Nate Leslie

American, b. 1987

Nate Leslie’s nuanced Neo-Traditional artwork utilizes many of the themes and colors found in tattoo in the past century, yet he illustrates those subjects with    more    realistic    perspective, coloration, and proportion. His deft use of gray shading simulates the bolder lines common in historic tattoo work without creating extraneous heaviness, and his depictions of popular themes, such as  the  rose,  are  illustrated with uncommon delicacy.

… I fell in love with American traditional (style) when I was younger. When I first started getting into tattooing … it was really all I wanted to do, all I really cared about. And I guess that kind of evolved over time. I wanted to do things with a little bit more detail, a wider color palette...