How to choose photos that will work beautifully for handpoked, dot-realism portrait tattoos.

MICRO-REALISTIC SILHOUETTE TATTOOS

My “pedestrian” style, silhouette work focuses on very small-scale (1–2 inch) high-contrast figures. The strongest references for these tattoos are well lit and show full bodies in frame, I can make small adjustments—such as refining edges or redrawing a missing foot or elbow—but references where large sections of the subjects bodies are out of frame will not be suitable for this style of tattoo. Plain clothing is also preferable to patterns like plaid or florals. At this small size, faces will only be a few millimeters wide, so facial features will not be included - subjects will ideally be facing away, turned to the side, or otherwise minimally visible in the face.

It is generally difficult for me to source reference imagery which depicts specific imagined scenes (for example: three young girls with distinct hairstyles holding hands and spinning in a circle, or a father running with his 5 year old son and toddler daughter as they fly a kite, etc..) I can occasionally source references that will work for simpler concepts (two adult women walking together, a man walking his dog) but an existing reference is always the preferred starting point for figure tattoos.

Examples of strong reference images alongside the tattoo designs they inspired :

LARGER-SCALE PORTRAIT TATTOOS

I also love working on larger scale, traditional portrait tattoos. This is a lengthier process compared to my micro realistic “pedestrian” style tattoo work and must be sized at least 2-3 square inches. This style of detailed portraiture requires a high-resolution reference image that shows the subject’s full face and position as they are intended to appear in the tattoo.

In some cases, we may opt to design a portrait tattoo as a full, framed image—cropped into a square or rectangular shape that includes the entire photograph. This is something that we can discuss during the booking process

Examples of large scale portraiture reference imagery and the tattoo designs they inspired :