10 BADASS REALISM TATTOO ARTISTS

Though classic realism has been a part of the fine art since as far back as the Renaissance, it only found its way to the world of tattoos recently, cropping up around the latter half of the 20th century. Since then, this new tattoo style has become increasingly refined and extremely popular. As it now stands, you can find jaw-dropping color and black and grey portraits of pretty much any celebrity you can think of as well as realistic depictions of nature and just about anything else imaginable, even the surreal.

-- Justine Morrow "Essential Guide to Realistic Tattoos"

Many realism tattoo artists use the foundation built and inspired by Pop Art.

Using the technique of mapping shadows in photographs, realism tattoos are created.There is not one specific style or visual to realism tattoos. Practically anything can be turned into a Realism tattoo—from video stills, photographs, animals, flowers, paintings, and even memes, there is an artist out there who can do virtually anything. Below we have cultivated a list of some of our favorite Realism tattoos and artists. We know you guys are willing to go just about anywhere for your next ink, so check them out and get inspired!

From left to right, top to bottom:
@yunusonergenc
@snuffy.nyc
@comma_ttt
@shooby_tattoo
@antmikes
@ponywave
@douglasprudentetattoo
@robdansontattoo
@mihail_kogut
@fountain.nyc

You may have seen #Inktober thrown around on Instagram a lot this month. Every October, artists from around the world use the hashtag to celebrate the spookiest month of the year by inking designs and promoting their work. Here at jaksonbd, we go about things a bit differently. As our way of celebrating Inktober, we hosted the INK x Halloween Artist Battle with our co-sponsors Workhorse Irons, Redemption Aftercare, Electrum Stencil Products, Quick Caps, and Eternal Ink.

This month, professional tattoo artists from around the world were invited to submit their best Halloween themed designs for a chance at winning one of three main prizes provided by our sponsors. We got over 100 incredible submissions, and our judges narrowed it down to the top 13 finalists. Voting is now open to the public on our Facebook and Instagram channels.

Each tattoo artist was encouraged to submit up to two designs which will be available to purchase until 10/31/18, earning the artist a commission on each shirt sold regardless of their standing in the competition. The thirteen finalists will compete for likes on both Facebook and Instagram for a coveted position in the top three. Our sponsors have graciously donated products and prizes for the top three grand prize winners, including but not limited to a limited edition ‘Halloweek’ ink pack from Eternal Ink and a custom tattoo machine and pedal from Workhorse Irons, featuring original designs by Jake Thorsell.

The INK x Halloween Artist Battle brought out designs ranging from cute to spooky to gory, and everything in between. We purposely left the content guidelines loose, to afford an artistic license to the tattoo artists and their Inktober spirit, and we were not disappointed!

Voting is open to the public from now until 10/30/18. You may vote on both Instagram and Facebook. Casting a vote is easy! Simply ‘like’ the picture of the design you’d like to see win. The top 3 posts with the most likes combined from Instagram and Facebook will be the top 3 winners. Don’t see your favorite tattoo artists design in the top 13 finalists? You can still support them by purchasing their shirt from now until 10/31/18.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's INK x Halloween Artist Battle, and good luck to the top 13!