Fineline is exactly what it sounds like — single-needle line work, drawn at a scale closer to a fineliner pen than a tattoo machine. Big over the last five years, fuelled by Instagram and the rise of small-piece studios in Berlin, Seoul, and LA. We do a lot of it: minimalist florals, small animals, dotwork stipple, fineline portraits, and a fair amount of hand-drawn script.
Two truths about fineline. One — done by a hand that knows what they're doing, it's the most graceful style on the menu, and on the right placement (inner arm, sternum, behind-ear) it ages well into a soft grey-blue. Two — done poorly, or sat too small, or placed on the wrong spot, it can blur into a smudge within a couple of years. Fingers and hands are the worst offenders. We'll be honest with you about what survives.
Script is its own discipline — we draw every letter by hand, never trace a font. Tell us the words and the feel (Spencerian copperplate, blackletter, Chicano fine-script, casual fountain pen) and we'll come back with three or four options on tracing paper. Lyrics, names, dates, single words in another language — we've done them all and we never let one out the door we wouldn't want on our own skin.
