Tattoo by Mark Wade

One rose on the back of the hand, and most of the difficulty is in where it sits. Hands hold ink badly, and there was already a black and grey filigree sleeve running down to the wrist, so the rose had to survive both. Mark keeps it in muted mauve and dusty pink rather than a saturated red, which reads as a rose without fighting the black work above it, and he lets the existing dark leaves wrap the outer petals so the new piece looks like it grew out of the old sleeve. The centre of the bloom is where he spends the full contrast. By Mark Wade.

By Mark Wade at Eden Body Art Studios.

Styles: Realism, Painterly.