“The methodically detailed tattoos of Dmitry Troshin conjure monochrome lithographs, pen-and-ink drawings, and mezzotints. An expert at rendering highlights and shadows, The Russian artist bestows a luminous quality on his tattoos, turning skin into a shiny surface.

It’s hard to believe he started his career as a self-taught artist, learning from videos and internet research in his native Moscow. After settling into his current style, Troshin now tattoos only with his one preferred tool – a three-round liner, which achieves the effect of a fine-point pen.

Troshin’s imagery and subject matter vary widely, largely dictated by his customers’ general desires that he then adapts: “The best way to work on a tattoo project for me is to get a story or idea from my client, and then have the freedom to think of a composition and overall feeling of the project.”

Portraits of loved ones mingle with celebrities. Gritty urban settings showcase flawlessly rendered automobiles and architecture. Religious scenes exalt the glory of the divine. Sinewy bodies flex each carefully sculpted, Michelangelo-like muscle. Anatomical, mechanical, and scientific drawings reinforce his interest in precision. Although conceptually dissimilar, Troshin’s utterly masterful draftsmanship ties all of his diverse imagery together into an identifiable corpus of work.”