Tattoo Styles: American Traditional
- Livia Michael
- 10 hours ago
- 2 min read
Greetings, internet! It’s Livia Michael. It’s been a while since I’ve been on here….but I assure you, we’ve been cooking up some really amazing things at Speakeasy Tattoo in Los Angeles! I’ve been working on cultivating social media content for the shop as well as beginning my work with a tattoo machine. We’ve also been preparing for Senior Apprentice, Jordan Casciato’s graduation art exhibition show! There are a multitude of exciting things coming in the next few months and I can’t wait to see it all unfold.
As far as my research into the art and history of tattooing, I’ve felt particularly drawn to the variety of styles that exist. More specifically, I have fallen in love with the American Traditional style. This is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in the context of tattooing, but what exactly is the ‘American Traditional’ style? And where did it come from?
The American Traditional tattoo style can be defined as designs appearing as two-dimensional, having dark, bold lines that are quite thick, and a limited color palette (black, red, yellow, green, etc.). There are also very common motifs in the style including but not limited to swallows, nautical imagery, flags, pinups, skulls, roses, hearts, snakes, stars, and daggers.
This style developed over many years, tracing back to the late nineteenth century, when Americans in the navy spent time stationed in the South Pacific. This is where the art of tattooing was introduced to Americans by way of Japanese and Polynesian body art customs. Toward the beginning of the twentieth century, tattooists such as Charles Wagner and Lew the Jew Alberts continued to develop the American Traditional style. While many contributed to this development, there is one man who is often associated with this style: Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins.
Sailor Jerry was active in the tattoo industry from the 1920s until his death in 1973. He is an icon in the world of tattooing, as his classic pinups, anchors, ships, and roses are often what populate when one searches ‘American Traditional’ tattoo on the internet. Sailor Jerry was and is venerated by the tattoo community for his contributions to the form and advocacy for more hygienic practices in the field. Other notable tattooists such as Lyle Tuttle and Ed Hardy have continued the development and popularization of this style.
American Traditional tattoos remain very popular to this day and are a fundamental part of learning the craft of tattooing for most tattoo apprentices. In addition to the history and popularity, this style also provides a large degree of longevity for a tattoo, since there is a large degree of black ink used (which does not fade as easily as color ink) and thick lines with large amounts of spacing (which lessens the potential for blow-outs and blurring). I am personally drawn to this aesthetic in the tattoo industry, as it is timeless and carries with it the massive history of this art form.
Until next time…
-Livia Michael
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