Gorillas in nature are associated with brute strength and bravery, but also for their compassion, honour, and intelligence. It is no surprise then that gorillas have been a popular choice in the tattoo world.
Gorillas are usually done in American traditional, neo traditional, photo realism, or black and grey. Gorillas done in traditional style are now usually based off of Ed Hardy’s traditional gorilla piece.
Huge gorilla head with swords by Josh Mason at Old Soul Tattoo in Canonsburg, PA.
Gorilla tattoos are also almost always just the head. Though sometimes there are full bodied depictions.
Neo Traditional Gorilla head with leaves by kirsten Holliday at Wonderland Tattoo in Portland Oregon.Realistic gorilla portrait by Mike DeVries at MD Tattoo Studio in Northridge Ca.All black roaring gorilla head by Oliver White at Crooked Claw Tattoo in Sheffield.Surrealist peaceful gorilla and squirrel done by Peter Aurisch in Berlin.Another angry bold black gorilla by Philp Yarnell at Skynyard tattoo in the UK.An Ed Hardy inspired gorilla head by Reuben Todd at Kapala Tattoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba.Surrealist gorilla head with city architecture by Tobias Burchert at Saints and Sinners Tattoo Lounge in Germany.Neo traditional bloodied gorilla head by W.T Norbert in Sydney, Australia.
And of course you can’t have gorilla tattoos without seeing King Kong, the king of gorillas.
Fantastic black and grey king kong leg sleeve by Drew Apicture at “The Tattoo Shop”.Black and grey serene king kong with Ann Darrow, done by Rob Richardson at Black Friars Tattoo House in the UK.
Spider web tattoos are most commonly associated with criminals. Usually showing that the wearer has done time behind bars, the number of lines leading out of the web signifying the years of time spent. Now though it is less associated with crime, and more commonly used as a great filler tattoo for American traditional sleeves. Not all spider web tattoos are done in American traditional though. They can be black and grey or even realistic. They are often now paired with something Halloween related, and can also have spiders in them or hanging off of them.
Classic elbow spider web by Josh Stephens at Hold It Down Tattoo in Richmond Virginia.Spider, web, and skull by Matty Darienzo at Into You Tattoo, London England.Crazy head tattoo by Philip Yarnell at Skynyard Tattoos, UK.Another web, done by Justin Dion at Sovereign Tattoo, Portland Oregon.Web, skull, and snake also by Philip Yarnell.Two shoulder webs by Nick Oaks at Bait and Schlang tattoo in Montreal.Creepy realistic spider and web by Tyler Allen Kolvenbach at Hudson Valley Tattoo.
Ichi Hatano is an artist working out of Tokyo, Japan. He has been tattooing since 1998 and has tattooed around the world in the United States, England, and Germany.
Backpiece featuring a samurai.Japanese woman backpiece.3/4 sleeve with a fantastic dragon.
His specialty is the traditional Japanese style of irezumi. His work is bold and precise. Ichi has brilliant attention to detail, and his work is full of the Japanese culture and tradition that people go to him for, from around the world.
Brilliant koi backpiece.3/4 sleeve with beautiful clouds as the background.Half sleeve of cherry blossoms, clouds, and wind.Colourful Oni looking ready for a fight.Samurai and a dragon in a delicate embrace.Gruesome Namakubi.Beautiful, tiny peony flower.Great contrast in this sleeve between the bright and dark.
Ichi Hatano is a must see artist if you’re in Tokyo.
All Things Tattoo 