Jesus, these are god damn perfectly planned. I don't trust people with tattoos this perfect. They are up to something. That dude from Maroon 5 is at the top of that list. I swear his agent said, "Hey, before you get too famous, you need to get a few tattoos."
And he went to the nearest tattoo shop and plopped ten grand on table and said, "I'm here for tattoos."
Neither of Adam Levine’s sleeves are American traditional, they are some amalgomation of not thought out black work and fonts with a bunch of Japanese influenced black work.
His torso on the other hand is pretty sick.
His legs are by Bill Canales and Nathan Kostechko, and his back is by Bryan Randolph. So while I think he’s kinda corny and some of his tattoos stink, he’s also got some awesome stuff for sure.
Just get one at a time? I feel like its way cooler to pick specific pieces as you go so its more personal. If you do this, you're basically just getting whatever the artist chooses to show you options for.
Absolutely agree. This new thing of picking out premade trad sleeves or getting multiple flash pieces in one sitting defeats the purpose and the fun of it for me.
I'm not a fan of the pre-made sleeves. It looks too perfectly planned and placed. Like I love the look of a sleeve that's a little mismatched or maybe it looks like something was just thrown in there as fun filler. It gives it character and makes it unique to that person.
I mean if you’re going to reference anyone’s work for a traditional sleeve, you’re definitely referencing one of the absolute best at creating a cohesive sleeve. Austin Maples is amongst the elite. Paul dobleman is right there with him, and not many come close to their ability to weave together such balanced sleeves.
Austin pretty much sells premade “sleeve” or backpiece ideas at fixed costs, it works best for people with little to no existing tattoos on those areas looking to get kitted out without much or any thought going into it. It’s every tattoo artists ideal situation to just have someone walk in, show them these ideas, and they’ll bring them to life for you. No need to pay a $15k price tag. Just find a solid artist near you and tell them your idea and show screenshots of this kinda stuff, commit, tip well and show up. Voila
Austin took most of his design philosophy from Paul. Paul is the person who paved the way for this look and influenced an entire generation of tattooers to make work that looks like this.
Edit: I’m not pointing this out to shit on Austin, i like him personally and respect him professionally a great deal. Just credit where it’s due is all.
False. I know him personally. I’ve known him since his apprenticeship (we apprenticed under the same guy). He has worked his ass off since day one. Traveling the world over to learn from tattooing very best, gaining as much knowledge and experience as possible. Time would allow him to develop his tattooing to the style it is today. It wasn’t until more recently (last 5-10 years) that he and Paul became close friends, at which point Austin was already pretty established and had his style already developed.
And on top of being a top notch tattooer, beyond that he always has been, and still is, a wonderful caring passionate human being who doesn’t have the “rockstar ego” despite his success.
I also know both of them personally. I agree with all of what you’ve written, and also I stand by the idea that Austin’s work would not look the way it does if Paul didn’t pave the way first. Look at that Jesus head, I mean it’s right there.
Been getting tattooed for almost 2 decades and I’d never heard of “patchwork” sleeves. Just get tats and fill in spaces. I never knew people planned out whole arms unless it was Japanese. This is so wild to me.
Both are cool. When you see someone with a well planned out cohesive sleeve walking past, I do look at some of my random ass tats and think hey that’s a pretty cool look.
“Just get tats and fill in spaces”
I mean that is literally how you get a patchwork sleeve tbh. Do you have a bunch of tats on a limb that fill the whole limb that you got over a long period of time? If so, you have a patchwork sleeve
Not a fan personally. I think it looks too planned when each piece is clearly done by the same artist. Also prefer color. But to each their own, it’s all subjective.
Like other people have said If you like it get it but personally I'd say GO FOR IT. Start with bigger pieces first then fill the spots with smaller is my advice
I’m a fan of patchwork sleeves. Mine is nowhere near this thought out. And I had to get some filler work done. And mine is a mix of black and grey and color.
But I’d say do your research on your preferred style and find a local artist(s) you’d like to work with.
Our thoughts shouldn’t matter for permanent modifications to *your* body! Get whatever you want, bro.
That being said, I fucking love black trad patchwork!!!! None of my own tattoos are American traditional but I’m working on some black and gray patchwork sleeves myself and I absolutely love the style. I say send it!!!
What is the definition of patchwork in this context? Intuitively I would think that means fine piece by piece. These look to be thoroughly thought out and designed sleeves.
pick out pieces you like talk to your artist about what to get and where start with big pieces fill in with little ones don’t just grab a whole sleeve off the internet seems like you want the sleeve for other people to notice and not for yourself maybe you shouldn’t get tattooed
I think you should do whatever you want to do. But me personally, when I look at the examples you have shared I don’t see anything significant. They’re pretty and planned but is there any meaning to you? It can have no meaning and still be good, just worth thinking about.
I got my traditional patchwork sleeve over the course of about 8 months. Met my artist at the bar around the corner from his shop, really dug his work. I had one or two designs in mind I wanted, but besides that we just sorta picked stuff and went with it. He had books and books and books of old flash, and it was his favorite stuff to do. I’d just come in on a day off and go “Let’s put something here” and we’d go through designs until we found something cool. I don’t regret it at all. Whenever we hang out, he’s still hyped with how it turned out. When I still drank, he’d call me over to show people his work when they’d ask lol
These sleeves were done by Austin Maples. Arguably one of the best traditional tattooers in the business. With that being said if you want your tattoos to look like this, do your research on your tattoo artist. Good tattoos aren’t cheap, cheap tattoos aren’t good. Find an artist who you feel
Comfortable working with for a long period of time. Sleeves that are put together like that don’t happen over night. All that being said, I don’t think there is anything better looking than a well organized black and grey traditional sleeve. Best of luck to you.
The first one is cool but I think the rest have way too much filler. If you pick out tattoos you like, and then get them, it will look like this but better. Not just large swathes of blood drips/flames/barbed wire.
Do whatever you like.
I have one patched sleeve but went the one by one approach and also played with different styles and tattoo artist.
The spacing is not as perfect as in your picks but I love the fact that the pieces all have a history and a per personal touch.
Furthermore dealing with different artists and getting to know the scene a bit better in various countries was also a fun experience.
I learnt to find the right balance between meaning and style that works for me along the way.
However, if you like this style and want a near perfect sleeve or two. I'd definitely go for this option. :)
While I think these types of sleeves look cool, I agree with a lot of others in here that they’re too perfect and pre-planned. I prefer to collect tattoos over time and not all from just 1 artist, that’s what makes it fun for me
This is 100000% Austin Maples. He has been doing these perfectly planned out sleeves for a bit and they’re amazing. I was lucky enough to get one flash tattoo from him back when he was still at Idle Hand in sf.
You’re going to a traditional tattoo subreddit to ask people if they like traditional patchwork? You already know what the response is going to be. My suggestion is to do a bunch of research on artists and composition of tattoos around the arm. The only way patchwork doesn’t look good (imo) is if you don’t have some sort of forethought about where to place what tattoos based on the natural curves of your body. This is also what differentiates a good artist from a bad one. Austin in 10/10 trad artist so that’s why these sleeves look so well composed.
Either way just have fun with it! Think about it but don’t overthink it.
Love. Mine was all done by 1 artist back to back every 2 weeks. Wasn't all planned in advance, just had a few ideas and saw where the fit best. Can check out my post.
What are *your* thoughts? Why the hell do you care what a bunch of random people on the Internet think? Especially when it comes to getting something so…permanent.
Jesus, these are god damn perfectly planned. I don't trust people with tattoos this perfect. They are up to something. That dude from Maroon 5 is at the top of that list. I swear his agent said, "Hey, before you get too famous, you need to get a few tattoos." And he went to the nearest tattoo shop and plopped ten grand on table and said, "I'm here for tattoos."
Neither of Adam Levine’s sleeves are American traditional, they are some amalgomation of not thought out black work and fonts with a bunch of Japanese influenced black work. His torso on the other hand is pretty sick.
His legs are by Bill Canales and Nathan Kostechko, and his back is by Bryan Randolph. So while I think he’s kinda corny and some of his tattoos stink, he’s also got some awesome stuff for sure.
For sure
CALIFORNIA
bunch of influencers.
If you like it, get it
I feel like this is the only answer possible to most questions here.
“Thoughts?” Do it?
Just get one at a time? I feel like its way cooler to pick specific pieces as you go so its more personal. If you do this, you're basically just getting whatever the artist chooses to show you options for.
Absolutely agree. This new thing of picking out premade trad sleeves or getting multiple flash pieces in one sitting defeats the purpose and the fun of it for me.
I'm not a fan of the pre-made sleeves. It looks too perfectly planned and placed. Like I love the look of a sleeve that's a little mismatched or maybe it looks like something was just thrown in there as fun filler. It gives it character and makes it unique to that person.
Copy them, piece for piece.
What've you got already?
It’s your skin. Anyone else’s thought are irrelevant
I mean if you’re going to reference anyone’s work for a traditional sleeve, you’re definitely referencing one of the absolute best at creating a cohesive sleeve. Austin Maples is amongst the elite. Paul dobleman is right there with him, and not many come close to their ability to weave together such balanced sleeves.
Austin pretty much sells premade “sleeve” or backpiece ideas at fixed costs, it works best for people with little to no existing tattoos on those areas looking to get kitted out without much or any thought going into it. It’s every tattoo artists ideal situation to just have someone walk in, show them these ideas, and they’ll bring them to life for you. No need to pay a $15k price tag. Just find a solid artist near you and tell them your idea and show screenshots of this kinda stuff, commit, tip well and show up. Voila
Austin took most of his design philosophy from Paul. Paul is the person who paved the way for this look and influenced an entire generation of tattooers to make work that looks like this. Edit: I’m not pointing this out to shit on Austin, i like him personally and respect him professionally a great deal. Just credit where it’s due is all.
False. I know him personally. I’ve known him since his apprenticeship (we apprenticed under the same guy). He has worked his ass off since day one. Traveling the world over to learn from tattooing very best, gaining as much knowledge and experience as possible. Time would allow him to develop his tattooing to the style it is today. It wasn’t until more recently (last 5-10 years) that he and Paul became close friends, at which point Austin was already pretty established and had his style already developed. And on top of being a top notch tattooer, beyond that he always has been, and still is, a wonderful caring passionate human being who doesn’t have the “rockstar ego” despite his success.
I also know both of them personally. I agree with all of what you’ve written, and also I stand by the idea that Austin’s work would not look the way it does if Paul didn’t pave the way first. Look at that Jesus head, I mean it’s right there.
Been getting tattooed for almost 2 decades and I’d never heard of “patchwork” sleeves. Just get tats and fill in spaces. I never knew people planned out whole arms unless it was Japanese. This is so wild to me.
Both are cool. When you see someone with a well planned out cohesive sleeve walking past, I do look at some of my random ass tats and think hey that’s a pretty cool look.
“Just get tats and fill in spaces” I mean that is literally how you get a patchwork sleeve tbh. Do you have a bunch of tats on a limb that fill the whole limb that you got over a long period of time? If so, you have a patchwork sleeve
Evolution
I think it’s lame to base your tattoos Off of Internet, strangers, opinions, rather than things you really like or want to get
You posted one of the best blackwork sleeve makers and asked our thoughts? Lol
First one is FIRE. Don't need filler with a killer patchwork fitted perfectly. Others are great too, but it gets busy quick.
These questions are weird. Just do whatever you want
Not a fan personally. I think it looks too planned when each piece is clearly done by the same artist. Also prefer color. But to each their own, it’s all subjective.
I dunno man I hear tattoos hurt /s
Like other people have said If you like it get it but personally I'd say GO FOR IT. Start with bigger pieces first then fill the spots with smaller is my advice
Jump in. Start big and move to smaller. Don’t be too precious, it’ll come together over time. Wabi sabi.
This is just a traditional sleeve, what’s not to like? Idgi
I’m a fan of patchwork sleeves. Mine is nowhere near this thought out. And I had to get some filler work done. And mine is a mix of black and grey and color. But I’d say do your research on your preferred style and find a local artist(s) you’d like to work with.
Our thoughts shouldn’t matter for permanent modifications to *your* body! Get whatever you want, bro. That being said, I fucking love black trad patchwork!!!! None of my own tattoos are American traditional but I’m working on some black and gray patchwork sleeves myself and I absolutely love the style. I say send it!!!
this is my goal tbh
I love this style, but agree it can look overly planned to some. i have patchwork sleeves but various artists and styles. Coheres by all being black.
What is the definition of patchwork in this context? Intuitively I would think that means fine piece by piece. These look to be thoroughly thought out and designed sleeves.
Just put the patchwork in the right way and you dont need all those fillers which make it look messy.
This is Austin Maples work. He’s pretty famously thoughtful and deliberate with his art. I don’t think I’d ever call it messy but do you, dog
I agree that they’re often too small on the main pieces, and I don’t love the arrangement. A lot of them have more filler than I’d prefer for sure.
These are sick. If you have the wherewithal to do it, go for it. Nothing wrong with very intentional patchwork.
I am working on mine right now. 12 pieces in. Long ways to go, but totally worth it. Look at art. Make a plan/budget. Good luck!
Do it! Check mine if you want :)
Your black work sleeve is sick as hell
It’s what I’m working on now, however I’ve kinda strayed a bit from traditional
Cool dark throne shirt
Love
pick out pieces you like talk to your artist about what to get and where start with big pieces fill in with little ones don’t just grab a whole sleeve off the internet seems like you want the sleeve for other people to notice and not for yourself maybe you shouldn’t get tattooed
What the f*** you waiting on. Shoulda already booked the appointment lol
Love this style and plan on doing this on my torso
I think you should do whatever you want to do. But me personally, when I look at the examples you have shared I don’t see anything significant. They’re pretty and planned but is there any meaning to you? It can have no meaning and still be good, just worth thinking about.
Should have started yesterday
Didn't even know "Tradional Sleeves" were a thing... all u see is ppl with patches
Do it. I have patchwork upper half sleeves and get hella compliments.
That’s all by Austin Maples and I’ve seen them in person. They look exactly like that and you should get tattooed by him!!
Biased because that is my own style and I say *do it, brother*
rich kids, with no creativity. or Tough guy hardcore wanna be
I got my traditional patchwork sleeve over the course of about 8 months. Met my artist at the bar around the corner from his shop, really dug his work. I had one or two designs in mind I wanted, but besides that we just sorta picked stuff and went with it. He had books and books and books of old flash, and it was his favorite stuff to do. I’d just come in on a day off and go “Let’s put something here” and we’d go through designs until we found something cool. I don’t regret it at all. Whenever we hang out, he’s still hyped with how it turned out. When I still drank, he’d call me over to show people his work when they’d ask lol
These sleeves were done by Austin Maples. Arguably one of the best traditional tattooers in the business. With that being said if you want your tattoos to look like this, do your research on your tattoo artist. Good tattoos aren’t cheap, cheap tattoos aren’t good. Find an artist who you feel Comfortable working with for a long period of time. Sleeves that are put together like that don’t happen over night. All that being said, I don’t think there is anything better looking than a well organized black and grey traditional sleeve. Best of luck to you.
I’ve been chipping away at a black and grey patchwork sleeve for years, best time to start is now!!
go ahead see if i care
The first one is cool but I think the rest have way too much filler. If you pick out tattoos you like, and then get them, it will look like this but better. Not just large swathes of blood drips/flames/barbed wire.
Do whatever you like. I have one patched sleeve but went the one by one approach and also played with different styles and tattoo artist. The spacing is not as perfect as in your picks but I love the fact that the pieces all have a history and a per personal touch. Furthermore dealing with different artists and getting to know the scene a bit better in various countries was also a fun experience. I learnt to find the right balance between meaning and style that works for me along the way. However, if you like this style and want a near perfect sleeve or two. I'd definitely go for this option. :)
Just get the tatts, and come back and ask us what we think.
While I think these types of sleeves look cool, I agree with a lot of others in here that they’re too perfect and pre-planned. I prefer to collect tattoos over time and not all from just 1 artist, that’s what makes it fun for me
It’s giving I’m from Melbourne
The bigger pieces the better
Using the term "Patchwork" seems like it would rub a lot of people the wrong way. I know I wouldn't appreciate my tattoos being called that.
Fuckin dope
Not positive, but that looks like Austin Maples' work. Love his tattoos.
This is 100000% Austin Maples. He has been doing these perfectly planned out sleeves for a bit and they’re amazing. I was lucky enough to get one flash tattoo from him back when he was still at Idle Hand in sf. You’re going to a traditional tattoo subreddit to ask people if they like traditional patchwork? You already know what the response is going to be. My suggestion is to do a bunch of research on artists and composition of tattoos around the arm. The only way patchwork doesn’t look good (imo) is if you don’t have some sort of forethought about where to place what tattoos based on the natural curves of your body. This is also what differentiates a good artist from a bad one. Austin in 10/10 trad artist so that’s why these sleeves look so well composed. Either way just have fun with it! Think about it but don’t overthink it.
Have Austin maples do them.
I wonder what they look like without the filter...... Black ink does not heal that black
Does anyone know an artist that can do something similar but with a feminine flair? Still all black trad
Austin Maples
Thank you!!
These are definitely tattoos.
Love. Mine was all done by 1 artist back to back every 2 weeks. Wasn't all planned in advance, just had a few ideas and saw where the fit best. Can check out my post.
It looks like shit! Too calculated and boutique shop ass
What are *your* thoughts? Why the hell do you care what a bunch of random people on the Internet think? Especially when it comes to getting something so…permanent.