Getting your first tattoo isn’t a one-step course of. First, you need to take that leap and really resolve to get ink. Then you need to determine what the hell you really need. Lastly, you need to discover somebody to carve that f*cker into your pores and skin.
Every step is important, however possibly that final step is a little more so. You possibly can at all times make a self-deprecating joke a few poorly-thought-out however professionally achieved tattoo. If it additionally seems to be like shit… effectively, that’s tougher to get previous.
That’s why it’s often a good suggestion to do loads of analysis on the artist who’s going to poke just a few million holes in your dermis earlier than you go all-in. Fortunately — Instagram being what it’s — doing that analysis loads simpler as of late. Tattoo artists have been utilizing IG to indicate off their prowess and artwork because the app was invented, utilizing their grids as curated parlor partitions.
The 30 tattoo artists beneath cowl a reasonably large spectrum of inkers from everywhere in the world. We tried to remain broad with the artwork, types, and follower counts. A few of these artists are nonetheless solely within the hundreds of followers on IG. Others are within the hundreds of thousands.
All of them are price a observe — whether or not you’re getting your first tattoo or your tenth.
Dion Kaszas — 3.2k followers
Dion Kaszas works in Acadia, BC, and makes use of the normal strategies and artwork of his folks, the Nlaka’pamux. Kaszas works in stitching and hand poke to create award-winning and internationally acknowledged tattoos that stem instantly from his Indigenous roots.
Wiremu Barriball — 6.2k followers
Wiremu Barriball has created an inventive area the place Maori tattoo tradition can shine. His store in Porirua, New Zealand, is a haven for Ta Moko tattoos (historic Maori designs) which cowl all elements of the physique however most famously the face.
Barriball’s feed is a celebration of the Polynesian ink-ways and design.
Atelier Do No Eko — 10.1k followers
The work Oscar and Astiz discovered at Do No Eko in Paris, France, is enthralling. The duo leans towards Japanese artistry that’s typically Lovecraftian and at all times amazingly effectively rendered. That is pure tattoo artwork within the highest kind by way of hand poke strategies.
Ans Pham — 11.5k followers
There’s a basic, nearly pirate really feel to the ink of Ans Pham. That is huge and daring ink with attractive, throwback designs. At the moment figuring out of Tattoo Machine Studio in Wellington, New Zealand, Pham’s ink is far wanted and completely price testing for those who’re down New Zealand means.
Ellie — 13.6k followers
Ellie of Shantitattoo works out of London and dives deep into throwback tattoo artwork. Ellie’s tattoos are boldly rendered with designs that contact on East and South Asian artwork, pirate themes, henna, and tribal motifs with deft precision.
Angel Zimik — 20.3k followers
Angel Zimik’s tattoos are subtly daring. There’s a mix of the geometric with florae and fauna, spirituality, and mysticism within the artistry that feels distinctive and contemporary. Zimik additionally works in New Delhi at Devil’z Tattooz (a great observe by itself) which is commonly lauded as a tattoo joint with a number of the greatest inkers on the planet.
Marine Perez — 28.2k followers
Marine Perez — based mostly in Oslo — has a heightened sense of artistry with a mushy contact. Perez’s tattoos are nearly solely on the planet of animals with a really mystical bent and daring colours with mushy traces and a novel POV. The work is each enthralling and hallucinatory.
Doreen Garner — 29.8k followers
The brilliance of Doreen Garner’s work is within the depth of artistry at play. Garner is a educated artist who finds deep magnificence in the best way the ink renders on the pores and skin. There’s a minimalism to the Brooklyn inker that pulls you in and makes you want you had considered one of her easy but shifting tattoos in your physique.
Expanded Eye — 65.3k followers
Expanded Eye is a component steampunk artwork blended with summary geometry and artificial cubism in a hip London artwork gallery. The creative duo, Jade Tomlinson and Kevin James, create distinctive ink with a deal with math, unconventionality, and large concepts. It’s funky and lovely and there’s little else like these tattoos on the planet.
Kelli Kikcio — 67.5k followers
There’s a quiet magnificence to Kelli Kikcio’s hand poke tattoos. Kikcio works out of Welcome Home Studios in Brooklyn, which operates as a tattoo studio and an artist’s area. Her designs by no means overwhelm and are at all times partaking. The mix of the pure world with scenes from unusual locations like a grocery retailer makes for fascinating ink.
There’s a delicacy to the work that speaks volumes.
McKenzie — 74.3k followers
The intricacy and depth of McKenzie’s work in black is flat out gorgeous. McKenzie works out the Plymouth (UK) studio, Hand in Hand Tattoo, which can also be price a observe for those who’re into great-looking tattoos in your feed.
NEO — 78.3k followers
NEO’s studio in Zürich, Switzerland, is the place to go if you need a tattoo that melds the worlds of heavy metallic, geometry, and reptilian mysticism. NEO’s ink is intense. Entire our bodies are coated with typically mind-boggling shapes. These ink-heavy tattoos might not be for everybody however are enjoyable as hell to have a look at.
Stephanie Brown — 101k followers
In order for you a bit of pure artwork in your physique, Stephanie Brown out in Chicago is the tattoo artist for you. Brown’s classically reasonable tattoos spotlight wildlife in a means that feels a bit like all of us slipped down the rabbit gap with Alice.
Lisa Orth — 106k followers
Lisa Orth used to design album covers for Sub Pop Data of their grunge heyday. At present, Orth’s designs take a contemporary and distinctive have a look at nature via heavy black traces. Consider the mountain vistas of the Pacific Northwest advised via a mixture of graphic novels, previous nationwide parks posters, and a touch of metallic rock ‘n roll.
Every considered one of her tattoos is an unique that she comes up with only for you.
Alice Service — 116k followers
Alice Carrier of Lovebird Tattoo out in Portland, OR, discovered a distinct segment in illustrated flora and elevated the type. Service’s capability to create plant and typically insect targeted tattoos is a marvel with a degree of element that’s bewitching. These are the kind of tattoos that’ll have you ever flights to PDX so you may get one too.
Reese Hilburn — 129k followers
Grasp inker and TV ink character Reese Hilburn is one other must-follow for even essentially the most informal tattoo lover. Primarily based in San Diego and (often) touring the world, Hilburn creates moments of artwork in ink via gorgeously render tats. She’s additionally a tattoo mannequin who lives the influencer life. Translation: You’ll be handled to a pleasant dose of wanderlust and #FOMO for those who observe her Instagram feed.
Zaya — 145k followers
Gabby Colledge is killing the sport in London proper now. Her minimalist strategy to nature-driven tattoos is simple and beguiling. Colledge has a knack for bringing an nearly whimsical essence to easy photos of animals, fish, and crops.
Amanda Wachob — 141k followers
New York Metropolis artist and inker Amanda Wachob is creating magnificence on the skins of individuals and lemons(!). Wachob has a deft eye for creating huge canvases of gorgeous back-covering artwork or small objects with critical depth. A tattoo from Wachob is a masterpiece of shade in your physique.
Lara Maju — 151k followers
Lara Maju is doing minimalist, nature-based hand pokes at Hamburg, Germany’s Coco Schwarz tattoo studio. Maju’s ink is small options that preserve issues easy but deeply detailed. These are the right tattoos for somebody seeking to dip their toes into ink with out getting one thing overwhelming or apparent.
Miryam Lumpini — 277k followers
Miryam Lumpini is among the most attention-grabbing tattoo artists working at this time. Her “Witchdoctor” aesthetic blends numerous types with eye-popping shade and intense element. Lumpini’s tattoos are a lucid dream come to life by way of a rainbow of colours on the pores and skin.
Anthony Michaels — 287k followers
The extent of element and depth to Anthony Michaels’ tattoo artwork is phenomenal. There’s a realness to the faces he inks onto our bodies which might be each haunting and attractive. The 2-time winner of InkMasters opened up shop in L.A. and is killing the sport with pop culture-inspired ink, making this a can’t-miss Instagram feed.
Melody Mitchell — 385k followers
Brooklyn’s Melody Mitchell is creating tattoo artwork with a critical flare. Mitchell’s tattoos vary from classically designed to daring artwork items with clear artistry. Mitchell has the talents to tug off a number of the most critically well-inked tattoos on the market at this time.
Chaim Machlev — 499k followers
Berlin’s Chaim Machlev creates ink that’s once-in-a-lifetime artwork. Machlev’s use of traces and black is unmatched within the recreation. He’s blown up in recent times with rock stars lining as much as get some ink from the grasp; so that you by no means know who’ll pop up in his feed below the needle.
Rit Equipment — 596k followers
Rit Kit creates tattoos through the use of reside leaves as stencils for designs. This distinctive strategy brings a pure realism to her ink that feels alive. The flowers, limbs, and crops Rit Equipment use leap off the pores and skin like they’re nonetheless rising within the forest. It’s an excellent and distinctive technique to ink a physique.
JonBoy — 675k followers
Jonboy is an inker of the elite. He tattoos celebrities and common ink-lovers at Bang Bang NYC (extra on them beneath) for those who can snag an appointment. Jonboy’s aesthetic is far wanted. He takes minimalism to new heights with tiny tats that one nearly wants a spyglass to learn. The element is astounding and price in search of out for one thing really distinctive.
Mr. Okay — 704k followers
Mr. K is smashing at Bang Bang NYC. Mr. Okay’s ink is a meditation in subtleness. Every tattoo is a narrative that takes you on a journey in a single single, usually small, tattoo. The ink is as spectacular as it’s lovely.
Sasha Unisex — 763k followers
Sasha Unisex gives momentary tattoos for these of us who aren’t fairly positive if we need to take that plunge but. The designs are brightly coloured animals and flowers with a mellow cubist bent. Then, if it feels proper, you may get that tattoo completely inked in your physique. It’s type of the most effective of all worlds.
Katrina Jackson — 1.2m followers
Kat Tat’s Enigma Tattoo in Beverly Hills is a basic tattoo store. Kat Tat’s ink ranges from photo-realistic faces to old-school sailor ink achieved with actual artistry. There’s a magnificence, depth, and creative aptitude right here that makes Kat Tat a simple observe.
Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy — 2.4m followers
Bang Bang NYC and Keith “Bang Bang” McCurdy are dominating the ink recreation on the excessive finish as of late. McCurdy has tattooed Rihanna, Cara Delevingne, Lenny Kravitz, and so many extra along with his delicate, considerate artwork. Until you’ve critical money to place out, the probability of scoring an appointment with McCurdy is way and few between. As a substitute, you possibly can reside vicariously via his Instagram feed for Bang Bang NYC and dream of sooner or later getting some ink from the grasp.
Tattoodo — 3.6m followers
Tattoodo is a must-follow for anybody both seeking to get into tattoos for the primary time or in search of their subsequent one. The feed is a repository of tattoo artists from everywhere in the world that hyperlinks to the Tattoodo app — pinpointing ink studios and tattoo artists everywhere in the world that you may e-book instantly.
All of that apart, the IG feed is the right place to begin a tattoo search or a great place to simply observe and dream about that tattoo you’re going to get … sooner or later.
