Illustrative Tattoo Style

A style of tattooing that combines aspects of American Traditional and realism typically using bold outlines and realistic shading to depict illustration-like designs.

Illustrative tattoos include anything that looks like you might find in a book illustration or drawing. And just as there are many kinds of art style, there are many kinds of illustrative tattoos. This style is one of the most popular for tattoos today, and you can find many tattoo artists specializing in it, each with their own take on what an illustrative tattoo looks like.

Illustrative tattoos take inspiration from both traditionalism and realism. They typically use solid black outlines, much like traditional tattoos, and may be colourful or simply black. The key to an illustrative tattoo is that it retains a drawn, animated feel, rather than being shaded to look photo-realistic. This gives artists and clients a lot of flexibility to design either a simple illustration or a complex, abstract piece. Creativity and a touch of whimsy are key ingredients to these tattoos. 

Many illustrative tattoos are done in blackwork, meaning that they only contain black ink. In these designs, tattoo artists may use dot-work, lines, cross-hatching, and stippling to add detail and dimension. Illustrative blackwork tattoos can have an impactful graphic quality, or look like they belong in an old book of fairy tales.

Other illustrative tattoos feature a range of colours. Most use a muted colour palette to create soft transitions, rather than the bold contrast of a traditional tattoo. Many illustrative tattoo artists use color to create a cartoony style. For this reason, illustrative tattoos are popular for people who want to recreate a favourite cartoon or animated character. It’s also a great style to capture a beloved animal or person in a cartoon style.