Contemporary Hyperrealism: 3D Tattoos

Punchy, awe-inspiring, and hyperrealistic, contemporary 3D tattoos meld influence from realism, Y2K aesthetics, black and grey, and neotraditional. Across the globe artists like Anya Tsyna, Ari Tattoo, Edit Ben Gina, Pony Lawson, Moonkee Hwang, Gloria, Jooa, and Hancock have helped establish a genre that explores a new dynamism in skin and ink. Along with how the tattoo itself pops off the body surface, these artists expertly blend inks to achieve bold and even metallic (silver and gold) tones. The resulting tattoos, whether inspired by heirloom jewelry, anime, or even favored foodstuffs, all take on an otherworldly, magical character.

Iconographic Sources 

Contemporary 3D tattoos, like neotraditional tattoos, draw from a near endless array of sources. You're likely to find a golden set of cherries in Korean artist Jooa's portfolio, or chrome dice or cherubs in Ari Tattoo's output. Artists from Gustav Klimt, Jeff Koons, and Hajime Sorayama are clear influences in some ways, but so is research into silversmithing and jewelry making. The magic of contemporary 3D tattooing is it may manifest as a silver tea pot or a hyper color Super Mario. The genre is just as successful mining from the past as it is envisioning a future.

3D Tattoo Style Aesthetics 

Naturally, 3D requires a pop. In a contemporary form, realized in smaller scale, chrome or metallic sheen, hypercolors and bright highlights make 3D tattoos larger-than-life. Pop art, particularly in its later form, certainly holds correlation with the contemporary 3D aesthetic.

3D Tattoo Techniques 

Color blending and shading is essential to creating a 3D effect. Focus on the minutia, where shading is ever so subtle on an extremely precise element of the tattoo, and how the color builds in high points furthers the dimensionality of the tattoo.

3D History 

While the 3D tattoos discussed in this entry are a relatively recent phenomenon, there are plenty of precursors both aesthetically and, as noted, in iconography. Primarily it is worth thinking of these tattoos represent a merger of styles and build on decades of advancement in tattooing. Within them traces of '70s and '80s fine line (think motorcycle engines) combine with black and grey color realism of the '90s when portraits became increasingly complex and biomechanical tattoos, with all that complex depth, emerged. The metallics stretch from influence of Sorayama’s eroticized robots to the chromed out effects of Y2K and tribal adjacent aesthetics, and the scale evolves from the micro tattoos popularized over the past decades. Art school training, as in the case of Ari Tattoo, is evident in the surreal compositions and emotive qualities of contemporary 3D tattooing too.

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Co:Create artist Ari Tattoo exemplifies this tattoo style. Explore more of her work on Co:Create.

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