Home / Tattoo Gallery / Black & Grey Tattoo Gallery / 1. The black and grey wash African animals sleeve is a…

1. The black and grey wash African animals sleeve is a…

1. The black and grey wash African animals sleeve is a cover-up, several sessions in. This stage is adding the background and more darks with the Pitch Grey Washes and Pitch Classic Lining, so the push and pull camouflages and moves the eye away from the old tattoo. 2. The painterly skeletons are one session in. The zones and edges get blocked in with Arctic Dark and Pitch Black as the foundational colors. That gives me enough information to chip away and layer in future sessions while capturing all the proportions. 3. The hyperrealistic origami cactus is finished and fresh. It's built from a photo reference and captures the real lighting and edge and zone contrasts, using Eternal Lime Green, Rainforest Dark, Granny Smith Green, Aurora, and EverAfter's Anti-Grey Orange in the background. 4. The watercolor portrait is healed, several months out. Real watercolor moves on its own on paper, and water flows, bleeds, and pools. On skin, every splatter, bloom, and wash gets meticulously planned before the tattoo. Here, the healed Eternal Standard White is almost luminescent next to Electric Raspberry and Sky Blue. Follow for more!

A Realism nature tattoo on the forearm by Liz Cook at Liz Cook l Tattooer Burnout Coach, posted on Jul 25, 2026.

by Liz Cook

Studio

Liz Cook l Tattooer Burnout Coach

Styles

Realism Color Black & Grey

Subjects

Nature

Body Parts

Forearm

Vote in Swipe Mode

Send Tattoo Request to Liz Visit Paradise Artist Retreat

Catch Liz at

Oct 6–8, 2026Paradise Artist RetreatJiminy Peak, MADetails →

Continue browsing

More by Liz Cook (10)More realism tattoos (10200)More nature tattoos (5771)More forearm tattoos (432)Discover more artists

← Back to the tattoo gallery