Portrait Tattoos 101

 A portrait tattoo is a great way to honor or remember someone you love. It can be a portrait of a family member, a pet or even a celebrity icon. This type of tattoo can be tricky though due to the level of detail and the realism. Before you sit down at our Toronto Tattoo Shop to get your new portrait tattoo inked consider the following.

Time

    Portrait tattoos take a lot of time due to the level of detail and skill. Expect to spend between 4-10 hours in the chair. This time can go up though depending on the size, placement, and details.    

Style

    Most tattoos are done in the realism style, capturing the lifelike image from the photograph. However, recently people are getting portraits done in another style such as dot work, cubism or watercolor. Consider if you want a coloured portrait or black and gray as well.    

Cost

    Portrait tattoos can be costly due to the high level of details and skills needed to capture the realism.  They can be pricey but you never want to go cheap on tattoos, especially not portrait ones.

 Artist

    Always, always, look through an artist’s portfolio. Make sure they have experience and skill in portrait tattoos. It’s a good idea to ask to see the original photo and compare it with the finished tattoo they completed.   

Picture

    An artist can only recreate a quality image if they’re given a quality image. Make sure to always print out the picture and make it larger than the tattoo size you want. Make sure the image isn’t blurry, pixilated or faded. 

If you’re looking to get a portrait tattoo done check out our Toronto tattoo shop. We have many gifted artists that specialize in portrait tattoos.