Find out what my favorite styles of tattoos are and why!
Here are Ink02’s Top 5 favorite tattoo styles. These are not what I would consider the best overall, but just what I personally think are the most appealing. If you are familiar with these styles, you may notice that I lean more towards black centered designs.
5. Continuous Line
Continuous line tattoos are a new trend as of the early 2010s. Employed in art classes as a drawing exercise this style requires maximum creativity as the artist makes an entire artwork out of one winding line. These pieces are usually a form of abstract art as you must use interesting tactics to get dimension and shape across. My favorite thing about this style is the use of internal shapes and the creativity that goes into the design.
4. Traditional Japanese
A traditional style originating from Japan, this style is one of the most popular across the world. Japanese tattooing is filled with very specific rules, motifs, and boldness. They are usually in the forms of large-scale designs such as sleeves or chest pieces. My favorite aspect of this style is the bold shapes and the stylized traditional subject, such as the tiger.
3. Illustrative
Illustrative tattoos can be a broad style but unrecognizably illustrative. They often have brush strokes or varying line qualities; these tattoos could be mistaken as drawings on skin. This style can vary from modern fine arts to renaissance paintings. All of which look amazing when translated on to skin. My favorite aspect of this style is all the varying techniques of lines and shading; stippling, dot work, line work, cross-hatching, or applying the ink vary for different textures or desired looks.
2. Neo-Traditional
Neo-traditional is a modern play off of American traditional. Black outlines of varying weight are most significant with a vibrant color palette, and strong depth of image. Neo-traditional is heavily inspired by Art Nouveau, intended to be beautiful and eye-catching. My favorite aspects of this style are the beauty, refinement, and graceful feel. The imagery is creative and often accompanied by nice shapes that bring the whole piece together.
1. American Traditional
American Traditional style is the foundations of tattooing in America. Sailors would travel to different ports across the country and get these simple pieces of basic art. Military men would get these tattoos to carry symbols of their loved ones. Like Japanese tattoos, American traditional holds a lot of rules including bold black outlines, solid colors, and clean designs. This style is my favorite because of the clean, and bold lines.
Check out my Pinterest for boards of all these styles!
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