Kiwi tattoo artist gets global attention for his hyper realistic designs
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The hyper realistic work of New Zealand tattoo artist Steve Butcher has recently garnered global media attention, sending social media in to a spin.
His intricately detailed style looks closer to a photograph or painting than a standard tattoo, and Butcher has covered subject matter from movie villains and pop stars to super heroes and wild animals, though he says it's his sports-related commissions that are his favourites.
"I'm a big NBA fan so I really enjoy doing NBA portraits - but anything sports, wildlife or portraiture-related is my jam," says Butcher.
The artist, who studied at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, has been tattooing for six years and says he's taken techniques learned from friends and other tattoo artists and put them in a formula that works for him.
"I've always been interested in realism so I'm just trying to make it as real as I can. I guess after a lot of practice it's starting to head in that direction."
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An average a piece will take Butcher "six to 12 hours depending on the size and detail," while a two-day piece could be more around the 15-20 hour mark."
"I tattoo quite fast but to achieve the detail it is quite an involved process," he says.
The striking work has caught the eye of a number of major international media outlets as well as top tattooing magazines and websites, and has given him the opportunity to travel frequently, though he's still New Zealand-based.
HIs most recent work published to Facebook, of a vividly coloured tiger in a jungle setting, inked at Forever Young Tattoos in Toronto, took Butcher nearly 20 hours to create and has more than 4,500 likes.
- Stuff.co.nz
July 17, 2016
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