OUR ARTISTS - KAEDE
Kaede is our resident Neo Traditional tattoo artist, known for his bold, detailed work with folk and illustrative influences. His tattoos have a strong sense of character, bringing together expressive imagery, thoughtful composition, and plenty of detail.
He loves getting to know his clients and working together to turn an idea into something that feels truly personal. Whether you come to him with a fully formed concept or just a starting point, he enjoys exploring the possibilities and adding his own creative touch along the way.
For Kaede, the best tattoos come from a genuine collaboration between artist and client. He wants each piece to feel like it belongs to the person wearing it, while still carrying the personality and creativity of his own style.
Understanding Neo Traditional Tattooing
Neo Traditional tattooing is a bold and expressive style that gives artists plenty of room to play with colour, detail, texture, and composition. It's known for artwork that feels rich and illustrative, with a strong sense of personality and visual depth.
You’ll often see animals, flowers, portraits, characters, and elements from nature, but there are really no strict rules about what can be turned into a Neo Traditional tattoo. The style lends itself to taking an idea and giving it a distinctive artistic interpretation.bBold outlines help give the artwork structure, while layered colour, shading, and intricate details bring the design to life. Decorative elements and thoughtful composition can also be used to frame the main subject and create a tattoo that feels complete.
One of the things that makes Neo Traditional so appealing is the balance between clarity and detail. A piece can have plenty going on without feeling overwhelming, with each element working together to create a strong overall image.
The style also leaves plenty of room for an artist's own personality!
Neo Traditional tattooing grew from the foundations of traditional tattooing, but the two styles have some important differences.
Traditional tattooing is generally characterised by bold black outlines, limited colour palettes, simplified forms, and strong, easily recognisable imagery. The designs are often deliberately graphic, relying on clean shapes and solid areas of colour to create impact.
Neo Traditional retains many of these principles but gives the artist more freedom to explore detail and dimension. Colour palettes can be broader and more nuanced, while shading can be used to create greater depth and a more illustrative appearance.
The subject matter can also be more elaborate. Flowers, animals, portraits, and other traditional motifs can be developed with additional detail, decorative elements, and more complex compositions.
Neither approach needs to be viewed as a replacement for the other. They simply create different visual results. Neo Traditional offers an opportunity to retain the boldness and recognisability of traditional tattooing while introducing a greater level of detail and artistic interpretation.
Neo Traditional vs Traditional Tattooing
The Key Elements of a Neo Traditional Tattoo
There are several elements that help define the Neo Traditional tattoo style.
Bold linework provides the structure of the design. Strong outlines help separate different elements of the tattoo and ensure that the overall image remains clear and readable.
Colour is another defining feature. Neo Traditional tattoos can use rich, saturated colours alongside more subtle tones, creating depth and contrast within the design. Rather than simply filling an image with colour, the palette can be carefully considered to give different elements their own visual weight.
Shading and dimension allow Neo Traditional designs to move beyond the flatter appearance of traditional tattooing. Gradients, highlights, and carefully placed shadows can give flowers, animals, faces, and other imagery a greater sense of form.
Detail is also an important part of the style. Decorative elements, textures, patterns, and smaller details can add personality to a design without taking away from its overall readability.
Perhaps most importantly, these elements need to work together. A Neo Traditional tattoo can contain a huge amount of detail, but the composition still needs to be clear and balanced. Strong structure and thoughtful use of negative space help prevent a detailed tattoo from becoming visually overwhelming.