Old school (tattoo)

Old school (tattoo) refers to a Western or traditional American tattoo style featuring bold black outlines and a limited color palette.^[1]

Artists

Famous artists are:

• Norman Keith Collins, also known as Sailor Jerry, (1911–1973) is one of the most well known traditional tattoo artists.^[2]
• Herbert Hoffmann (1919–2010), began tattooing in Germany during the 1930s. Together with fellow artists Karlmann Richter and Albert Cornelissen he was featured in the 2004 film Blue Skin (German: Flammend' Herz).
• Amund Dietzel (1890–1974), Norwegian-born artist who began his career as a sailor, before settling in the United States. Known as the "Master in Milwaukee".
• Bert Grimm (1900–1985), a Chicago-, the St Louis-based artist who moved to Long Beach, California to set up a shop at the Nu-Pike. His parlour was said to be the oldest continually running in the continental US and the place for sailors to get inked. Sold the shop to Bob Shaw in 1970.
• Bob Shaw (1926–1993), American artist who learned tattooing from Bert Grimm in St Louis. Later worked with Grimm and became the president of the National Tattoo Association from 1983-1988.^[3]

Old school tattoo designs

Common old school tattoo motifs

Examples of popular old school tattoo designs include:

• Native American tattoos
• Pin-up tattoos
• Mermaid tattoos
• Swallow and sparrow tattoos
• Heart tattoos
• Anchor tattoos
• Eagle tattoos
• Navy and other armed forces symbols
• Dagger tattoos
• Rose tattoos

Example of nautical star

See also

• New school (tattoo)

References

External links

• Традиционная татуировка Вконтакте, Traditional Tattoo group on VK.com
• A Short, Incomplete History of American Traditional Tattooing
• C.W. Eldridge's Tattoo Archive
• Old School tattoo gallery on BME zine
• old school tattoo information in hebrew
• Traditional American Tattoo group on Flickr
• Swallows&Daggers-Traditional American Tattoo Blog