Black and grey realism
Black and grey only, no colour. The whole piece is built in grey wash and black, which is what gives realism its depth and lets it hold up as it settles.
Boston · Greater Boston
Black & grey realism tattoo artist in Boston
Custom black and grey work: portraits, religious and statue pieces, and large-scale arm and back projects. By appointment in Malden, just outside Boston.
Selected work
Every piece here is custom, built for one person, and tattooed in black and grey.
What I tattoo
Portraits
Faces, people, memorial pieces. These live or die on reference quality, so the photograph you bring matters as much as anything I do.
Statue and religious work
Greek and Roman statue work, religious subjects, and the kind of stone-and-cloth texture that black and gray handles better than anything else.
Large-scale projects
Sleeves, half sleeves, arm and back projects built across sessions. Large work is designed as one piece from the start rather than assembled later.
About Erick
I'm Erick Lopes. I've been tattooing professionally for about seven years and I work almost entirely in black and grey realism, by appointment in the Boston area.
I take a small number of projects at a time. Most of what I do is large, custom and built over more than one session, so I'd rather go deep on a few pieces than move quickly through many.
Work is priced per piece rather than by the hour, so you know what the project costs before anything is booked.
How to start a project
I review every project before anything is scheduled. There's no public calendar. Here's the actual sequence.
Send me the idea
Message me on Instagram with what you're thinking: subject, placement, rough size, and any reference you already have.
I review it
I'll tell you honestly whether it works in black and grey at that size and placement, and what I'd change. Cover-ups need a clear daylight photo of the existing tattoo before I can say anything useful.
Price and approval
If it's a fit, I send you the price for the piece. Nothing is scheduled before you've seen it.
Booking
Once the project is approved I send you a private booking link to reserve your date. A deposit holds the appointment and comes off the final price of the tattoo.
Instagram is the fastest way to reach me.
Where I work
I tattoo by appointment in Malden, just outside Boston, and see clients from across Greater Boston: Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Everett, Chelsea, Revere, Quincy and Lynn.
You get the exact address once your appointment is confirmed.
Verified on Google, September 2026.
Have something in mind?
Send me the idea and I'll tell you straight whether it works.