Watercolor & color tattoos · SE Division, Portland

Color that moves like paint.

Four artists who tattoo in washes, not outlines. Drawn for you by hand, painted in one sitting, built to hold.

Most tattoos start with a black line. Ours start with a brush.

We trained as painters first. A piece from Pigment reads like a wash on cotton paper, soft edges, bleeding color, light coming through it. It is real ink and it ages like any tattoo, we just put it down the way you would paint it.

9 years on Division
4 color artists
6 mo free touch-ups

The work

Healed pieces, real skin. This is the proof, the portfolio is the whole pitch.

Healed watercolor peony tattoo in coral and violet on a forearm — Watercolor floralsMarisol

Watercolor koi tattoo in coral and teal on a calf — Koi, in waterMarisol

Illustrative color songbird tattoo with washed color on a forearm — Illustrative songbirdTheo

Abstract brushstroke watercolor tattoo in coral, violet and teal on a wrist — Brushstroke abstractPriya

Figurative watercolor portrait tattoo in violet and coral — Color portraitJune

Delicate watercolor botanical tattoo in teal and coral on a shoulder — Botanical, looseMarisol

More on Instagram, where we post healed pieces weekly.

@pigment.pdx

Styles we paint

Hourly while we work; bigger pieces get a half- or full-day rate so the meter stops mattering.

Custom watercolor

Loose washes, no hard outline. Florals, koi, botanicals, the painterly stuff Pigment is known for.

from$180/ hr

Illustrative & neo-traditional color

Linework with saturated, washed color. Songbirds, foxes, storybook pieces.

from$170/ hr

Color refresh

Brighten or rework an old piece. We quote it after a look, in person or by photo.

Quoted

Flash Sundays

Last Sunday each month. Small pre-drawn color pieces, walk in, first come.

from$120

First color piece? The first-timer consult is free, 30 minutes, no deposit.

The artists

Four hands, four ways of holding the brush. You book the artist, not the studio.

Marisol Vega

Founder · watercolor florals, koi, botanicals

Started Pigment in 2017 above a frame shop. Loose splash-and-bleed work. Currently booking about a year out.

Theo Nakamura

Illustrative & neo-traditional color

Songbirds, foxes, storybook linework with washed color. Booking 4 to 8 weeks out.

Priya Anand

Abstract color-field · brushstroke

Gestural smears and drips, often a single session. Booking 4 to 8 weeks out.

June Okafor

Color portraiture & figurative

Faces, hands, light through color. Booking 4 to 8 weeks out.

The sunlit Pigment studio on SE Division with watercolor sketches pinned to the wall

Your first color piece

If you have only seen black-and-grey tattoos, color can feel like a leap. Here is the honest version.

Does watercolor fade faster?: No. It is real ink with a painterly look. Saturated color and fine line age like any tattoo, and we build pieces for longevity, not just for the photo on day one.
Does it hurt more?: Same as any tattoo. The wash technique is not deeper or longer than line work for a piece of the same size.
How long is the wait?: Mari books about a year out. The other three are usually 4 to 8 weeks. Flash Sundays are same-day, walk in.
Deposit and touch-ups?: A $100 deposit holds your date and comes off the session. Touch-ups are free within 6 months.

Request a booking

Tell us the idea, the artist, and roughly where it goes. We reply within two days with availability and a quote, no deposit until you have a date.