Old School: the eternal style

What is more mythical in the tattoo world than a heart with the phrase "Mother's Love", some delicate swallows, or a beautiful pinup on the arm? The old school is a style of tattoo that is well known and re-known by lovers of ink on the skin, and it seems to be one of the oldest in the western world –And may the barbarian peoples forgive me, since they already tattooed themselves, I mean contemporary history.

Old school style tattoos are what our grandmothers have always called the “sailor tattoo”, and not without reason on their part: this style came precisely through the sailors (especially the English, it seems) who sailed the oceans back in the eighteenth century, who were absorbed by the tattoo technique of the Polynesian people, took good note of the process, and brought it to the Europe of the time. Later, for obvious reasons such as the migration of these sailors to new lands such as the United States, it began to spread and ended up being called american traditional tattooAnd that is how we know it today.

The first artists as such, people who dedicated themselves almost exclusively to this tattoo profession, they emerged there by the end of the XNUMXth century and gained momentum in the XNUMXth century. Names like Hildebrandtr, Ed Smith, Ben Corday, the Wagner couple (Maude and Gus), Hoffmann... without forgetting the well-known Sailor Jerry.

Over the years, especially after World War II and mainly in the United States, these names became entrenched in the tattoo collective and great artists emerged that continue to this day. These traditional designs, often associated with crime and the "black sheep" of society, were also established, although today (thanks to the normalization of the tattoo world) they are seen as authentic designs that do not go out of style.

In the simplicity is the taste

The technique of the first tattoo artists of this style was obsolete compared to the means that tattoo artists have today, especially in terms of machines and material. Hence the drawings had to be as simple as possible and the lines that characterize this style so much were thick lines, very defined and yes, colorful, with the basic colors being the most used (black, green, red...). In addition to the fact that possibly the people who tattooed the sailors, although over time they specialized in the art of tattooing, were precisely other sailors or people whose artistic skills were not the most refined.

And after this brief history lesson, we get down to highlighting the most important points to identify this traditional style:

First of all, and perhaps most important: the lines. A good traditional style tattoo has to have thick lines, marked, but very firm and powerful.. Artists say that the traditional style is not simple precisely because of the simplicity but power of the line.

Another key point is the color, we have already said that in traditional tattoos this is based on basic colors, because initially they were the easiest to get and the ones that age best (bear in mind that those who wore these tattoos were people exposed for many hours to work in the sun). Red, yellow, green, of course black… solid and powerful colors. Over the years they have remained faithful to these early designs, and it is rare to see good old school tattoos with colors that fall outside of this palette.

And one aspect that creates controversy is the design. They seem very simple, simple, drawings that could almost be made by a small child... But on many occasions they are detailed drawings and to maintain the aesthetics of thick lines the designs are, according to tattooists of other styles, quite complicated to do while maintaining the essence and style so characteristic of these traditional works of art.

old school themes

Fundamental is the theme of the design, since although any drawing can be "oldschooled", there are some that have more to do with the essence and history of the traditional tattoo itself.

The oldest, due to their origin, are those related to the maritime and sailors: rough anchors, huge ships that can occupy entire backs, nautical stars… Listed here are also the swallows, they used to be done in pairs and one was tattooed when leaving the trip and another on the way back, these birds being a symbol of longing or hope.

Also very typical are the designs related to what was considered the "bad life" such as drawings of dice, card games, or drink related designs.

Being as tattoos were in those early years something that was almost exclusively for men (in fact, the women known to wear tattoos seem to be either family of tattoo artists or women who were said to have a bad life as prostitutes), many of the designs were related to beautiful women as they could be mermaids, pinups, Indians and cowgirls… And related to love like the eternal hearts to which they could add daggers, thorns, or signs.

And so far a brief review of what the old school tattoo is. A classic, timeless style that preserves the authentic essence of what the world of tattoo is. When you have a new design in mind and you don't know what style you want, this is the best option!


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