Art Style Experimentation Is The Tattoo Trend That Makes Your Ink Options Limitless

You might have one favorite tattoo style, or maybe you love them all. Tattoos are all about self-expression, and there are no limits when it comes to your ink. While it's common to have multiple tattoos that share the same style, it's becoming increasingly popular to see people experimenting with different styles all over their bodies. If you're torn between two styles, you can talk to your artist about combining them in one tattoo, using your favorite elements from specific styles. Or you can get each tattoo in a different style, from American traditional and woodcut tattoos to more abstract and geometric designs. 

A lot of us are drawn to certain tattoo artists because they specialize in a certain style, so when you see lots of different artists over time, you'll have your own collection of unique tattoos. For anyone looking to experiment with multiple tattoo styles, here's some of the best ink we found on Instagram. 

Patchwork tattoos have become more popular in recent years, especially among tatted celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Harry Styles. As the name suggests, this style involves having small tattoos arranged all over your body, almost like a collage. While many people choose to get several tattoos done in a single style, patchwork is a great way to experiment with different styles. You can have your own unique patch collection, and there's no limit to the styles you choose.

This is an example of taking two distinct styles and putting them together into one piece. In the tattoo above, the artist created a photo-realistic image of a cat and contrasted it with new school elements like heavy outlines and bright colors. This combination makes life-like portraits pop.

If you love black ink tattoos, you may love this combination of dotwork and blackwork. For a dotwork tattoo, the artist uses hundreds of dots to create a whole image, almost like a mosaic. You might want some parts of the tattoo to have the dotted visual effect and other parts completely filled in, which is where the blackwork comes in, as seen in the flower tattoo above. 

Contrast is an important element in tattooing, creating depth and making the image appear three-dimensional on the skin. Artists can take contrasting styles to make unique images like this half-watercolor, half-black-and-gray skull. Watercolor is one of the newer tattoo trends of this year, and when combined with the classic black and gray look, you can appreciate both styles in one tattoo. 

A fine-line tattoo pairs great with the geometric style, as they both provide a minimalistic look with precise linework. Dragonflies, butterflies, and other insects with symmetrical features make the perfect geometric and fine-line tattoos. You can even add in some dotwork, as seen in certain parts of the tattoo above.