Black & Grey Tattoo Gallery

What is this sorcery?

In black and grey we use one tattoo pigment. You guessed it. Black. The grey comes from diluting that black pigment with water/other carriers or tattooing it in a way that distributes the pigment particles further apart instead of concentrated together like solid black or full saturation color. This style generally takes less time than colouring since all the lighter values are represented by your existing skin tone, instead of slowly packing in lighter coloured ink. And since it takes less time, it’s a bit easier on the wallet.

Why not use color?

Black and grey tattoos are more suitable for certain subject matter like memorials where the mood needs to be more sombre. If the feeling youre going for isn’t an all out celebration, it’s time to put the rainbow away. Maybe you want to have something moody, scary or creepy. Then a black n grey tattoo is the way to go. Also, this style is appropriate for all skin tones. Whereas with colour tattoos, a bad skin tone and pigment combination can appear muddy or dull.

Black and grey tends to age better than colour tattoos since lighter colours like whites, yellows oranges and pinks don’t stick around for the long haul. In fact some colour tattoos end up looking like black and grey after 30 or 40 years baking in the sun since only the darker colors remain. Don’t get me wrong, this style is not age proof. The lighter greys will vanish over time just like a yellow pigment. And it’s susceptible to ink spreading out just like any other style.

There are more detailed and intricate black and grey tattoos to see in my gallery of realism tattoos. And if you’re wondering why there aren’t any flowers here, It’s because they are in the gallery of floral tattoos. Maybe black and grey isn’t your thing. You can check out galleries packed with colour here and here.