Portrait realism
Mara Vance
Founder. Faces, only faces, for eleven years. She will spend a full first session looking at a reference before a needle touches skin.
Est. 2014 · West Loop, Chicago
Realism is patience.
A by-appointment black-and-grey portrait studio. Each piece emerges the way realism does, one light at a time.
The studio
We work in grey, the way light works on a face. No flash off the wall, no walk-ins, no rush. One artist, one client, one piece moving from shadow toward definition.
9
artists turned away
for every one who stays
for every one who stays
40h
the longest single
portrait we have built
portrait we have built
3
resident artists,
each a single discipline
each a single discipline
Selected work
A small, current hang. Healed, photographed under one light, shown the way it sits on skin.
The artists
Three residents. Each holds one discipline and goes deep, not wide.
Animal & nature
Idris Cole
Large-format black-and-grey of the living world. Fur, muscle, weight. He builds across the body in long arcs, never a stand-alone patch.
Fine micro-realism
Lena Sokolov
Single-needle detail and the smallest realism we offer. Work that holds at arm's length and rewards a second look up close.
From shadow to skin
Four steps, never skipped. The wait is the work.
-
01
Consultation
You bring a reference and an idea. We talk placement, scale, and whether realism is the right answer. Some pieces we turn down, and we will tell you why.
-
02
The drawing
Your artist builds the piece to your body, not a flash sheet. You see it, and we change it, before any deposit is committed to a date.
-
03
The sessions
Realism is layered. Most portraits take three to six sittings of four hours, spaced to let skin heal between passes. We do not hurry a face.
-
04
Healed & photographed
We shoot the finished work under one light, healed, six weeks on. That photograph, not the fresh stencil, is what goes in the archive.
Considerations
Before you write to us.
- What does it cost?
- Our artists bill by the day, from $1,200, with a $300 deposit to hold a date. A full portrait usually runs three to six days. We quote the real range in consultation, never before we have seen the idea.
- How long is the wait?
- Two to six months depending on the artist. We keep books deliberately short so no piece is rushed. A waitlist is not a delay, it is the work being done right.
- Do you do color?
- No. Black-and-grey realism is the only thing we do, and the only way to do one thing well. For color, we are glad to point you to artists we trust.
- Is it my first tattoo?
- That is welcome, if the piece is right for it. Realism rewards patience and the right placement. We would rather start you small and true than large and regretted.
- Can I bring my own reference?
- Please do. A clear, high-resolution photograph is the single best thing you can bring. The better the reference, the better the skin.
Request a consultation
Tell us what you
want made.
We read every request. Expect a reply within two business days, with the artist we think fits and the next opening on their books.