Old School refers to a Western or traditional Americana tattoo

Tattoo

A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...

 style featuring bold, blue-black outlines, usually filled with solid red and green with rare additions of blue, yellow, brown and purple; and embellished with little or no shading. Norman Keith Collins, also known as "Sailor Jerry

Sailor Jerry

Norman Keith Collins was a prominent American tattoo artist who was also known as "Sailor Jerry".-Life:...

", (1911-1973) is one of the most well known traditional tattoo artists.

Other famous artists are:

• Herbert Hoffmann (1919-2010), began tattoing in Germany during the 1930s. Together with fellow artist Karlmann Richter he was featured in the 2004 film Blue Skin (German: Flammen' Herz).
• Amund Dietzel (1891-1974), 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
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
  -, the St Louis-based artist who moved to Long Beach
  Long Beach
  -United States:*Long Beach, California, most populous city with this name**Long Beach Airport**Long Beach Naval Shipyard**Long Beach Search & Rescue**Long Beach Unified School District**Port of Long Beach*Long Beach, Indiana*Long Beach, Minnesota...
  
   California to set up a shop at the Nu-Pike
  The Pike
  The Pike became a world famous Long Beach, California amusement zone in 1902 along the shoreline south of Ocean Boulevard with several independent arcades, food stands, gift shops, a variety of rides and a grand bath house...
  
  . 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.

Common Old School Tattoo Motifs

Examples of popular old school tattoo designs include:

• Cherry tattoos
• Nautical star tattoos
• Native American tattoos
• Pin up tattoos
• Mermaid tattoos
• Swallow and sparrow tattoos
• Heart tattoos
• Harley Davidson symbol tattoos
• Anchor tattoos
• Eagle tattoos
• Fish tattoos
• Navy and other armed forces symbols
• Dagger tattoos
• Rose tattoos
• Water tattoos