The Portraits of Ryan Hadley

You may not recognize the name but you are likely to recognize Ryan Hadley’s tattoo portraits which are often featured in tattoo magazines. In doing research on Ryan I discovered that he almost gave up on tattooing at one point. He started out self taught, working on friends that were willing to spare some skin. He said he was discouraged with his results and put down his tattoo machine for a couple of years with the intention of giving up. That would have been an awful waste of talent. Fortunately, he decided to give it another try, this time working in a real studio. He now is known for his portrait work, which is normally the toughest area to conquer.

He is able to capture the likeness of his subjects in a way that makes the portrait seem to be more of a drawing or painting rather than a tattoo.

Looking at his work, you’d think there was no room for improvement, but Hadley says he is still tweaking his skills. A true artist is always striving for improving their technique and Ryan is no exception. Although to my eye, his portrait work is perfect.