Week 3 Design

 For this week I wanted to look into Tattoo styles- as one of the main artists I follow has been sharing a lot of history surrounding his favorite style- American Traditional.

American traditionally was built up strongly by early sailors, easily spotted by its timeless art style, bold lines, limited color, and simplified designs. The art of American Traditional tattoos is closely linked to maritime culture. Sailors, during their extensive voyages, encountered indigenous tattooing practices in various parts of the world, notably the Pacific Islands. Inspired by these encounters, they began to adorn themselves with tattoos symbolizing their journeys, beliefs, and experiences.

Even though the style itself is quite old, artists today love to revision the style and modernize it, typically by adding different subjects and adding to the color pallets. American Trad. Is also known outside of the tattoo world, being quite well known in the fashion industry thanks to Don 'Ed' Hardy, who was originally a tattoo artist under the notorious Sailor Jerry, but later dawned his fashion brand into stores. Sailor Jerry or Norman Collins, also made his mark with this style, having it styled onto all of his very popular alcohol brand- which even includes a free temporary tat in each bottle, typically of an eagle or the brands mascot, a hula girl.

 

American Traditional tattooing, often referred to as "old school," is a distinguished style within the tattoo art world, celebrated for its bold lines, limited color palette, and iconic imagery, and while its not a style I would favor on me, its intresting seeing how well adopted tattoo styles can get, even with the constant changes in trends.