Book Tattoo
Dagger driven through a girl head with a weeping eye and red rose on the inner

Dagger Through Girl Head Tattoo

Textbook American traditional setup on this one. A dagger driving down through the crown of a girl head, blood teardrops falling toward a red rose tucked into the lower corner, and the composition holds together because every element points to the next.

One colour accent does a lot of work here. I sat a small red rose in to anchor the otherwise black and grey palette and give the eye a single place to land, with the rest of the piece reading as tonal shading. I kept the placement personal and easy to see, with the vertical axis of the dagger running along the natural line of the limb so it doesn't fight the anatomy.

Pokestay Tattoo in Wellington, bookings through @pokestaytattoo or pokestaytattoo@gmail.com.

Book Similar PieceSee All Traditional

By Rhys Thomas at Whitetail Tattoo, Level 3, 41–47 Dixon Street, Te Aro, Wellington, New Zealand

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Common Questions About Traditional in Wellington

What's the difference between traditional and neo-traditional?
Traditional keeps to a small, classical colour palette (reds, yellows, greens, blues) with chunky outlines and limited shading. Neo-traditional opens that up with more colours, finer detail, and more painterly shading. Same bones, more flexibility.
Do traditional tattoos cost less because they look simpler?
No. Traditional tattoos look deceptively simple. Clean bold lines and solid colour packs are hard to execute well, and they're priced on time and skill required, not visual complexity.
Can a traditional design be personal rather than generic?
Yes. Most of my traditional pieces are custom subjects rendered in the traditional language. Bring your own meaning and I'll handle the visual grammar.