Tribal. These designs are black silhouettes. Most are based on ancient tribal designs. A popular modern mutation of this style is modifying a traditional design to make it appear tribal. Many of the most popular styles are inspired by the ancient styles of the South Pacific islands. These tattoos are usually abstract artistic representations consisting of a combination of inconspicuous design elements such as spikes, swirls, and thorns. Tribal tattoos are often designed to suit or accentuate a specific part of the body. For example, a tribal tattoo can meander along the contours of the lower back.

Realistic. These designs are usually portraits or landscapes that mimic the fine detail of a photograph. They are mostly done in black and white as a master tattoo artist is needed to emulate color images. Sometimes this style is also called photorealism.

Oriental. Usually the oriental style of tattoos involves using the entire body as a canvas rather than adding a single image here and there. The images are used to weave a story or myth into an entire armor across the entire back. Usually this is a very fanciful, bold yet detailed color job. Large murals of dragons, flowers, fish, and other animals are the most common oriental tattoos. A dominant image, such as that of a dragon, may be surrounded by “fill work” consisting of fluid, artistic swirls of color. Oriental tattooing often follows the rules of the Japanese perspective in painting that deals with symmetry and balance. Also, the symbols in a Japanese tattoo often have deeper meanings. For example, a tattoo of a carp represents wealth and prosperity.

Celtic. These silhouette style tattoos feature thick bold black lines and a sharp angle. A Viking branch of the Celtic style includes mythological creatures such as griffons. They are completed primarily in black ink only. Because they are difficult to do, Celtic tattoos are usually best created by an artist who specializes in the style of Celtic tattoos.

Biomechanics. These tattoos often depict machinery intertwined with human flesh. A typical biomechanical tattoo job could depict a human hand, arm, or chest entangled with pieces of machinery such as screws, wheels, or pulleys. The result is an image of a creature that looks like half robot, half human. This type of tattoo is inspired by movies like “Alien”.

Traditional. This tattoo style refers to work that features bold black outlines and shade of black in contrast to very bright colors. The style is believed to have its origins on military bases in the 1930s and 1940s.

Thin line. These delicate tattoos are very detailed and are generally associated with black and gray work. The fine line is also often used to express a realistic representation of an image. Fine line images cannot be too complicated, as the image can sometimes degenerate into a smudge or shadow over time.