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art styles
Traditional and Neo-Traditional Tattoos Perth
Traditional tattooing — sometimes called American traditional — is one of the most recognisable and enduring styles in the history of the craft. Bold outlines, flat saturated colour, and iconic subject matter: roses, eagles, anchors, daggers, pin-ups, and panthers. The visual language is immediately familiar and deeply embedded in tattoo culture. Neo-traditional takes that foundation and pushes it further — more detail, more dimension, a wider range of subject matter, and a more contemporary sensibility, while keeping the bold linework that makes traditional tattooing so visually powerful.
The style that built modern tattooing
American traditional developed through the late 19th and early 20th century, shaped by artists like Norman Collins — known as Sailor Jerry — who codified the bold, graphic aesthetic that defined Western tattooing for decades. Its iconography is so embedded in the history of the craft that even artists working in completely different styles are influenced by it. Neo-traditional emerged as a natural evolution — artists who loved the tradition but wanted more room to move within it.
Why traditional tattoos stand the test of time
Traditional and neo-traditional tattooing ages better than almost any other style. The bold outlines prevent ink from spreading unnoticed, the flat colour areas hold their saturation with minimal maintenance, and the strong contrast between subject and background means the work reads clearly decades after it was done. It is a style designed — whether intentionally or not — for longevity. Simple, bold, and built to last.
