realistic portraits

I wish to have a portrait placed on my back, medium size, left shoulder, to memorialize my 4 year old son, who died last year from cancer. Needless to say, it JUST HAS to be as realistic as possible! I'd also like it to possibly grow into a history of my love and our short time together with a spiritual sort of theme. Does anyone one have any recomendations for an artisit in my area? Springfield, Ma. This is soooo very important to me! Thanks, Pam

I am insanely sorry to hear about your loss. I cant even comprehend. We have a number of good portrait artists here at TattooNOW's HQ Off the Map Tattoo. All our regular artists are very talented at realistic work (Mike Gutowski, Johnny Berrios, and Tattoo Andy) as are many of our guests (check out the little girl Luca just posted as well as Joshua Carlton's tattoos). Take peek and if theres anyone whos style grabs ya, shoot the artist an email. Again, very sorry to hear your story.

Hey Pam,sorry for your loss..Sometimes you have to do some traveling to get the best work possible..Alot of people do portraits,but to get the best,you have to be picky.. [email removed] does beautiful portraits..she's in Quebec,but if it's your son,it's worth the trip.. [email removed] www.julimoon.com www.bobtyrrell.com you can get tattooed by him at a convention,and he also does guest spot's at other tattoo shop's.. www.tomrenshaw.com alot of people fly to Michigan to get tattooed by Tom..He is one of the best with super realistic work..

Thank you all for the information and understanding, almost like a spiritual forum, :)

I think portraits look wonderful, my question is 20 years from now when the ink's migrated and the tattoo's changed some is it plausible to rework them and still maintain that level of realism? I've seen regular tattoos change over long periods of time into ruined pieces. I would think that people getting portraits would be even more so worried about this. I also believe size has alot to do with this. As well as aftercare, good tattoos can go to shit if theyr'e not taken care of. I personally don't think portraits are good tattoo ideas for me anyhow i'm basically too accident prone. Hate to put a big scar across my grandmother's face cause I fell down while tieing my shoes ya know. I think I saw a rework of a horrible portrait that Julio had done, and even that was amazing. I just wonder what these things will look like after years and years? I'm not trying to discredit your loss or your ideas of a portrait tattoo , you're in a place I can't even imagine right now being a parent myself. Best wishes go out to you in finding the right tattoo and the right artist to help you.

Why would the portrait go to shit? Doesn't it all have to do with skin tone, and skin condition? If you take care of yourself and your skin shouldn't your tattoo stay safe? Craig

I'm not a professional I can't answer questions like this for me or anyone else, I've not the experience to do so. Just from what i've seen , ALL tattoos need to be touched up eventually or possibly even reworked depending on how the person took care of their skin. What I see about portraits is they're more than just exact they're supposed to be as close to perfection as humanly possible, and if time damages this ,and it does, how do you fix it?

I dont think re-working a portrait in 20 years would be too difficult if the artist doing the work is talented. And obviously talented artists will put in portraits that last a long time. I imagine a portrait artist type will jump in at some point. It is a fact that our skin will get loose and wrinkly, and all out tattoos will deteriorate in time. I think that in 60 years the important part about the tattoo is that the person has been with the wearer for so long, not necessarily that the fine lines have fallen out or the wrinkles make it look old...

Only one of my tattoos has changed significantly over time and I think it was because it wasn't very big to begin with. It was placed on the top part of my arm near my shoulder. I was only seventeen and still growing when I got it and I have gained a boatload of weight since.

Hey Guys! It's not the tattoo as much as it it the "meaning". I want the portrait of my son to memorialize my love for him! I am 60 years old, my son was adopted when I was 54! I had 4 years of the most wonderful love of one little boy, who was a warrior prince, who given 3 months to live fought on for 13 more months! More than 25% of his life he fought Brain Cancer! I wish to carry him with me on the outside as I carry him with me in my heart, every day. Always with me, a part of me, WE WILL BOTH AGE TOGETHER and be one, wrinkles and all. That is Life! and not my first tattoo. Pam

I am very sorry about you loss. Ifyou want to get a realistic portrait tattoo, you need to check out Bob Tyrrell at Bob Tyrrell's Night Gallery. This guy hands down is one of the best when it comes to portraits. His tattoo's are as realistic as they come.

Jeff Gogue.. He is excelent... www.gogueart.com He has been in the biz for about 7 years now and is comming up fast.. He does beautiful work and is great with realism.. check it out.

I have to second the vote for Jeff Gogue. His work is beautiful, he's very gentle, his studio is both relaxing and VERY clean, I can't recommend him highly enough. Check out his work at gogueart.com - in particular you might want to take a look at the portait of a baby on page 5 of his portfolio. Good luck either way, though!