Ed Zlotin
Ed is the owner of High Contrast Tattoo Berlin together with his wife Nastia and has been tattooing since 2009, working in a personal mix of blackwork, dotwork and abstract, surreal designs built from lines, patterns and geometry.
Instagram: @notedzlotin
Styles the artist works in: Fineline, Blackwork, Linework, Illustrative, Surrealism, Dotwork, Script - Calligraphy
I’m Ed, and I own High Contrast Tattoo Berlin together with my wife Nastia. I started tattooing in 2009, so I’ve been doing this for more than 17 years. Over time my style has grown into a mix of blackwork, dotwork, surrealism and graphic tattooing: clean lines, different line weights, patterns and geometry that turn simple ideas into more abstract designs.
Most of my tattoos are about structure and rhythm, geometric elements, broken symmetry, open space and solid black areas. I like to start from something real, like plants, symbols, objects or architecture, and then change and push it away from realism so it becomes a more surreal, almost unreal composition instead of a literal picture. Depending on the project, I combine fineline and basic linework with heavier blackwork and dotwork textures to create depth and movement.
I work best when there is a clear idea or mood rather than a fixed image. We talk about what you want the tattoo to feel like, and I translate that into an abstract or surreal design that fits your body, not just the drawing. The result is usually bold and graphic, a bit unusual, and not one of the same designs you keep seeing repeated everywhere.
