For the last few years, watercolour tattoo art has been a red hot trend – and its popularity is showing no signs of slowing down. Tattoo art has generally become much more mainstream in recent times, becoming more respected as a genuine art form, and tattoo artists have been pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved. Watercolour tattoos are a brilliant example of this.
Creating a convincing replica of the distinctive colour washes and paint splashes of watercolour painting takes an enormous amount of skill. We're so amazed by what's being achieved that we have put together this list of the finest examples of watercolour tattoo art around right now.
For our pick of the best of the best tattoo art in all styles, check out our post on the most inspirational tattoo art. And for more traditional watercolour resources, see our guides to the best watercolour paints and the best watercolour paper around.
Watercolour tattoo art
01. Inkport
John D'Addario is a tattoo artist with in incredible eye for rich, vibrant, other-worldly colour. His Instagram page and Inkport Tatoo website are full of stunning watercolour tattoo designs, which shimmer and glow. We especially like this full-sleeve space scene, full of splendid detail, contrasting colours and beautifully drawn shapes.
D'Addario started out tattooing in more traditional tattoo style, but has experimented over the years, and has now developed his own style with "sketchy lines and abstract colour".
02. Find Your Smile
Russell Van Schaick runs Find Your Smile, a tattoo parlour in Orlando, Florida. He specialises in colourful watercolour tattoos depicting subjects from popular culture, sci-fi and gaming worlds. His Instagram page features beautiful inked versions of everyone from Disney characters to Pokémon.
Describing himself as an "abstract watercolour tattoo artist", Van Schaick's tattooing journey began in Minnesota before he took the leap down to the sun-soaked land of Florida. Although he says he's still learning, with stunningly vibrant works of body art with lines that flow and colours that bleed into one another so effortlessly, it's clear he's nailing it so far.
03. Skinny Chabo
Skinny Chabo works at Blitzstich Tattoo in Frankfurt, Germany. His striking designs often combine watercolour effects with stronger outlines, or balanced against geometric designs.
04. June Jung
June Jung was one of the early adopters of the watercolour tattoo art trend, and has gone on to gain a worldwide reputation for her work. She starts out with realistic-looking designs and adds watercolour effects around them. June appeared in an episode of The Art of Ink, talking about her inspirations and approach. Watch it below.
05. Miriam Frank
Miriam Frank's breathtaking watercolour bodysuit is one of the most unusual designs we've seen so we had to include it. It's a masterpiece in style mixing, with watercolour effects intertwining with geometric patterns. The line work is on point, and the splashes and drips contrast beautifully. It's clever how so much black is used to create such a vibrant effect.
06. Mario Gregor
Mario Gregor is a tattoo artist from New Zealand who's at the top of his game. Known for his stunning interpretations of NZ wildlife, Gregor's watercolour designs are really special. The picture above shows art that was tattooed on four different arms (attached to four different people) and it's all about vibrant colour and insane detail.
07. Joanne Baker
Joanne Baker is a tattoo artist at Semper in Edinburgh, UK. She specialises in animal-based watercolour tattoo designs, and her Instagram account includes majestic crows, delicate seahorses and an angry looking seagull (someone has to love them). She also shares her initial sketches, which are works of art in themselves. This rainbow-hued jellyfish design took two days to complete.
08. G.NO
This sprawling floral work is a good example of G.NO's signature style. She also specialises in delicate, miniature tattoos and work that looks botanically accurate. G.NO is at Tattoo People in Toronto.
09. Candelaria Carballo
Carballo has her fingers in many pies; from make-up artistry and tattooing to painting and illustrating. There really is nothing creative she can't master. The Argentinian artist has a penchant for whimsical, pastel coloured watercolour skin art, and we adore the "rough around the edges" sketchy line-work, which is reminiscent of mid-century fashion illustrations.
10. Rodrigo Tas
Tattooist and graphic artist Tas draws on any surface he's presented with. He's tried his hand at everything, including teaching, and is a qualified graphic designer – but since he discovered the pull of the tattoo machine he's never looked back.
Tas' designs blend his eye for graphic qualities and design with his experience with illustration, motion design and art history. The São Paulo-based artist takes up surprise guest slots all over the country.
11. Filipe Rodriguez
A tattoo artist from Brazil, Felipe Rodrigues has an array of bold-yet-intricate watercolour designs on his Instagram feed. His work varies from dark and brooding, to the retro fun of this Mario tattoo. We love everything about it, from the way Mario is morphing from a black and white imprint to bold colour, to the inclusion of the star and flower on the plant pot. With beautiful watercolour splashes, this tattoo is one to covet.
12. Alejandra Idarraga
Alejandra Idarraga is a Colombian tattoo artist based in Miami, working at Tattoology Lounge. As well as being a tattoo artist, she also creates murals and sculptures. Idarraga's tattoo work ranges from intricate, geometric designs to vibrant watercolour tattoo art, complete with paint splashes and drips.
13. Lianne Moule
Lianne Moule is a versatile artist who works across a variety of media, but her speciality is watercolour tattoos imbued with breathtakingly realistic sunlight effects.
Driven by a love of nature and bright colours, she creates her work by first making a watercolour study to use as a reference that she then painstakingly recreates in tattoo form, making sure to include hard-to-imitate spills, splashes and drips by way of a signature. You can find her at Immortal Ink in Chelmsford, UK.
14. Victor Octaviano
Hailing from Brazil, tattoo artist and self-taught illustrator Victor Octaviano has been exploring the possibilities of creating a watercolour look in tattoo form for a while now. He loves the challenge of conveying the look and texture of watercolour paintings in his tattoo work, mixing up sharp, energetic brush strokes with gloriously liquid washes, splatters and stains.
15. Ivana Tattoo Art
Currently living and working in Los Angeles, Ivana is a multi award-winning tattoo artist who's in demand at tattoo conventions worldwide. She describes her work as innovative, sophisticated, and eclectic; a mixture of multiple genres combining funky, bright colours and abstract elements with street style and high art. We love the expressive splashes of colour in this playful image of a Japanese doll.
16. Dêner Silva
If you've wondered about the sort of work that goes into creating a watercolor tattoo, this video from Brazilian tattoo artist Dêner Silva should cast a little light on the process. It shows him creating a distinctive Cheshire Cat tattoo, starting from a reference work that he turns into a line art transfer, and then painstakingly inking the design. Impressive job!
17. Ondrash
It's not easy to get an appointment with Ondrash. A versatile artist and tattoo artist with a background in fashion design and conceptual art, he likes to give every client his full attention and so only takes one booking a day at his studio in Znojmo in the Czech Republic, taking time to understand what his client is after and create a reference painting. Only then does he go to work with the needle to create a tattoo as individual as each customer.
Read more:
- Essential watercolour techniques for every artist
- What happens when tattoo design meets illustration
- Free tattoo fonts: The best designs you can download today
