Most tattoo artists, whether they like to admit it or not, have one or maybe two styles of tattoos that they specialize in and excel at. There certainly is nothing wrong with that and if you can find a tatoo artist who does two styles of tattoos very well, then I think it’s safe to assume that such an artist is quite skilled. I myself am always wary of any tattoo artist who claims to be proficient at all types of tattoo styles because there are just so very few (if any) artists who can do it all. Being capable of doing all tattoo styles and being capable of doing all tattoo styles well are two very different things.
Fip Buchanan is one tattoo artist who can do a whole handful of tattoo styles very well. I look through a lot of portfolios in any given day and it’s very rare that I find an artist who can do excellent portraiture work, excellent Japanese stuff, gorgeous black and grey, very good classic American/traditional and still pull off really nice random stuff like giant Pez dispensers, flamingos and sewing machines. You’ve got to respect an artist like Fip, whose tattoo roots stretch back to the days of being the co-founder of San Diego’s downright sick tattoo studio Avalon Tattoo as well as opening Avalon Tattoo 2.
Fip has been tattooing since 1979 and yes, that’s a long time to have been tattooing for. No wonder his stuff is so good. So all you tattoo artists just starting off out there, take note: don’t even bother trying to say that you can do it all unless you can come remotely close to an artist like Fip’s level of ability. Take your time, pay your dues and maybe one day you’ll be lucky enough to be even half as versatile as Fip Buchanan is.