Illinois Man’s Finger Tattoos Go Viral For All the Right Reasons

Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of tattoos that work around a surgical amputation or birth defect. In many cases, tattoo collectors use humor or have their artists create an innovative design that fits the unique shape of the body part. However, in some cases, an artist will rely on their realism skills to create a design that tricks the eye.

The latter was the case for a tattooer by the name of Eric Catalano, who works out of Illinois’ Eternal Ink. Catalano recently captured the attention of the international media circuit when he published a tattoo done on someone’s fingers. The client had his index and middle finger amputated, leaving him without fingernails. However, Catalano was able to give his fingers a makeover by tattooing realistic nails—which went on to take Instagram by storm.

While this is the first time we’ve seen a tattooer create realistic fingernails, his technical application relies on the foundation of a popular form of tattoo. Many women have sought out tattoo artists to create realistic and three-dimensional nipples after having a mastectomy. 

When creating the illusion of a natural nipple, artists need to mix pigments that compliment the woman’s skin tone and use shading to make the nipple appear three-dimensional. Over the years, tattoo artists and cosmetic tattooers have stepped up their game and this is only the beginning of the future of mastectomy tattooing.

What do you think of these realistic fingernail tattoo? If you’d just seen the results, would you even know it was a tattoo? Let us know your thoughts, opinions and questions on this story in the comments section on Facebook.