PORTRAITURE & STORYTELLING

I didn’t start with portraits because they were easy. I started with them because they felt impossible.

What you’re about to see isn’t just a portfolio. It’s a visual timeline of my evolution. Technically, emotionally, philosophically. Some of these pieces won awards. Others taught me hard lessons.

You’ll see where I began, where I hesitated, where I broke through.

Some portraits are tight and safe. Others let go of realism entirely in favor of something more honest—suggestion over replication, feeling over fidelity.

I don’t just aim to make things look like someone. I aim to remember them differently.

This is storytelling through skin. This is where I sharpened my voice.

The Ones They Couldn’t Ignore

  • Black and grey Theodore Roosevelt portrait tattoo with fine lines and soft shading. Award-winning piece from 2018.

    Teddy Roosevelt – First Place, 2018

    This was the first award I ever won. Tattoo of the Day SLC Tattoo Convention, 2018. I see a hundred things I’d do differently now, but that’s the point. It marked the moment when people started taking my portraits seriously. A little rigid, a little stiff, but undeniably Roosevelt. The beginning of a style I hadn’t even fully unlocked yet.

  • Black and grey double portrait tattoo of client’s parents. Award-winning piece from 2023.

    Client’s Parents – 2nd Place, Best Portrait (Phoenix, 2023)

    This one was different. The client’s a tattooer herself, so there was a mix of pressure and trust. She gave me her parents’ photos and let me interpret them how I saw fit.

    I leaned into softness and restraint; finding their likeness in texture, not just form. The shadows, the eyes, the hair. All done with a looseness that wasn’t possible for me in 2018. This piece placed second at a major show in Phoenix, but more than that, it marked the first time I felt fully fluent in this style.

  • Black and grey Judy Garland portrait tattoo. Award-winning piece, 2023.

    Judy Garland – 2nd Place, Best Portrait (Tri-Cities, 2023)

    There’s a softness in this one that doesn’t show up in the stencil. I remember tattooing her nose and thinking, “This shouldn’t work, but it does.” The cheek on the right side is practically empty. That kind of negative space used to scare the hell out of me. Now I use it to pull your eye.

    This took home 2nd place at Tri-Cities in 2023, but more importantly, it marked a shift in how I approach iconic imagery: less copying, more interpreting.

    There’s realism here, sure, but there’s also trust. And that’s where my work lives now.

The Ones That Stayed With Me

  • Portrait tattoo of a woman based on 1956 photo. Vintage style, East Coast lineage.

    Photo Booth to Forever

    This was a photo of another tattooer’s grandmother in 1956, East Coast.

    A tiny, worn print, soft with time.

    But her presence? Still sharp.

    He told me after it looked more like her than the photo ever did.

    That’s always the goal. Not to copy.

    To remember better.

  • Messy Hair Don’t Care

    This one stuck with me. It didn’t win anything, didn’t get entered into anything, but I think it could’ve.

    There’s something real in the weight of his expression. A kind of quiet. The hair nearly ate me alive while tattooing, but I didn’t want to overwork it. The restraint in the necklace and the softness of his chest kept the whole thing grounded.

    These are the pieces that remind me why I do portraits; not to flex, but to remember people the way they really felt.

  • Black and grey portrait tattoo of Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) from Peaky Blinders, in profile, holding a cigarette. Soft cinematic shading with stylized smoke effect.

    Thomas Shelby (But Make It Mine)

    This wasn’t about copying a character; it was about capturing the tension he carries.

    I let the smoke spiral do the talking. Held back just enough on the jacket to make you lean in.

    It’s based on a screen grab, yeah. But it doesn’t feel like fan art. It feels like I knew him. Like we shared a drink and a long silence.

  • Black and grey portrait tattoo of a man wearing sunglasses, tattooed on client’s ribs as a memorial to his recently passed friend. Features detailed beard, soft shadows, and expressive realism.

    The Friend Who Stays

    This was his best friend.

    Passed not long before we did this, so I knew it had to feel alive. Not just accurate.

    We kept the sunglasses true to the reference, but it’s the mouth that carries it. That slight smirk. That “you know me” look.

    It felt less like tattooing a picture, and more like bringing someone back.

    At least for a little while.

Memory Ghosts

  • Black and grey stylized portrait tattoo of a woman with light, curly hair, freckles, a floral blouse, and a flower in her hair. Decorative and expressive, part of the artist’s Memory Ghosts series.

    She Woke Up Like This

    The hair, the freckles, the flower tucked into her bangs… it all arrived fully formed. I didn’t question it. Just followed the lines.

    She feels like someone you almost dated. Or someone your grandmother might’ve known.

    I call her a memory ghost, but really, she’s a mood.

    Stylized, yes. But built like a portrait.

    These are the pieces I don’t wrestle with. I just let them show up.

  • Santa Girl Sleighed

    This client was wild in the best way.

    Her whole sleeve? Christmas. And not half-assed either. Some of the best work I’ve seen, all themed around tinsel, snowflakes, and December magic.

    So I knew I had to bring it.

    I gave her that vintage charm, let the freckles stay raw, and shaped the cheeks just enough to keep it playful without going cartoon.

    She’s flirty, iconic, and built to last.

    Memory Ghost meets holiday pin-up.

  • Stylized black and grey portrait of a sailor girl with bold “Not Your Baby” script below. Fierce and illustrative.

    Not Your Baby

    You ever draw someone who’s already halfway to being a tattoo?

    This is one of those pieces that walked in with her own voice. I just listened.

  • Stylized portrait tattoo of a woman with a large polka-dot bow and soft expression. Freckled, floral, and timeless.

    Little Bow, Big Energy

    I didn’t plan this one. I just kept drawing until she looked back at me.

    Her proportions are soft, but the bow gives her gravity.

    She’s like a mascot for a feeling you can’t name, but know you’ve felt.

    I don’t know who she is. But I know I like her.

  • She Looked Back

    I found her in a pin-up reference book and couldn’t shake her.

    But I didn’t want to just copy her. I wanted her to see herself.

    So I added the mirror, the vapor curl, the gaze that’s just slightly off-center.

    She became something else. One of the earliest pieces in what would become my Memory Ghosts.

    It’s weird how those early ones almost knew they were the start of something.

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Mickey & Iconography