Best Tattoos of The Year

Though it may have been a bad year for celebrity deaths and an odd year in politics, it was a great year for tattoos. So many tattoo artists crushed it this year, raising the medium of tattooing to such great heights. Following are 20 tattoos that made our necks snap. You will recognize the handiwork of many of these artists from Nikko Hurtado to Megan Jean Morris, but we have also pulled from some names that aren’t well-known in the industry—but we think will become elite tattoo artists.

The tattoos range in styles from realism and geometric to biomechanical and and abstract. In putting together this list we played no favorites, the best pieces made it. Without further ado here are the 20 best tattoos from the year.