Traditional Tattoo Flash

Flash is pre-drawn tattoo art. For most of the 20th century, tattoo shops covered their walls with sheets of ready-made designs so customers could walk in, point at one and get it that day. Those sheets are where the classic American traditional images come from: panthers, eagles, swallows, anchors, roses, daggers and pin-ups.

The style was shaped by artists such as Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins in Honolulu and Bert Grimm on the West Coast. It was built for skin: designs had to be readable from across a room and still look good decades later.

• Bold, thick black outlines that hold their shape as the tattoo ages.
• A limited palette — mostly red, yellow, green and black, with skin left open as the highlight.
• Solid color fills and simple black shading instead of soft gradients.
• Iconic, simple imagery that reads instantly: a rose, a dagger, a swallow, a panther head.

Neo-traditional keeps the bold lines but adds more colors, finer detail and more realistic proportions. Everything on this page is classic American traditional.