Glossary
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Illustrative
The illustrative style brings the language of illustration onto the skin: a recognisable stroke, a drawn composition, sometimes with textures and hatching. It includes very different approaches, from clean to sketch-like.
Watercolor
Watercolor imitates the effect of watercolour painting: transparent colours, soft gradients, splashes and bleeds, often with light or no outlines. It is a visual imitation, not a technique with fixed rules.
Japanese (Irezumi)
The Japanese style, or irezumi, has a long tradition and uses subjects such as dragons, koi, lotus flowers and waves, with firm outlines, solid fields and compositions that follow the body's shape. Traditional irezumi has its own rules; many artists also work with modern interpretations.
Tribal
Tribal refers to tattoos with geometric and curvilinear patterns in solid black, inspired by the traditions of different peoples. As a Western style, born in the 1980s-90s, it is a graphic reinterpretation and does not coincide with the original traditions.
Polynesian
The Polynesian style draws on the traditions of the peoples of the Pacific (such as Samoa, Tonga, Maori and the Marquesas), with solid black motifs developing across the body. Each tradition has its own symbols, meanings and rules, often tied to identity and community.
Geometric
The geometric style builds the design from geometric shapes (circles, triangles, lines, symmetries), often in black and with great precision. It also includes so-called sacred geometry, based on patterns recurring in cultures and arts.
Ornamental (Mandala)
The ornamental style uses repeated, symmetrical decorative motifs, such as mandalas, lace, jewellery and embellishments, that follow the body's shape. The mandala is a circular motif of eastern religious origin, often reinterpreted decoratively.
Blackout
Blackout is a tattoo that covers a large area with solid, even black. It can be used as a style in its own right or as a base to cover previous designs. It is an extreme case of blackwork.
Trash Polka
Trash polka is a style born in Germany that combines realistic (often photographic) elements with abstract marks in black and red, such as brushstrokes, lettering and geometry. The contrast between realism and graphic chaos is its recognisable trait.
Sketch
The sketch style reproduces the look of a pencil or pen drawing, with overlapping lines, incomplete strokes and hatching. It deliberately keeps the «unfinished» effect typical of sketches.
Engraving
Engraving imitates woodcuts, copper engravings or linocuts: parallel and crossing lines, dense hatching and strong contrasts between light and dark. It recalls antique illustration and prints.
Surrealism
The surreal style combines realistic elements in dreamlike or impossible compositions, drawing on the twentieth-century art movement. It can be done in black and grey or colour.