Southside Tattoo (02) 4257 8288

Style

Black and grey tattoos

Black and grey is the bulk of what walks through the door here, and it is the style that punishes shortcuts hardest. Tone is built in passes, not laid down in one, and the contrast has to be planned before the machine starts.

What it actually involves

Black and grey is one ink, thinned to different strengths, worked in layers. The drawing decides where the darkest black sits, and everything else is judged against it. Get that wrong and the piece looks flat from two metres away no matter how clean the shading is.

That is why a realistic portrait, a panther, a Medusa or a Chicano piece all start the same way here: with a drawing you see and sign off on, and a conversation about how big it needs to be for the detail to survive.

Size and placement matter more than in colour

Fine grey detail closes up as skin ages. A piece squeezed onto a spot that is too small for it will hold its shape for a few years and then start to fill in. If your artist pushes back on the size you had in mind, that is the reason, and it is worth listening to.

How long it takes

Small black and grey work is usually one sitting. Anything at half sleeve, back or full leg scale is a series of appointments with healing time in between. Nobody here will pretend a back piece is a one day job.

Examples

Black and grey tattoos from this studio

Photographed at the Tongarra Rd shop. Nothing here is stock imagery or another studio's work.

  • A black and grey Medusa portrait on a thigh, serpents rising from her hair and a Scorpio glyph beneath
    Black and grey Medusa with a Scorpio glyph. Soft greywash in the skin, hard blacks in the hair.
  • A black and grey panther looking through palm fronds, tattooed on a calf
    Panther through palm, black and grey. The leaves do the framing so the face keeps all the contrast.
  • A large black and grey back piece with script lettering and a motorcycle badge, being worked on under a studio lamp
    Black and grey lettering across a full back, with script banding and heavy shading around it.
  • A black and grey Chicano style portrait of a woman with teardrop markings, holding a tattoo machine
    Chicano style portrait, all greywash. Smooth gradients like this are where the hours go.
  • An artist shading the lower section of a black and grey back piece, seen over their shoulder
    Shading the lower panel. Big black and grey work is a series of sittings, not one long day.
  • A tattooist leaning in to line a forearm piece, working from a stencil already applied to the skin
    Lining a forearm piece over a fresh stencil.

Who to ask for

Artists who take this on

  1. Adam Paterson

    Artist and owner

    Works across colour, black and grey and cover-ups, and takes on a lot of the studio's larger multi session pieces.

  2. Glenn Phipps

    Artist

    Colour and black and grey work, including large scale pieces and portrait style subjects.

  3. Skye Gallagher

    Artist

    Fine line, botanical and illustrative work, and black and grey animal and portrait pieces.

  4. Brad

    Artist

    Clean, precise linework across a wide range of subjects, and the artist most often named in the studio's reviews.

Other styles

Have a look at the rest

Talk to us about a black and grey piece

Give us the idea, the rough size and where on your body it is going. If you are not sure whether it will work at that size, say so and we will tell you.

Ring the shop
(02) 4257 8288
Open
Mon to Fri 10:00 to 5:00pm
Sat 10:00 to 4:00pm, Sun closed

We reply inside one business day. No newsletters, no chasing. Just a conversation about the brief.