Realism tattoos are one of the most impressive works you can find. They are full of details, and it takes multiple sessions to get it done, and the final result is a mesmerizing artwork. It is not easy to find professionals that can get all the details on a scene or reproduce dramatic facial expressions and give us the feeling that we are looking at a picture.
The names on this list are based all over the world, and each of them produce outstanding work. Here are some of our favorite realism tattoo artists that we could spend hours looking at their Instagram feed.
10 Nikko Hurtado
When it comes to realism tattoos, Nikko Hurtado is one of the best professionals you can find. His studio Black Anchor is based in Los Angeles, and he has nearly two million followers on Instagram. A glimpse of his social media makes it easy to understand why he has so many followers.
Hurtado can make a person's back to become a real-life artwork, like the statue he tattooed in this picture. However, he is specialized in making realistic tattoos of celebrities, such as Jack Nicholson or Michale Jordan, or characters such as It or Hulk.
9 Steve Butcher
Based in California, Steve Butcher is another outstanding tattoo artist, and we would spend hours on his Instagram feed admiring his work. Most of the tattoos he posts are images of basketball players, such as this one of Kobe Bryant. It is so perfect that if we give a close-up, many people would think it is a black and white picture.
It is hard to don't get impressed with the details of his work. Of course, Butcher is not limited to one theme, and we can see tattoos with characters or family portraits in his gallery.
8 Den Yakovlev
Looking at this image with no context, you would probably think it is just a great picture. However, this is the incredible work of Den Yakovlev, a Russian realist tattoo artist. There are so many details in this tattoo that it is impossible to don't admire it as artwork. Den Yakovlev is amazing when it comes to black and white tattoos, and most of the work he posts are a tattoo of celebrities, movie scenes, or sex-related.
If you love tattoos, it is worth to follow Den Yakovlev and check his fantastic work.
7 Niki Norberg
Niki Norberg is a popular tattoo artist based in Sweden. He has over 684,000 followers, and it is easy to understand why when we look at his work. This picture, for example, shows the Brazilian F1 racer, Ayrton Senna in 1988. It is like a #D image, and he managed to capture the expression of his eyes perfectly!
Although this image is incredible, most of his work is not focused on portraits, as you can see on his page. Niki Norberg is a versatile artist, and everything he does looks perfect.
6 Sivak
Sivak, who is based in New York, is another tattoo artist who has impressive work. The best thing about his Instagram is that, unlike many others, he doesn't only get the final result. Sivak loves to post videos of the process, which can take a while. He often shows the step by step of making a tattoo, and we could spend hours looking at his videos.
A great example is this video that shows the process of a tattoo of It. We loved it!
5 Da Ink
If you are a fan of dramatic tattoos, you should check Da Ink's work. In this tattoo, for example, we see the face of someone who we can assume is the Virgin Mary praying with blood tears on her face. Another part of the tattoo reveals a skull that reminds us of death. Of course, there is a lot of meaning behind the image, and we would love to know more.
This tattoo seems to be a classic of his work. Even when he does a portrait, there is something "dark" behind it.
4 Matteo Pasqualin
Matteo Pasqualin, based in Italy, has been a tattoo artist since 1997 and is another example of a versatile artist. On his Instagram, we can see movie scenes, portraits, pets, children, and the list goes on. The page of his studio also published the picture above and said that it is an excellent representation of the moment we are living. More than a cool tattoo, this is an impactful artwork.
Realism tattoo artists are known for paying attention to the smallest details, and this is another work that many people could think it is a picture.
3 Matt Jordan
Matt Jordan, based in New Zealand, is one of the best when it comes to black and grey colors. The name of this work is Lost Time and features a group of workers from the last Century. Once again, the amount of details is jaw-dropping, especially in the construction and the water falling in front of it.
Looking at Matt Jordan's work makes it easy to understand why he is considered one of the best realism tattoos in the world. Eventually, we can see some colors on his tattoos, but that is something rare.
2 Rob Richardson
Rob Richardson is another ink artist that masters the art of realistic black and grey tattoos. Based in the United Kingdom, Richardson is terrific when it comes to portraits and movie scenes. This image of Baby Yoda amazes us for the number of details, and he was able to get all the facial expressions. Eventually, he also does some wild animals that are just as full of details. It is impossible to give a look at his work and don't feel like getting a tattoo straight away.
1 Tony Santos
It is impossible to don't look at this tattoo and don't feel hypnotized by this powerful eye. This impressive work is signed by Tony Santos, who is based in Sao Paulo. The South American artist is the best person to call if you want to have a realistic eye on your skin, and there are several other examples on his feed. He is also amazing when it comes to religious images and wild animals. Unsurprisingly, the eyes catch all the attention when he does those tattoos.