Tattoo Styles

 

A few of the major styles of tattooing:

  • BIO-MECHANICAL: A style popularized by illustrator H.R. Giger, who designed the creature from the _Alien_ movies. Bio-mechanical work usually involves an anatomical flesh intertwined with some technical drawings of machines. A close relative of this style involves just the biological look of flesh without the mechanical parts.
  • BLACK & GREY: Refers to the colors used, this style requires the artist to have advanced shading techniques for subtlety.
  • Celtic: Beautiful, intricate knotwork of the Celts (a hard “k”, NOT a soft “c” like the basketball team). These are much harder for artists to do, and is best done by someone
    • who specializes in it. Also usually done in just black ink.
  • Oriental: Big, bold pieces of Oriental images (carp, clouds, dragons, etc.) based on the Ukiyo-e woodblock prints of 18th Century Edo-period Japan. Note: It is fine to call this “Oriental” and not “Asian,” because it references an object and not a person.
  • PORTRAIT: Images taken from photos, best done by someone who can render realistic photographic images. Usually done in black and grey ink.
Sailor Jerry: Traditional sailor tattoo style made famous by Jerry Collins in Honolulu. Tribal: Usually bold simple lines, simple patterns. Almost always done with just black ink. With a good artist working for you, you can get practically any image you’d like.

Accomplished artists can render portraits, wildlife, psychedelic and biomechanical styles with impressive results. Your main challenge is to find the artist who can best do the design YOU want.