Tattoo artist Kurt Staudinger creates intense portraits that visually pop from the skin. The realistically-rendered pieces utilize a soft, diffused approach that adds an eerie quality to the subjects’ personas. Their glassy eyes pierce us with a knowing gaze, as if they’re about to reveal a dark, hidden secret. Staudinger remains quiet about his characters, […]
Tag: Black Ink Tattoos
Japan-Based Tattooer Gakkin Creates Beautiful Body Suits
Once dreaming of becoming a fashion designer, Gakkin simply got bored of fashion school and preferred hanging out at local tattoo shops. Fast forward almost two decades later, he is revered in the international tattoo scene for his freehand color and black works. The latter being the focus of this feature and showing us he’s […]
Simple, Ingenious, and Amusing: Blackwork Tattoos by Ilya Brezinski
Tattoo artist Ilya Brezinski creates polished blackwork drawings that just happen to be on the skin. The tightly-rendered pictures—often single subject—interact with the body in a playful way: a collar bone becomes a guide for a tightrope while half of a bicycle wheel is made wholly complete because it’s placed on a rounded pectoral muscle. […]
Inking the Sacred: Mandala Tattoos by Katia Somerville
For Katia Somerville, the experience of tattooing is as spiritual and unique as the artwork she creates. Known for her complex black-ink mandala tattoos, Somerville adapts sacred geometry to the body through undulating compositions. Flawless line work, stippling, and shading allows her to develop tattoos that unfold the mind as personalized microcosms. Her studio, Rainfire […]
Sinister Visions: Blackwork Tattoos by Robert Borbas
Róbert Borbás (aka, Grindesign) is known for his incredible blackwork tattoos—and deservedly so. Along with strong lines and flowing compositions, Borbás harnesses the subtle nuances of black and gray ink to produce deep, lush, gothic scenes haunted by demonic animals, moldering skulls, and the restless undead. Much of his imagery derives from themes of the […]
The Beauty in Chaos: Tattoos by Frank Carrilho
“Light as a feather, stiff as a board.” This phrase can be used to describe the tattoos of Frank Carrilho, a Brazilian artist who incorporates thin, wispy lines with bold, heavy outlines. There is no in-between, but the two approaches work together and convey a chaotic harmony. Each tattoo is simultaneously delicate as a dandelion […]
Architect Turned Tattoo Artist Builds Structured Imagery
Monika Malewska is trained as an architect but chooses to express herself in other creative fields. “My two passions are drawing tattoos,” she writes, “and I try to combine them working as a tattoo artist.” Her style is reminiscent of a draftsperson as she uses thin, precise lines and geometry to build and map out […]
Shape-Shifting Blackwork Tattoos by Matteo Nangeroni
Matteo Nangeroni combines portraiture with a surreal compositional elements to produce tattoos that are simultaneously elegant and strange. The blackwork body art—with influences of cubism, comics, and geometry—features shape-shifting, two-faced characters and creatures that raise more questions than they answer. As two seemingly disparate parts connect to each other, we’re left wondering what their relation […]
Continuous Line Tattoos in Constant Motion by Stan Bree
According to Stan Bree’s tattoos, we’re all just a collection of simple shapes and lines. The Mexico City-based artist creates complex figures using a series of lines that effortlessly and continuously flow into one another. As a result, conventional portraits feel like they’re in motion that could twist and take a new form at any […]
Blackwork Tattoos by Brazilian Artist Fredão Oliveira
Elements of fantasy and geometry are incorporated in the blackwork tattoos of Fredão Oliveira. Strikingly-detailed portraits grace his client’s bodies, commanding attention with a realistic style that’s framed by decorative shapes and bold lines. Together, they evoke the feel of a technical ink drawing that you’d see on the pages of an enthralling comic book […]