raf.

raf gave jason his first foot in the door, which makes him the reason a fair bit of this studio exists at all. fifteen years in, and still the most experienced artist here.

he works across colour realism, black and grey, horror, japanese, blackwork and comic book. most tattooers pick a lane early and stay in it; raf didn't, and the standard doesn't drop when he moves between them — which is unusual, and it's the reason he's the artist other artists at shade point people toward when they're not sure what a piece needs.

colour is where the years show most. it punishes inexperience more than any other style — there's nowhere to hide when the palette is that bright, and a tone that's slightly off reads as wrong immediately rather than fading politely into the background. he'll tell you honestly at consultation if an idea needs black and grey instead of colour to actually work, even if colour was what you came in asking for.

a session with raf tends to be relaxed but exacting — he works fast for someone this precise, but he won't move on from a section until the transitions in the shading are right, particularly in realism work where a flat patch reads immediately as unfinished.

portraits, comic and film characters, full sleeves built as one composition, blackwork detail sitting inside a colour or black and grey piece — if it's a genuinely broad brief, he's usually the right call.

currently taking bookings.

see raf's work in black and grey, colour realism and blackwork.