Tattoo styles.

Every tattoo style has its own history, look, and specialists. Browse the 26 styles below to learn what defines each one and to find artists who tattoo it. Want the deeper story behind each style? Read our guide to tattoo styles.

Black and Gray

A grayscale color palette using various needle sizes to achieve a highly detailed, smooth appearance.

19 artists listed  ·  3 shops

Illustrative

A style rich in language of narrative elements that can be drawn and tattooed in a variety of visually interesting ways.

18 artists listed

Realism

A style where the tattoo consists of portraits or landscapes that mimic the fine detail of a photograph.

16 artists listed  ·  3 shops

Script and Lettering

Tattoos with fonts in old English, handwritten lettering, paint splatters, etching, or other fonts for various effects.

13 artists listed  ·  3 shops

Watercolor

This style is created using splatters, blurs, and shades to mimic the style of of watercolor artwork.

13 artists listed

Neo-Traditional

A style infused with a darker colour palette and elements of nature, and put together with surrealist flair.

12 artists listed  ·  3 shops

American Traditional

This style features bold black outlines and pitch black shading contrasted with very bright colors.

10 artists listed  ·  3 shops

Fine Line

A delicate style built from single-needle line work, ideal for small to medium pieces with thin, precise detail.

9 artists listed  ·  3 shops

Anime

A style inspired by Japanese animation and manga, featuring stylized characters and cel-shaded color.

8 artists listed  ·  3 shops

Portrait

A photorealistic style focused on capturing the likeness of people or pets, where every line and shade is rendered to evoke the s…

8 artists listed  ·  3 shops

Abstract

An artistic style that conveys abstract ideas without using visual references from the surrounding world.

7 artists listed

Geometric

A style built from crisp angular shapes and clean line geometry, blending mathematical precision with bold composition.

7 artists listed

Japanese Traditional

A style where Japanese images and symbols are used to convey a specific meaning.

7 artists listed  ·  3 shops

Blackwork

An ornamental design style with massive black tint areas, complex geometrical and symmetrical patterns.

3 artists listed

New School

A style that veers from traditionalism to create patterns and ideas that haven’t been used before.

3 artists listed

Ornamental

A timeless style that can incorporate singular art images amongst intricate free flowing design patterns.

3 artists listed

Trash Polka

This style looks a lot like collaging with a combination of naturalistic and photo-realistic elements and geometric graphics and …

3 artists listed

Bio-Organic

This style is an abstract representation of elements that can be found in the natural world.

Artists coming soon

Biomechanical

This style features robotic parts, working gears and 3D skin illusions.

Artists coming soon

Hyper-Realism

A style where the design is so life-like that it’s hard to believe it’s a tattoo.

Artists coming soon

Polynesian Tribal

A geometrical style originating in Hawaiian and Samoan tattoo traditions.

Artists coming soon

Tribal

A style made up of black silhouettes. Most are based on ancient tribal designs.

Artists coming soon

Freehand

A style where artists don’t use stencils to create a more artistic design.

Artists coming soon

Nordic Tribal

A style originating in Viking tattoo traditions.

Artists coming soon

Pointillism

A style that creates images of complex patterns and gradients by using pure colored and variably spaced dots.

Artists coming soon

Sacred Geometric

A style using shapes and patterns found in nature and that are perfectly symmetrical.

Artists coming soon

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