Slovakia’s Samuel Potúček is the go-to artist for color realism. Put a frame around one of his works, and you’d have anyone believe it to be a masterful acrylic or oil painting. Send it to an art critic, and they will go on about the impasto and chiaroscuro techniques. He also paints, but to be extra clear, we are talking about his tattoos here. The way he mimics brush strokes with nothing but needles is to gawk at. Even attempting to capture that type of fluidity in a medium that leaves zero room for do-overs is not something many would do. What an absolute legend in the making.

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Color realism 

Samuel Potúček

As one of the OGs of the vibrant Barcelona Neo-Traditional scene, Toni Donaire is highly sought after for his skill and unmatched experience with the language. If you go looking, plenty of expressive elements that are now Neo-Traditional staples can be traced back directly to his work. By keeping solidity and cleanliness as a do-or-die condition, his designs keep growing bolder and more complex while remaining impactful and easy to read. The American Traditional pioneers would be proud.

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Neo-traditional

Toni Donaire

The buzz around architect-turned-artist Oksana Lukianenko has been growing for quite some years and now reaches far beyond Poland — the country where she moved to hone her skills from her native Ukraine. One look at her pieces is all it takes to get how irreprehensible her technique is. But even that gets overshadowed by her penchant for making realism and surrealism work together, often jumping from bold colors to black and grey and back again in the same composition. Her tattoo magic keeps getting her awards at conventions, but she has higher accolades under her belt: universal admiration of her peers and fans around the globe.

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Oksana Lukianenko

Talk about a real one. Born in Spain, El Bara discovered his passion for tattooing while living in Argentina via his heavy involvement in the local Punk and Hardcore scenes in the late '80s. It would be back in Madrid that his legend would flourish, though —as throughout 30+ years, his studio True Love Tattoo became the European hot spot for Traditional. Here is the take-home message: if you are looking for that early-20th-century flavor and feel, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better artist than El Bara.

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Traditional

El Bara

Now at the helm of Mano Eléctrica Tattoo in Stiges, Alvarito is as emblematic of the Barcelona Neo-Traditional scene as they come. Back in 2012, as a friend showed him how to assemble a tattoo machine, Alvarito felt a rush and knew he had found his calling. From then on, he worked obsessively on his craft, quickly making a name for himself by wowing people with his skill. His pieces are deep-rooted in the Traditional motifs and style but expand on the graphical depth and composition complexity without a trace of fear.

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Alvarito

Bratislava’s black-and-grey realism extraordinaire Erich Rabel has quite the life story. At 30, he held a job at a gun store. By 32, he was working as a tattoo artist after changing paths on a whim. Now, some believe that the pursuit of realism can limit an artist’s ability to capture emotions. Yet, this is precisely where Erich Rabel shines: the more he leans into life-like verisimilitude, the better he captures raw feelings. Perhaps that is what inspired a whole generation of tattoo artists to follow in his footsteps.

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Black-and-grey realism 

Erich Rabel

When the topic is hyperrealism, Quang Pham is always brought up. A relentless perfectionist, he has spent his now two-decade-strong tattooing career obsessed with exactitude — which is what you get when "full precision" is the lowest setting on your bar. A veteran of the thriving Vietnamese scene, Quang Pham was exposed to the centuries-old art of hand-poked tattoos while still in his teens and ranked among the first generation to incorporate modern techniques and tools in the country. As the world finally catches up with the Vietnamese talent pool, Quang Pham finds himself in a curious position, being celebrated both as a pioneer and a cutting-edge figure.

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Hyperrealism

Quang Pham

About a quarter of a century ago, Hungary’s Bob Mosquito was lounging in the gardens of the University of Pécs when a studio owner dropped by and asked if any art students there would be interested in trying their hand at tattooing. Bob took the opportunity and never looked back. Weren’t for that fateful moment, the tattoo scene might not have been graced with his impressive style — which often applies collage aesthetics to surrealism, blending scientific illustration-like animal depictions, human portraits, and idiosyncratic elements. And it’s not a bad sign to realize people are starting to refer to a certain aesthetic as a “Bob Mosquito”.

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Graphic realism

Bob Mosquito

It’s all about the subtleties when it comes to Vietnam’s Trường Pham. As a lifelong Japanese culture aficionado, he knew exactly what tattoo style he wanted to excel at from the get-go. And master the style he did. Yet, his work doesn’t feel like the perpetuation of tradition. At first glance, sure, his pieces read as accurate, pristine, bythe-book Irezumi. Then, you notice how the shading is slightly more delicate. How the color palette is tweaked just a little bit towards gracious auburns and ocres instead of packed reds and golds. How some elements are drawn with an extra hint of motion. Hell, how entirely different tattooing traditions cameo in for some detail or other. By which point you probably already have the itch to get a Trường Pham piece yourself.

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Japanese traditional 

Trường Pham

Trâm Đinh’s full-body pieces have been turning heads in the tattoo world for a hot minute. The way she manages to inject New School dynamics — full of popping, vibrant colours — into compositions based on heritage and cultural themes is just damn mesmerising. With less than a decade in the game, she’s won multiple awards at conventions and is often asked to join the judging panels. Her rise through the ranks may seem prodigious, but her path wasn’t always easy. In fact, her decision to become a tattooist was the source of many personal hurdles. Thankfully, she overcame them all, and we get to enjoy her unique work — where mind-blowing fantasy, eye candy and masterful skill go to town.

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Surrealism Neo-Traditional

Trâm Đinh’s

The break it or make it factor our Pro Team members share is being hell-bent on pushing the artistic limits of tattooing. They tend to be masters of specific languages and traditions — often evolving past them to create their own unmistakable styles. Crucially, they do not simply represent an assortment of talent. They play important roles in our product development, in future-proofing the brand, and act as our bastions in the most diverse tattoo scenes around the world.

Pro Team

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