Tattoo Guides

Can your old tattoo be covered? What decides it, which styles cover best, when a rework or laser makes more sense, and how a cover-up works at Umbra.

How to choose a tattoo artist in Melbourne: start with the style, read the portfolio, check healed work, and the questions to ask before you book.

First tattoo? What to expect at a Melbourne studio, from choosing your artist, size and placement to price, pain, the day itself and aftercare.

Illustrative tattoos look like a drawing brought to skin: etched, storybook, botanical or dark and moody, but always original. Because every illustrative piece is designed from scratch, the way you...

Traditional and neo-traditional tattoos share the same bold backbone, but they look and feel quite different. If you love strong linework but can't decide between the two, this guide breaks...

Colour realism is vivid, saturated and true to life: wildlife that looks ready to move, flowers you could almost smell, portraits with real depth. It's also a style where planning...

Black and grey realism can look almost photographic on skin: portraits of loved ones, statues, wildlife and dramatic large-scale scenes. It's also one of the most technical styles there is,...

A name, a date, a line that means something. Lettering tattoos are deeply personal, and the difference between good and great comes down to the lettering itself. Typing words in...

Traditional tattooing, often called American traditional or old school, is built on bold black outlines, a limited colour palette and imagery that has been tattooed for more than a century....

Fine line tattoos are delicate, detailed and endlessly popular, but they come with more questions than most styles. Will it blur? Where should it go? Why do some artists push...

A Japanese sleeve is one of the biggest commitments you can make to a tattoo, and one of the most rewarding. Done well, it reads as a single piece of...