Style: Black and Grey

This is also referred to as "Joint Style" or "Jailhouse", originally derived from prison tattoo, the style only use shades of black and grey and you get a kind of 3d illusion by shading much like a black and white photo. You get the grey color by diluting the black ink with water to make a gradient from black to light grey.

This style originated in the prisons of North America, due to the prisoner's difficulty in obtaining colored ink, instead of ink the prisoners used black ash from matches and cigarettes as pigment. The style was recognized outside of prisons as having great potential and has since then been refined and developed to a popular style by tattoo artists. It is thought to be the true test of a tattoo artist, as it used for portraits and if done correct can achieve a very realistic effect.

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