It’s that time of year again. That’s right, we’re showcasing the best of the best from 2021. This year, there were some seriously stellar tattoos created by talented tattoo artists from around the world. And no question, you guys loved big tattoos.

Sure, micro tattoos are all the rage, but sometimes bigger really is better. There’s something extraordinary about seeing a huge badass tattoo and thinking “Wow, some lucky MF is going to wear that piece for the rest of their life.” Large tattoos, whether they be sleeves, leg pieces, backs or torsos, take an incredible amount of work. First off, they take hours upon hours to complete—which is always a challenge for both the artist and the client. Second, they take a ton of time to plan out and get just right. But that end result, boy there’s nothing better.

This year, we saw an impressive array of larger than life tattoos. These tattoos came in a variety of styles—from classic black-and-grey to color realism to Japanese to blackwork. We also saw some pretty stellar subject matter, whether that was horror imagery, pop culture characters or ornamental pattern work.

Take a look at 55 of the very best large tattoos according to our Instagram page this year. Now keep in mind, we post dozens of amazing tattoos every single day, these tattoos just got the most love from our followers this year. Happy New Year!