I like the new styles of tattooing; dotwork, watercolor and sketch-styles that look like they’ve been drawn onto the skin rather indelibly than inked into it, but sometimes… Sometimes I hanker after something a little more old school, more traditional. Well. Lucky me, because along came Kalaka with a whole new take on both old and new styles; he’s gone ahead and merged them into one.
Rodrigo Kalaka’s neo-traditional tattoos feature the strong outlines and bold gradients that are the hallmarks of traditional tattoo designs, but his subject matter is a combination of traditional themes and subjects that are currently popular. So his repertoire is pretty mixed, consisting of dinosaurs, dentures (WAHAHA!), tigers, sewing machines, wolves and hairless cats.
While this style is not entirely uncommon, what makes Kalaka’s tattoos special is the quality. His line work is clean, his delineation between areas of color is crisp and his use of contrast gives his tattoos a sharpness which means that even from a distance, the designs won’t become a mush of color.
You can contact Rodrigo Kalaka through Facebook or Instagram, but if you want a tattoo by this artist, you’ll have to take a trip to sunny Spain to find him in Barcelona.
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- This incredible chest tattoo by Rodrigo Kalaka is a beautifully executed pun on the name of the tiger moth. The addition of key and rose symbols makes this tattoo design that much more personal as these objects will have special meaning to the tattoo wearer.
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- A pair of dentures cackle away at the centre of this funny tattoo by Rodrigo Kalaka. The flowers are a nice touch – without them the dentures would look a bit lame.
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- An extinct triceratops comes back to life in this exquisite neo-traditional tattoo by Rodrigo Kalaka. The limited color palette that the artist has used really gives this tattoo a sense of sophistication.
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- Rodrigo Kalaka combines semi-realism and traditional tattoo styles in this tattoo of a dog dressed as an old lady. The dog’s face is particularly well done.
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- Rodrigo Kalaka gives his client a splash of color with this fruity pina colada tattoo.
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- Rodrigo Kalaka shows off his crispy clean line work in this bee and rose tattoo.
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- This neo traditional tattoo by Rodrigo Kalaka features a deaths head moth flying over an antique sewing machine.
