Is Jeff Gogue the best children's portrait tattooist in the world?

I have seen hundreds (if not thousands) of children's portraits done over the years... but none come close to the few I've seen from Jeff Gogue. His realism is amazingly life like. In your opinion, who else out there is equal to or better than him when it comes to portrait work?

Well, one thing I have leaned is that when you talk about the "very best" it is impossible to actually say who is. Really, there are different flavors of the very best. If anyone is better than Jeff Gogue it would be Shane Oneill. My girl is tattooed by Mike Demasi, and of course i think its the best. Nikko and Mike Devries battle it out for southern california. Stefano and Alex Depase are the international contenders. I try not to get into naming games, but hey.

jesus, or Bob Tyrrell...

Yeah, I totally understand where you're coming from with not being able to choose one over the other because of the different styles. (Kinda like picking a favorite kid. lol) Guys like Nikko, Mike Devries, Stephano, all do jaw dropping work. Especially with color pieces. But it's healthy fun for us collectors to try and rank them! BTW Gabe... thanks for setting up the little network you have here. It's the best place on the net for tattoo research. You get all the info you need a get to see work from some of the best artists in the world, all in one place (basically). I find myself flipping between TattooNow, The Paradise promo site, and the Off The Map pages all the time.

I'd have to say my faves are Shane and Jeff, in the way that I think their stuff looks the most "realistic" or dead on in comparison to the photos. But as Gabe mentioned the list certainly goes on and on.... and on It's lovely to have so many bad asses to oogle over.

Having experience with a few of these guys here is my opinion... Jeff Gogue is the man, he is very versatile and always does killer tattoo work. His portraits are right on and they have a photo realistic quality unlike everyone else in the industry. Mike DeVries is better at nature and wildlife tattoos when compared to his people portraits if you are considering likeness and photo realistic quality. The portrait that I got from him is top notch and he is extremely personable and professional. Shane Oneill is a really good people portrait artist BUT he is extremely unprofessional and moody. I still have an unfinished portrait of my wife because he is so unreliable with scheduling. I have been sending him emails and text message trying to get in his schedule to finish this tattoo for me. The tattoo could have been done in one session but he was upset that he got started late and did not want to be at the shop after 6pm, sissy. I would NOT recommend Shane Oneill to anyone, it is a damn shame.

I had the same situation with Shane O Neill.He was a guest artist at White Lotus Tattoo,in Jersey 2yrs ago,and i made an appt to get a portrait of my Mother from him.My appt. was on the last day he was at the shop,and we didn't get started till like 6pm.He worked on it for like 3.5 hrs,but didn't finish.The next day,i'm looking at it better,and i notice he forgot to put her right ear on..the way her face was looking to the side,only one ear was visible..and i was also dissapointed because the tattoo didn't look exactly like the picture . I was pissed,and called him,and he got back to me like a week later.He assured me it wouldn't be a problem to draw the ear on,but by this time,i had a resentment with him..I saw him at the Boston Convention,and i thought he blew me off;like he didn't want to be bothered..I saw him at the Philly show,and i asked him when can you finish it,and he said to e-mail him,and he will get back to me.He never returned my e-mail,and by this time,i didn't want to give him any more money.I already gave him 600.00 for the tattoo;he said it would be 700.00 total;but the tattoo is lite,and probably will take a few more hours to finish,and i know he's gonna wan't more than 100.00 for his time.He seemed like an ok dude when he was tattooing me;but i think he lacks in the customer service area;and thats big with me.

Jeff Gogue has one of the most unique styles I have seen. Subtely different. And diverse. IMHO you won't get a bad tattoo from Jeff Gogue. But to me, Jeffs more striking work resembles the larger body of his paintings. Let him get creative and you'll get a tattoo that will be truly one of a kind. But you certainly can't go wrong with just about any style of tattooing with Jeff Gogue. I haven't met him personally, but from what I have seen and read, Jeff Gogue and Jesse Smith may have the two most creative minds within the realm of the best tattoo artists in the world. Thoughts?

Jeff had a shop here in my town for awhile, he did my cousins tatoos and yes, they were really great. I have never seen anyone do a better job and capturing a face in such a way. It was beautiful! and stil is today.. its been few years.

If there is any top tattoo artist in the world it would be Jeff Gogue for he nails at almost any style of tattooing. And his portraits are way better(10x) than Shane Oneill. But do you know why Jeff Gogues portraits are better than mike or nikko? Is because his work does not look air brushy like mike or nikko. Dont get me wrong mikes and nikkos portraits look good and awesome but not fully realistic. The air brushy look makes the portrait look unrealistic, it also needs to have texture in specific parts of a face in orde for it to look as real as possible. And Jeff nails it