Minimalist

On YokoFolio, pick the style Minimalist and then your city, and widen the radius if the list is short. To judge a portfolio, look at the balance as much as the line: good minimalist work leaves room around the design, and that room is composed, not left over. Look for clean shapes, right proportions, and pieces that hold without a single extra detail. Healed photos beat fresh ones — a simple design hides nothing.

Designs you recognize at a glance: a butterfly, a cat, a flower cut down to a stem and two petals, a cross, a mountain, a wave, a crescent moon, a date. What matters isn't the subject but what you take away: keep the shape that makes it recognizable and drop the rest. If you're torn between two versions, take the barer one — it's the one that will age best and still look right.

It's one of its most common uses, and it suits it well: two simple designs that answer each other, or the same design at two sizes. Two practical notes. First, pick something that stands on its own — a design that only makes sense next to the other one gets awkward if life pulls you apart. Second, get them done by the same hand on the same day if you can: two different artists never draw the same line.

The inner forearm is the most requested spot, and it's a good one: even skin, little friction, visible to you and coverable under a sleeve. The bicep, the outer forearm and the top of the shoulder work just as well. Leave space around it — a minimalist tattoo pressed up against a busy piece loses its breathing room. If you're planning more tattoos, say so at the first session so the room gets reserved.