What a kitschy, clever idea! The embroidered patch tattoo is really catching on in tattoo circles. Some of these are so well-done you won’t believe they’re a tattoo!

The attention to detail of many patch tattoos is impeccable. Even the threads are inked on, so it literally looks as though the patch was stitched to the skin.

A patch tattoo takes anywhere between two to six hours. The beauty of this type of ink is that you’re not only getting the embroidered art image, but also such a cool piece of concept art added to your skin.

Really passionate tattoo artists, like the ink-masters we’ve featured below, will blow you away by how they achieve the effect.

As with all patches, the image is a construct of individual stitches, which are captured through a tattoo gun. A patch is also 3D, so there’s an element of shading with the ink that really makes it pop.

Some of the amazing effects you’ll see are:

When it comes to tattoos that look like patches, you obviously want to be super selective about who attaches this forever-stamp on your skin. Because of this, we’ve highlighted a couple of artists who are doing amazing at the patch tattoo for you to consider.

And if you can’t travel to either of them, you can always use their work as inspiration to take to your tattoo artist!

Related: Check out these surrealist tattoos – they’re hard to even believe! Same with these optical illusion tattoos!

Known as the “pioneer” of the patch tattoo, Eduardo Lozano (@dudalozanotattoo on IG) came up with the idea of a tattoo that looks like a patch in 2019. Brazilian-born Lozano spent good time figuring out how he could make it look like his ink was actual patches.

His signature is the loose threads that he includes with each tattoo. He also takes great pride in his thread-lines that mimic the stitch of embroidery, and even the binding that keeps the edges from fraying.

This guy is serious about his patch tattoos.

Min Zumi of Authentink in Sydney Australia became addicted to tattoos with his first ink as a young man. He loved them so much he decided to take the plunge and become a tattoo artist himself.

Min Zumi needs a super high level of concentration to do the patch tattoos. He uses sophisticated equipment and non-toxic inks to create the desired effect for his clients. His equipment is sterilized using hospital-grade methods.

Taking anywhere between three to six hours to create a typical patch tattoo is pretty standard for this amazing artist. A lot of pop-art cartoon characters provide him with inspiration. For example, he’s created tattoos that look like patches of Daisy Duck, Son Goku, and even Banjo Kazooie!

Here are some extra patch tattoos for your enjoyment! If you do choose to get one for yourself, make sure you do lots of research on your artist, and listen to all of the instructions for pre and post-care.

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