraphy patterns or elements with heavy black and red color. These colors and strokes give this style an aggressive and dramatic look. Some of the main features are as follow
- Highly saturated Black and Red colors
- Bold and fine lines
- Chaotic and aggressive style