Hi Steve

With regards to a portrait – this is one of the hardest questions a person can ask about tattooing because personal taste is so much more pronounced.

A dragon for example tends to follow a certain pattern of style with the artist interpretation but with a portrait the demands are much higher.

When I had my wife’s portrait done it was from a drawing an artist friend had done. The picture was an interpretation of how he saw her in her trad wedding.

This one was done by Russ at Kaleidescope Tattoos in Leeds

However if you look at my wife pics in my album this is obviously not photo-realistic.

If you want photo-realistic I would suggest possibly

Paul Naylor Indigo tattoo http://www.indigotattoo.com/gallery1/Album1.htm

Or http://www.eternalimages.co.uk/blackgrey.html

Irezumi Tattoo Studio – these are in Glasgow and carry a heavy rep for realistic portraits.

The main thing really is rather than ppl suggesting artists – I could prob name at least 20 more is to do your research and decide what is good for your tastes.

I say this because I once had a question of a similar nature and sent them no less than 30 artists from as far as Japan and Europe to 2 mins away from their house and they came back and said I don’t like any of the styles.

Good Luck with your hunt.

Take Care
Matthew