As an aspiring tattoo artist, knowing the different tattoo styles and types of tattoos will help you figure out what clients want to get and define your own individual style.
In this article, we’re breaking down:
What are the Different Tattoo Styles?
There are dozens of types of tattoos, and each caters to its own niche. Below, we’ll point out the top eight that we see the most, and then go through a quick overview of the other styles we’ve seen gain popularity in the industry.
Traditional / Old School Tattoo Style
The traditional style uses bold lines and a limited color palette. Traditional tattoos are also called “old school tattoos,” “Americana style,” or even “sailor tattoos,” since the more common designs were used to mark a sailor’s milestones or give him good luck.
Common Imagery
Roses, panthers, tigers, flowers, sailboats, compasses, watches, knives, skulls, snakes, eagles, anchors, women’s faces, butterflies and moths, and swallows.
Rules for American traditional tattoos:
Note
Sailor Jerry created the traditional tattoo style, and now lots of tattoo artists use his work as inspiration.
Neo Traditional Tattoo Style
Neo traditional tattoos can be considered a more modern version of American Traditional. While Neo Traditional is still 2-D and very technical, it uses different line weights, more subtle gradients, additional colors, and more intricate details.
Common Imagery
“Art Nouveau” features like strong curves, and detailed “Art Deco” elements like filigree. On top of the designs normally seen in Traditional tattoos, Neo Traditional also includes Native American portraits, animals, flowers, and birds.
Rules for Neo Traditional tattoos:
New School Tattoo Style
Unlike the neo traditional style, New School pushes the limits of believability and color palette. It often has a “cartoon” look to it, with exaggerated facial features, almost like a caricature.
Common Imagery
Animals, skulls, and cartoon characters.
Rules for New School tattoos:
Black and Grey Tattoo Style
One of the most popular styles, black and grey tattoos can cover just about any subject matter. The only rule is: no color allowed. Any difference in color you see is made from grey gradients.
Common Imagery
Roses, pocket watches, and people.
Rules for Black and Grey Tattoos:
Note:
Black and Grey is different from the blackwork tattoo style. Blackwork only uses black ink, and uses certain tattooing techniques like whip shading to make lighter areas, while black and grey uses both black ink and grey wash for smoother shades.
Realism Tattoo Style
The images in realistic tattoos look exactly like they would in real life. You are essentially recreating a photo on the skin. Realism is a great style to learn because it’s in high demand, but it can take a long time to learn.
Realism tattoos is also the most expensive style to get tattooed.
Common Imagery
Skulls, statues, faces/portraits, animals, and plants.
Rules for Black and Grey Tattoos:
Note:
You need to mark out the shading for your realism tattoos on your stencil. We recommend designing realism stencils digitally, because programs like Procreate and Photoshop let you use reference images directly in your stencil and mark out shading on different “layers".
Japanese Tattoo Style
Japanese tattoos tend to be big, bright, and focused on cultural symbols. Traditionally, Japanese-style tattoos were done without machines using the trbori (“hand-carved”) technique.
Common Imagery and What it Represents
Tigers (strength and courage), dragons (wisdom and wealth), koi fish (inspiration and struggle), Japanese Samurai (honor and self-discipline), Fu Dogs (power and protection), flowers (positivity and good character), demons, cats, masks, snakes, octopus, wind bars, and water.
Rules for Japanese tattoos:
Note:
Japanese tattoos are great for cover ups and large-scale work.
Tribal Tattoo Style
In the past, tribal tattoos were used to mark someone as part of a specific family or clan of people. While many modern tribal designs pull on that past for inspiration, they’re now more characterized by large areas of black and sweeping lines that flow with the body’s muscles.
Common Imagery and What it Represents
Triangle designs (shark’s teeth protecting against danger), shaded triangles (arrowheads symbolizing strength and power), lizards (good luck charm), and sea turtles (protection/shield).
Rules for Tribal tattoos:
Script / Lettering Tattoos
Script tattoos let tattoo artists turn words and names into works of art.
Common Imagery
There are as many tattoo lettering styles as there are fonts on a computer, so tattoo artists have a lot of freedom when it comes to creating custom pieces for their clients. And while creating that lettering is pretty straight forward, most artists will add some sort of filigree around cursive lettering.
Rules for script tattoos:
Note:
Name tattoos get covered up a lot, which is why a lot of tattoo artists will refuse service to clients that want them. Generally, names of friends and relatives that have passed away or pets are “safe” and less likely to be covered.
Tattoo Styles Gallery
Tattoo styles are constantly evolving, and today there are tons of them out there. Covering each in-depth would take all day, so here’s a quick gallery view of some of our favorite types of tattoos.
If you’d like more examples of these styles, check out our Tattoo Artists Reference Guide.
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  Geometric Tattoos |  Minimalist Tattoos |  Watercolor Tattoo Style |  Graffiti Art Tattoos |
 Surrealism Tattoo Style |  Sketch Style Tattoos |  Blackwork Tattoos |  |  Dotwork Tattoos |
 Negative Space Tattoos |  Fine Art Tattoos |  Fine Line Tattoos |  Micro Tattoos |  |
 Cartoon/Anime Tattoos |  Pet and Animal Tattoos |  Chicano Tattoos |  Biomechanical Tattoos |  Hyperrealism Tattoo |
 |  |  Continuous Line Tattoos |  Illustrative Tattoos |  Abstract Tattoos |
| | |
| | |
Geometric Tattoos | Minimalist Tattoos | Watercolor Tattoo Style |
Graffiti Art Tattoos | Surrealism Tattoo Style | Sketch Style Tattoos |
Blackwork Tattoos | | Dotwork Tattoos |
Negative Space Tattoos | Fine Art Tattoos | Fine Line Tattoos |
Micro Tattoos | | Cartoon/Anime Tattoos |
Pet and Animal Tattoos | Chicano Tattoos | Biomechanical Tattoos |
Hyperrealism Tattoo | | |
Continuous Line Tattoos | Illustrative Tattoos | Abstract Tattoos |
Learn to Tattoo Your Favorite Style
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Click here to learn more about the Artist Accelerator Program.
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