Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpine50
What's the difference between traditional vs non traditional?
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For Japanese, traditional follows strict 'rules' that take years to study and master. Non tradition MAY also use these rules, but with more freedom. Other artists skip the rules all together, and are more 'Japanese Inspired"
Gakkin spoke about it a bit in
this interview. He mentions that it would be "stupid" to put blossoms and maple leafs in the same piece, for instance. This is an example of a strict rule that even 'modern' Japanese artists will follow. If you ever see maple leafs and blossoms on the same piece, or even the same side of the body, you know the artist is not talented, and is not paying attention to the roots of his work.
For American, the traditional don't seem to be as 'rule' heavy, but follow basic guidelines of super thick lines, basic designs, high contrast shading (lots of black ink) and a limited color palette of bright colours (red, gold, green, brown).
The alternative to that is 'neo traditional' which tends to use more 'modern' or 'realistic' shading and highlights. Actually most of the artists listed under 'traditional' are pretty much 'neo traditional' artists, since pure 'traditional' is actually quite limited creatively. It's up to you how 'limited' you want to make it - sometimes more limited (or less complicated, if you prefer) looks a lot nicer, especially from far away. IMO the 'line' between traditional and 'neo' traditional is very blurry, and in a way it should probably all be called traditional anyway, unless it's completely out there.
Then you have 'new school' which is a complete departure from classic american style tattooing.