I think American and japenese are very interchangable besides the filling.. japenese is usually clouds our or dark (thick) lines and American traditional is little stars (minimal filling) meaning with American traditional you can use a few stencils.. jap means it's one and done on whatever body part. But that's the beauty with those traditionals... I believe you can make subtle changes.. but when it comes to realism or portraits... the line grows thin or non existent... honestly this thread answered a lot of questions for me. I wanted to keep it traditional.. both American and jap.. realism isn't for me... I believe you can mix styles but they must at least make sense... you don't want to have a marvel sleeve with a portrait of loved ones right under it. It's confusing on what you want to portray. Each limb can tell a story. But also, I want all my limbs to at least resemble the same story.. which is why I believe you should wait before you commit to a tattoo.. I had to laser and cover because I was excited as a young person.. now I know what I want and it tells a story over random encounters I had over spring break.. we all make mistakes. When it comes to tattoos, they are costly but not irreversible. Just gotta cough up the dough... make sure you know what you want, out of my 20's I finally know what I want my story to tell. Even though my story ain't over.. but it makes sense at least
