Adding one and one doesn’t always equal two. Sometimes the thing becomes less than two, and other times it is much more than just two. In other words, sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The latter case is true to Hakan Adik, who adds motifs of famous paintings and popular characters to create his own unique style of tattoos.

Hakan Adik is a tattoo artist based in Istanbul. His style is minimal, small-scale, and detail-oriented. His work is inspired by paintings, films, illustrations, and collages, and he often mixes them up together to create an interesting and original combination between the two.

More info: Instagram

Click here & follow us for more lists, facts, and stories.

#1

Even though he started in Istanbul, his home city, he continues to make tattoo works by visiting various parts of the world. As a guest artist, he made tattoos in Berlin and Barcelona before the pandemic. The Istanbul-based tattoo globetrotter is welcomed everywhere he goes, as many appreciate his set of unique skills. And the internet loves him as well: as far as his Instagram is concerned, he has a solid 50k followers who love to see his newest works.

#2

#3

He has been building his profile ever since 2014 when he started learning the art of ink. As of right now, he’s 25 years old, which means he’s been doing it since he was about 18. It goes to show that great skills such as his don’t come out of nowhere and his early determination and practice greatly helped him along the way to develop the portfolio that he has today. It’s safe to say that he’s one of those few lucky people who found his calling very early.

#4

#5

Even though his pieces are grand, they’re not that big in terms of size. But he used to make even smaller tattoos before. Like many artists, he was in search of his own style, and it’s very interesting how the artist has developed it. He came into his own after he made a van Gogh tattoo, and it completely changed the way he sees his art. He immediately fell in love with the amalgam of styles that is very clear and distinct in the works that you see today.

#6

#7

Like what you see? There’s another artist that Bored Panda has recently featured who made his name clashing two different styles. However, this one is more specialized in clashing realism with animation. There are other artists that are well known for their unique sense of style: Piotr Szencel for one has developed a knack for Viking tattoos, and Mr. T Stucklife is a master at creating very realistic black and gray tattoos. If you’re more up to reading up some cringeworthy horror stories about people getting tattoos, there’s another post that’s just about all that.