Tattoos By Caroline › Tattoo Portfolio

Caroline tattoos all types of pieces ranging in size from small flash to full shoulder pieces and everything in between. This gallery will be updated frequently in the coming weeks and months as Caroline chooses pieces from the expansive archive of her work.

*Since gallery pictures are large, click the large picture below to open the full screen gallery. In the gallery mode, click the 'i' button at the bottom for piece information (if applicable).

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Pin-Up Nurse Zombie Eating Guts

Placement: Leg

The client requested a pin up model. After some web searches I suggested Bettie Page since she's a legendary model. I found a pose that lent itself well to the client's hip since she was looking to have the full figure and not just a bust. I dressed her in the nurse outfit that the pin up artist, Olivia, used in her image. I gave her a brown recluse spider bite on her leg and gave her a pile of intestines to chomp on. To get her nice zombie glow I used Zombie Puke from Starbrite for the first time!
Yummy Cupcake

Placement: Arm

The client came into the shop to set up an appointment for a zombie nurse eating guts but wanted something little, fun, and yummy too. She referenced a Jime Litwalk cupcake.
Siamese Twins Skeleton

Placement: Arm

This is the start of an Obscura sleeve. We will be adding creepy porcelain doll heads and everything else you would find in a French antique store that deals with the odd and obscure.
New Hampshire Tribute

Placement: Arm

My client wanted to pay tribute to his home state of New Hampshire and his father. He brought me the coordinates of the towns in which they lived and the picture of the leaf sitting on weathered wood. This is what I did with them.
Father's Portrait

Placement: Arm

This black and gray portrait is in memory of the client's father. It was fun picking out the right source photograph as it was a trip down memory lane. The source photo was his father chilling with Santa Claus.
Colorful Butterfly Cover-Up

Placement: Shoulder

The client realized that her original tattoo was done too small for the amount of detail it had and for the cover up she wanted to go bigger. She envisioned a swarm of photo-realistic butterflies with very bright colors. She sat for all three in one session and will eventually add more butterflies.
Floral Vine Butterfly Anklet

Placement: Ankle

I drew this tattoo on her ankle with the guidelines that it needed to be feminine, fine line, delicate with simple flowers and butterflies, and not too big with color.
Oriental Half-Sleeve Cover-Up

Placement: Arm

We killed two birds with this stone. The client wanted to lose his tribal armband and scar with the same tattoo. He choose the traditional oriental theme and wanted it to be a water scene with a koi and flowers, but not cherry blossom. Instead, we used a peony to accent the round of his shoulder. I used the Utsuri Kin Hi Gin Rin koi because its coloring lent itself wonderfully to the camouflaging needed in a cover up.
Celtic Stone Cross

Placement: Arm

I was brought an image that the client found online that wasn't symmetrical at all. I had to redraw the cross and the knotwork on graph paper. I decided to keep it simple and left the knotwork in the negative to contrast the strong heavy black outline and I threw in a couple of cracks to break the even soft gray wash in the body of the cross.
Angelina Jolie/H.R. Giger Fusion

Placement: Arm

On this tattoo, I was given full rein as to what I wanted to do. The client wanted to bring his tattoos to his wrist. I focused on his forearm and felt I needed a central focal point near the ditch, and organic imagery for the rest because of its wrapping. I wanted a creepy face with milky eyes but got nothing when I searched for that, so instead I searched for a pretty face. This search netted a bunch of actresses, so I used Angelina Jolie. I found a frontal shot, started thinking organic black and gray, and came to H.R. Giger. I researched some of his images and found one that would allow me to substitute the face for Angelina's. The piece was completed at the Old School Tattoo Expo in St. Louis (2010). What I didn't know, and learned while tattooing him, is that Angelina Jolie was the client's favorite actress.
Celtic Hound Color Armband

Placement: Arm

This is a celtic biomorphic (animal) knotwork depicting hounds done in full color. It is a continous band around the client's forearm.
Black & Gray Baby Portrait

Placement: Chest

My client wanted to commemorate his first born with a baby portrait and keep him close to his heart.
Family Charm Anklet

Placement: Ankle

This piece is an altered piece of Cherry Creek Flash. The original piece was red hearts in a green foliage band. My client, a grandmother, wanted to depict her children and grandchildren with their birthstones so I recolored the foliage in gold tones to mimic jewelry, faceted the hearts, and colored them in accordance to the birth months. The dangle was added to represent the client and her husband.

Pin-Up Nurse Zombie Eating Guts

Placement: Leg

The client requested a pin up model. After some web searches I suggested Bettie Page since she's a legendary model. I found a pose that lent itself well to the client's hip since she was looking to have the full figure and not just a bust. I dressed her in the nurse outfit that the pin up artist, Olivia, used in her image. I gave her a brown recluse spider bite on her leg and gave her a pile of intestines to chomp on. To get her nice zombie glow I used Zombie Puke from Starbrite for the first time!
Yummy Cupcake

Placement: Arm

The client came into the shop to set up an appointment for a zombie nurse eating guts but wanted something little, fun, and yummy too. She referenced a Jime Litwalk cupcake.
Siamese Twins Skeleton

Placement: Arm

This is the start of an Obscura sleeve. We will be adding creepy porcelain doll heads and everything else you would find in a French antique store that deals with the odd and obscure.
New Hampshire Tribute

Placement: Arm

My client wanted to pay tribute to his home state of New Hampshire and his father. He brought me the coordinates of the towns in which they lived and the picture of the leaf sitting on weathered wood. This is what I did with them.
Father's Portrait

Placement: Arm

This black and gray portrait is in memory of the client's father. It was fun picking out the right source photograph as it was a trip down memory lane. The source photo was his father chilling with Santa Claus.
Colorful Butterfly Cover-Up

Placement: Shoulder

The client realized that her original tattoo was done too small for the amount of detail it had and for the cover up she wanted to go bigger. She envisioned a swarm of photo-realistic butterflies with very bright colors. She sat for all three in one session and will eventually add more butterflies.
Floral Vine Butterfly Anklet

Placement: Ankle

I drew this tattoo on her ankle with the guidelines that it needed to be feminine, fine line, delicate with simple flowers and butterflies, and not too big with color.
Oriental Half-Sleeve Cover-Up

Placement: Arm

We killed two birds with this stone. The client wanted to lose his tribal armband and scar with the same tattoo. He choose the traditional oriental theme and wanted it to be a water scene with a koi and flowers, but not cherry blossom. Instead, we used a peony to accent the round of his shoulder. I used the Utsuri Kin Hi Gin Rin koi because its coloring lent itself wonderfully to the camouflaging needed in a cover up.
Celtic Stone Cross

Placement: Arm

I was brought an image that the client found online that wasn't symmetrical at all. I had to redraw the cross and the knotwork on graph paper. I decided to keep it simple and left the knotwork in the negative to contrast the strong heavy black outline and I threw in a couple of cracks to break the even soft gray wash in the body of the cross.
Angelina Jolie/H.R. Giger Fusion

Placement: Arm

On this tattoo, I was given full rein as to what I wanted to do. The client wanted to bring his tattoos to his wrist. I focused on his forearm and felt I needed a central focal point near the ditch, and organic imagery for the rest because of its wrapping. I wanted a creepy face with milky eyes but got nothing when I searched for that, so instead I searched for a pretty face. This search netted a bunch of actresses, so I used Angelina Jolie. I found a frontal shot, started thinking organic black and gray, and came to H.R. Giger. I researched some of his images and found one that would allow me to substitute the face for Angelina's. The piece was completed at the Old School Tattoo Expo in St. Louis (2010). What I didn't know, and learned while tattooing him, is that Angelina Jolie was the client's favorite actress.
Celtic Hound Color Armband

Placement: Arm

This is a celtic biomorphic (animal) knotwork depicting hounds done in full color. It is a continous band around the client's forearm.
Black & Gray Baby Portrait

Placement: Chest

My client wanted to commemorate his first born with a baby portrait and keep him close to his heart.
Family Charm Anklet

Placement: Ankle

This piece is an altered piece of Cherry Creek Flash. The original piece was red hearts in a green foliage band. My client, a grandmother, wanted to depict her children and grandchildren with their birthstones so I recolored the foliage in gold tones to mimic jewelry, faceted the hearts, and colored them in accordance to the birth months. The dangle was added to represent the client and her husband.