1. @nikkohurtado

Style: Realism/Portraiture


Whenever I share Hurtado's work with someone, the usual response is: "That's a painting, that's not a tattoo!" Wrong. It's definitely a tattoo; though his amazing use of a broad color palette, mastery of realistic shading, and control of the tattoo machine does make his work look like it belongs in a museum.
2. @chueyquintanar

Style: Black and Grey


Quintanar is doing some of the best—if not the best—black and grey tattoos in the United States. With his West Coast lettering style and his intricately shaded portraits, you won’t mind overlooking the pictures of Travis Barker (whom he has tattooed extensively).
3. @thomashoopertattooing

Style: Blackwork/Dot-work


Hooper has taken mandalic patterns and sacred geometry to new heights with his refined ornamental work and intricate pointillism. His work is often large, sometimes dizzying, and always beautiful.
4. @horiyoshi3

Style: Japanese Traditional


If you don't know the name Horiyoshi III, you don't know anything about the Japanese tattoo. Horiyoshi III has been tattooing for more than 40 years. In his feed you’ll see not only the famous bodysuit work for which he's known, but a sense of the tradition he works in: fascinating antique photographs of Japanese tattooing, and Ukiyo-e woodblock prints from which the tattoos are derived.
5. @mrubendall and 6. @codonnell_nyc

Style: Japanese Contemporary


Rubendall and O'Donnell have a long history of working together in NYC and both have a deep passion for the traditions of Japanese iconography. They have also added their own modernizations, and inevitably "Americanized," twists to the genre. Rubendall and O’Donnell’s shading and gradation of color are complex without being overbearing; their choices are somehow rebellious yet respectful; and, most importantly, they both tattoo some really amazing skulls!
7. @whatsnottalike

Style: Pin-up/New School


These ain’t your average pin ups. If the size of Joe Capobianco's pompadour is a symbol of anything, it's that he's all about big curves. The hips and lips on these ladies are large and plump, and their chests are as robust as Capobianco's color palette. For pin ups that are cartoonish, more than a little naughty, and always beautifully executed, be sure to follow this account.
8. @philipszlosek_ka

Style: Americana


http://mashable.com/2013/02/05/insta...attoo-artists/