Tattoo styles
Most people are not looking for a studio. They are looking for a particular thing. Here are the styles we work in, and what each one actually asks for.
Fine line
A technique, not a size. A single needle, low pressure, and lines drawn with gaps meant to still be right in ten years.
Botanical
Plants, leaves and branches — drawn to the direction the body already gives, rather than to how they look on paper.
Script
A word, a name or a date. The technique is easy to explain and hard to execute, because a letter that distorts slightly is a different letter.
Blackwork
Of the common techniques this is the one that ages best — provided it was drawn to age in the first place.
Ornamental
Pattern built around the limb — repetition, symmetry, and a rhythm that continues the shape of the body instead of ignoring it.
Black and grey
Depth without colour. Everything is built from layers of the same ink, which is what makes the gradients the hard part.
Neo-traditional
A strong outline, solid colour, and a shape that reads from a metre and a half away. The style is built from the start to stay legible.
Colour
The palette is chosen against the skin it will live in, not against a screen. That is the difference between colour that works and colour that looked right in the drawing.