The Amazing Ondrash: Watercolour Tattoos

Of all the artists out there mimicking the flow of paint, perhaps the greatest is Czech artist Ondrash, who can be found at http://www.facebook.com/ondrashtattoo or http://www.ondrash.com/ (which appears to be a work-in-progress so the FB galleries are your better bet for now).

ondrash-top

I would go so far as to say that there is no one working today as capable at making tattoo ink appear like the subtle movement of watercolor pigment as Ondrash is. It’s quite remarkable, really. Whether the skin will allow these subtle nuances to hold up in the long term is of course still to be proven, but that is worry is true of a great many modern color artists, and only time will tell whether modern tattoo techniques and inks will allow for new expression in the art form that was not previously possible. Here is a small gallery of Ondrash’s remarkable work:

ondrash-1 ondrash-2 ondrash-3

ondrash-4 ondrash-5 ondrash-6

Finally, I want to emphasize how hard this is to achieve. The tattoo on the left is an original by Ondrash. The tattoo on the right is a rather callously and uncreatively stolen copy, and while the artist is obviously not incapable at his craft, it falls leagues short. If the wearer has any sort of eye, I am sure that every time they are congratulated on their tattoo by friends, that they not only feel a sting of shame, but also disappointment at how inferior their copy turned out.

ondrash-copy

15 thoughts on “The Amazing Ondrash: Watercolour Tattoos

  1. Shannon: The folks at Tattoo Temple in Hong Kong, while using a different style, are definitely on par with Ondrash when it comes to recreating watercolors. Wang and Joey Pang in particular are incredible artists.

  2. I’m in awe. Unbelievable. How is that even possible. They’re all remarkable, but I find the chest piece particularly beautiful.

  3. such awesome tattoos ! but yeah copies will keep being made as long as artist keep posting pictures on the internet , or people posting their own tattoos on internet.
    I’m not saying that all pics should be banned for internet , NO , but just stating that unfortunatly this wil keep going. and there’s nothing we can do about it.

    I must say that i’m not going to put anymore tattoos of myself in the future.
    The ones that are now on the net, are pics i can’t do anything more about it.
    But future tattoos will be only visible for me and friends in person …

  4. Kel Tait at Victims of Ink, the Chapel St one in Melbourne does watercolour style tattoos. Not exactly like this but my friend has one by her and its beautiful!

  5. Kel Tait at the Chapel St Victims of Ink in melbs does watercolour style tats. Not the same as this but my friend has one and it looks beautiful. I think she has a waiting list tho

  6. Are there any skilled artists in Washington who specialize in watercolor tattoos? I’d love to get one.

  7. Hi Cat, the lovely Ivana at Outer Limits in Long beach does this style as does Deanna Ward in in San Francisco. Both have a wait list….. Or alternatively I’m guesting in September at Scapegoat Tattoo in PDX and also in San Fransisco all the way from Australia. Would never have seen this page if someone hadn’t linked me to the reccomendation for myself above. Kudos to Emma! Wondering which tattoo she means…..

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