Oh no we forgot the blog! Here’s some stuff about American traditional tattoos
*quick note from Kevin - We didn’t really forget the blog Adam’s been super busy moving house and still managed to put this months blog together in time to post, it’s late because of me 😅
This month I decided to continue the traditional theme and take a look at a style I’ve admired since binging an unhealthy amount of Ink Master during covid. American traditional is a style that is distinctive and eye-catching with bold lines, vibrant colours and simple but strong designs. I will delve into some of the history and culture behind this style whilst admiring the factors that have made it an iconic choice that even today people young and old honour with this traditional style.
Although there has been evidence of humans throughout history with tattoos ranging as far back as 5000 years, in western society tattoos weren't popularised until as close as the 1700s. As you can imagine some of the first to embrace tattoo culture were actually sailors who sidestepped mainstream society norms using tattoos as memento of their travels and adventures at sea. Although popular amongst other people who lived outside of mainstream society, it's upon ships where we meet the ‘Father of American Traditional’, ferrying ancient tattooing techniques across the Pacific back to America.
Known for refining these techniques and pioneering the American symbolism we see in a lot of American Traditional tattoos was Norman ‘Sailor Jerry’ Collins, a figure so famous you may have even drank his rum!
The American Traditional style is rich with a depth of notable figures, history and culture. Although Sailor Jerry was one of the more popular names from that era of tattooing there are many other names who are viewed as some of the founding fathers of this style including names like Bert Grimm, Cap Coleman, Amund Dietzel and Lyle Tuttle. Each of these contributed to the development of early tattooing in the American Traditional style, adapting inspirations and other types of imagery from the east. Worth a mention as well whilst covering this style is Ed Hardy another household name who studied under Sailor Jerry and worked to promote and continue the traditional style. Although I would love to dive into some more of these figures' own history and contributions to the craft, I’m aiming to keep it a light blog post as I could easily fill pages and pages covering them; however I do urge you to read a bit more about the birth of American Traditional if you’re interested.
Sailor Jerry popularised this style by focusing on four main components, you could call them rules that one must adhere to, to call it an American Traditional. These were bold, clean lines, vivid colours, minimal shading and Iconic symbolism.
Bold lines are one of the most recognizable components of this style, they create a striking visual and are much more able to withstand the test of time over finer tattoo lines. The colour palette of traditional tattoos are quite restricted using predominately primary colours with quite a bold and flat application however this provides the vibrancy well known in this style of tattooing. Popular colours with this style are reds, yellows and greens but there is a range of colours that can still be used. To choose a colour like purple might not make this stray further away from the ‘traditional’ tag but the more and more the tattoo strays away from these components the less likely it will be ‘American Traditional’, steering more into Neo-Traditional for example (which we can cover in another blog post). In actual fact Norm Collins was one of the people who worked with chemists to produce a safe purple ink as most that had come before were not safe for the skin or just didn't work as an ink.
Along with the restricted palette, American Traditional follows a minimal shading approach allowing the colours to speak for themselves and giving the bold lines room to remain punchy and visible.
The fourth component of this style being the iconic symbolism and iconography associated with the tattoos from the past. This is where the history is quite important in this style as if you were to google American Traditional tattoos, you would find a lot of common designs across many images. Remembering the sailors and maritime history, you will see lots of nautical imagery, most famously, huge ships that would have been large back pieces or chest pieces.
When I was younger I watched a lot of Miami Ink on MTV and was hoodwinked into believing that tattooing was this super sentimental, you need a reason for every tattoo kinda thing. As I got older I learned that it was mostly Hollywood and actually tattoos were mostly selected from flash in the old days. Flash is a term used for sheets of tattoo designs that would be created by an artist and then would be tattooed again and again for customers who would choose from the available designs. There weren't consultations and artists that would whip up a design on an ipad for you. They were cool, badass, tried and tested designs that still stand the test of time till this day, with customers generations apart sharing the same design of a swallow for example.
Some of the most common designs you may have seen around in the streets include swallows as mentioned, as well as panthers, eagles, and other nautical motifs. From their beginning as a mark of a sailor at sea, through to pioneering from the likes of Sailor Jerry, to the modern interpretations we see today being adopted for newer designs whilst remaining the root inspiration of American Traditional.
For me the most marvelling thing about this style is its timeless appeal. The ‘rules’ that it follows keep the true authenticity of American Traditional intact across decades. The students and practitioners of American Trad will defend to their death the beauty of their tattoos still holding up the original shape and detail decades on. The benefit is easily recognisable artwork that is unmistakable and full of vibrant colours. As my tattoo quest continues I did actually go through with my first flash and American traditional tattoo at a recent convention and having a bright red Hana mask on my inner forearm definitely jumps out whenever I take my jumper off and has become one of my favourite tattoos.
