Leopard with Lillys in vintage colors

Robin...I was really happy when my client asked me to continue her arm and turn it into a complete sleeve. There were still a few open areas left — the inner arm, the triceps and the space below the elbow — and for the inner arm I chose this bright red-breasted Robin. This piece also says something about my relationship with Neo-Traditional tattooing. People have often tried to put me into the Neo-Traditional box, but I never really considered myself a Neo-Traditional tattoo artist. I was already tattooing in a similar way before the style even had a name. Maybe I was “pre-traditional.” :) But when Neo-Traditional became established, it felt very natural to me. I love its simple, readable shapes and strong outlines, and especially the freedom it gives me to play with color. I tend to work at the extremes — either very bright, almost glowing colors or heavily muted ones. I like putting those two worlds next to each other and using the contrast between them to create a feeling. Somehow, it usually works.

I made this Archangel Michael for a dear long-time client of mine who travelled from Germany to get tattooed. It took us three sessions to complete. His skin was exceptionally pale, which gave me a beautiful base for the flesh tones. I supported them with these almost otherworldly purples, creating a contrast that gave the whole piece a slightly supernatural atmosphere. One detail I’m particularly happy with is the dimensionality of the wing — I managed to create the feeling that it actually curves inward around the arm rather than simply lying flat on the skin. There are also countless small details in this tattoo that came together really well. Apparently Michael gets quite a lot of attention. Whenever people notice him at the gym, there tend to be a few open mouths. :) And somehow I feel that Archangel Michael — the protector, the warrior against darkness — is an especially powerful figure for the times we are living through.

This one still makes me smile. Somewhere underneath this owl there is actually a rather large dolphin — although you’d have a hard time convincing anyone of that now. I’ve always enjoyed cover-ups because they force you to think differently. You can’t simply draw whatever you want on a blank piece of skin. You have to work with what is already there, find shapes that can absorb the old tattoo, and somehow make the limitations disappear into the new design. In this case, the owl did the job perfectly. The old dolphin disappeared completely, and what I like most is that the finished tattoo doesn’t really feel like a cover-up at all. It simply looks like this owl was always supposed to be there. So… dolphin? What dolphin? :)

Rising from the Ashes... After a very difficult chapter in her life, Jasmin wanted a large phoenix as a symbol of starting over. I always felt that the tattoo itself became part of that process. There were moments when the pain made her cry, but somehow those tears seemed to carry more than just the physical pain of being tattooed. It felt as if something was being worked through while we were creating it. I wanted the phoenix to express that feeling of opening up and emerging into a new life. To create more depth, I used brighter, warmer colors on the wings in the foreground, while the feathers further back became more muted, with purples and greys pushing them into the distance. At the edges, instead of giving the wings a hard ending, I incorporated Jasmin’s natural skin tone into the pattern of the feathers. This allowed the phoenix to gradually dissolve into her body rather than simply ending on it. For me, that became an important part of the piece. The phoenix wasn’t just placed on her skin — it became part of her.

Kneectopus. This is one of those tattoos that I remember as much for the person as for the tattoo itself. My client was 75 years old when we made it, and I absolutely loved his attitude. He didn’t come to me thinking about whether he was “too old” for a tattoo. He simply wanted something bold, colorful and full of life. We decided on an octopus wrapping around the knee — not exactly the easiest place to get tattooed at any age. :) But he handled it amazingly well. I think that’s why I still love this piece so much. There’s something wonderful about reaching 75 and still being curious enough to do something completely new, simply because you feel like it. Age is a number. Kneectopus is forever.

Badass Gamer...Some tattoos don’t need a deep spiritual meaning or a dramatic life story. Sometimes you just love something enough to want it on your skin. This one was made for a serious gamer and is based on Majora’s Mask from The Legend of Zelda. I loved the idea immediately because the mask already has such a strange, dark and slightly disturbing character — exactly the kind of subject that is fun to turn into a tattoo. And sometimes that’s all a tattoo needs to be: something you love, made badass.

Heart of Crystal...Betti is a tattoo artist herself, which made it a real honor for me that she trusted me with such a prominent and visible part of her body. I wanted to give this piece everything I had. We built the composition around the crystal heart in the center of her chest, combining yellow with soft, powdery tones. I think we found a really nice balance — it has a strong visual presence, but at the same time it still feels delicate and feminine. There was also a practical idea behind those soft background colors. We chose them so that later, when Betti does her makeup, she can play with similar tones around her neckline and make the tattoo part of the whole look. I really love how this one turned out: bold without being heavy, feminine without being too sweet.

Spring Is a Girl...Daniela has been travelling from Germany to get tattooed by me for years, and somewhere along the way we became really good friends. That’s one of the things I love about long-term projects — you don’t just watch the tattoos grow, you get to know the person wearing them. With Daniela, flowers, feminine shapes and little symbols have gradually started to take over her body. :) There was never a strict master plan. It has been more like a garden that keeps growing every time she comes back. I love that about her collection. Each new piece has its own story, but somehow they all belong together — and slowly, visit by visit, they are becoming part of her

Black Leggings...Sandra’s leg became one of those projects that grew over time into something much bigger than a collection of individual tattoos. Flowers, leaves, ornamental shapes and little creatures gradually spread across the entire leg until it almost became a pair of floral leggings made of ink. There is one small part of it, however, that carries a much deeper meaning. One day Sandra was sitting in my tattoo chair and we were just about to color the bright turquoise butterfly on her inner thigh when she received the terrible news that her mother had suddenly passed away. Of course, everything changed in that moment. We decided that this butterfly would be for her mother. Among all the colors, flowers and details covering her leg, that little turquoise butterfly will always be something different. Sometimes a tattoo starts out as one thing and, in a single moment, becomes something else entirely.

Second Life, Second Chance, My client came to me from Switzerland with a story that stayed with me. She had fought cancer and survived, but what I admired just as much was that she hadn’t given up on life afterwards. She still believed there was someone out there for her, and she was determined to find love. For me, this tattoo became connected to that attitude. Surviving something can be one beginning, but choosing to open yourself to life again is another. She wasn’t interested in simply looking back at what she had overcome. She was still looking forward. I loved that about her. Sometimes strength isn’t about fighting. Sometimes it’s about still being willing to hope.

The Mermaid Muse STORY I first met Carmela when she was a young tattoo artist just starting out. She was incredibly hungry for knowledge and would often stand behind me for hours while I worked, asking question after question. At some point I made a rule for her: only one question a day. :) She later told me that it actually helped her a lot, because suddenly she had to think very carefully about which question was important enough to ask. Over the years she found her own way and eventually opened her own successful studio. I had already tattooed her thigh and forearm when, years later, she came back to me with a much bigger idea: she wanted me to do her entire back. It had to be something special. Carmela has always loved the water and surfing, and she wanted a mermaid. The question was: whose face and body should the mermaid have? We found the answer surprisingly close to home. A mutual friend of ours was a model, and another good friend, a photographer, had created a beautiful photo series of her. We used those photographs as the reference for Carmela’s mermaid. Around her I built the rest of the composition with ornamental elements and decorative forms, giving the whole back piece an Art Deco feeling. It was a long journey from the young tattoo artist standing behind my shoulder with a hundred questions to the woman who came back years later and trusted me with her entire back. Carmela still wears the piece proudly today — and that makes me proud too.

The imposible cover-up created for Peter, who travelled from Vienna for the project. A very dark and heavily damaged existing tattoo was transformed without laser removal into a delicate porcelain-like female portrait. The process began by homogenizing the old tattoo with grey, followed by a new stencil, reconstruction of the darkest values and gradual work toward the lighter tones. The porcelain skin was built through several carefully saturated layers of dense white pigment. Peter kept coming back from Vienna, session after session, and little by little the old tattoos disappeared into something new. Projects like this require a lot of trust, because neither of us gets to see the final result after one or two days. You have to believe in where you’re going together. That is probably what I remember most about Peter’s project. It wasn’t just about covering old tattoos. It was about giving him the chance to look at his body again and see something he actually wanted to carry with him.

This pink dragon built primarily from mid-tones, the design was gradually lightened before the deepest dark values were added at the final stage, creating the sharp contrast and powerful definition of the dragon’s face.

Armando's Betty on Barbline Large-scale Bettie Page pin-up leg tattoo based on original artwork by pin-up artist Armando Huerta (RIP). The composition extends along almost the entire leg and translates Huerta’s illustration into a large-format color tattoo. After the artist’s passing, the finished tattoo was appreciated by his estate and featured on a memorial website dedicated to his work.

Roots of Sardinia created for Valentina, who travelled from Germany and whose family roots are in Sardinia. The portrait is based on a Sardinian woman in traditional dress, surrounded by an Art Nouveau composition inspired by Alphonse Mucha. The figure also carries the historic Sardinian Four Moors emblem as a tattoo on her arm. This piece became part of a complete Sardinia-inspired sleeve.

Protection. A father lion and his son fight together against a serpent, symbolizing family, loyalty and the shared struggle for survival. The composition was designed around movement and tension, capturing the idea of standing together when life becomes a fight

ashes to ashes

the globe is over

Dragonic steps

elixir

cover of a beauty

rage

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

Kirin

Pan's labirinth

ryden candy

Frankie's bride

Draco imperator

Dori's lion

restart

angel dust

Bohemian tiki

White queen

Atilla the Hun

Taxidermy

DK

cuthulu

witch

Mermaid

future protectors

Gamer's dream

Fox

See you in valhalla

stand by your values

Origin

art and nature

Atilla the whip of God

Stay child

luigi

Neojapan

Cyber bunny

China art

Evil

Raven couple

Tim’s upper leg tattoo. The ravens symbolise him and his wife, the heart is their love and they married in Las Vegas. Thats why the CASINO is written.

Phoenix

This tattoo meant a lot for this girl. She just stand up from a hard sickness and start her life again.

Lillith

pista

Pista is a hungarian nickname of Stephen, actually was a time when most of the boys called Pista. He is a Shepard character from a book: The lost witch.
He symbolize the strenght of the simple people from the country side.

Parents

It was a great story. My client’s father was a truck driver who carried rubbish from construction works with the special container what you can see in the middle of the heart. He went with him to work sometimes in his childhood. A few years ago his father passed away. The Fresia symbolize his mother because she like it so much.