2. Animal Themed Traditional Tattoo

Source: @dianakulltattoo via Instagram

Source: @bury_at_sea via Instagram

Source: @tattooist.t via Instagram

Source: @leti.ruggeri via Instagram

Modern single needle tattoos use an approach reminiscent of pencil drawings, with smooth shading and hyper-realistic details a hallmark of the technique. There’s a clarity and balance in the design that is hard to replicate using multi needle machine work. 

Single needle ideas are brilliant for use in depicting animals with delicate lines. A talented tattoo artist can get right into the nitty gritty of fur and fin, carapace or skin. Being able to go into such depth shows off an elephant’s leathery wrinkles, the doleful expression of a tired puppy, or even the heavy winter fur of a running wolf in action. 

The final Great White example is particularly interesting. It shows off the crisp single needle circular shark image against the bolder modern machine created thick line stars. 

3. Birdlife Single Needle Tattooing

Source: @erikdamasco via Instagram

Source: @valentinaolsen.tattoo via Instagram

Source: @theblackwhitelines via Instagram

Source: @doonerupinarms via Instagram

Single line tattoo design excels when depicting small pieces of body art. Due to the time taken to apply ink and level of fine detail involved, intricacy of this type can be lost within large tattoos. 

Just like the animal examples above, putting single needles to work on different types of birds can work with massive effect. These tattoos show off superb variety in shading technique, and the artists display deft application of negative space and line detail to support small scale photorealistic detail.