When it comes to tattoos, there is an absolute division between artists as to the longevity of an outlined tattoo vs one done with either color or no outline.  It is currently a wide spread dispute that will not be settled for years to come.  The age old myth to tattooing is that if it doesn’t have a black outline and/or black shading, it will fade to such an extent that it will not be legible or visible later in life. 

Lineless Tattoos :

I tattooed this watercolor painting many years ago.  He brought the image to me because his father had passed on and of all the paintings he ever did, this was his favorite.  It was not a lined image obviously, and it was not my place to change the entire concept of this tattoo because of old school beliefs.  The equipment we work with, the ink we use, the advancement of the art, and the education we have available today is not even remotely the same.  It is becoming a science of precision, creativity, and skill that proves itself in the portfolios of today’s leading artists.

This tattoo will have a fading aspect, as do all tattoos, but the skin is well saturated with color, varying from darks to lights.  The chance of this not being legible in 10-20 years isn’t going to come into play, but as with any tattoo, the color will to be as crisp, but the tattoo will still be there.  Another thing to note is

Here are a couple more examples of line-less tattooing with strong tones that will last.

—Let me stop here and say this :  If you are a tattoo collector and/or someone getting a tattoo of significant meaning, don’t look at it as a one time thing.  If you really want to be serious about it, a tattoo can safely take about 4 passings over the skins lifetime before it reaches a scarring stage (only if they had been done properly in the past), and just like with anything else in life, if you are going to invest the money to have it, then expect to invest the money to keep it maintained.  That doesn’t mean you have to, but ALL tattoos will fade with time, outline or not.  I personally like to redo mine about every 12 years or so, just because I like it to look new again, and given my age, I have a long time to wear it, and want it to look good as long as possible.  But its your skin so you wear it how you want.–

Lined Tattoos :