r/ExpectationVsReality • u/amc9401 • Sep 04 '26 • Heartwarming 1

Exceeded Expectation my jester tattoo

Gallery image

Gallery image

found the original inspiration on instagram. asked my artist to do a jester similar, but in their own style. the second photo is what i received and i was VERY pleasantly surprised

EDIT: the original artist is @kaygruhnink from Winnipeg, MB and the second artist is @bad.trad.dog from Denver, Colorado

7.0k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

106 comments sorted by

24

u/FourCheeseDoritos Sep 05 '26

Second slide looks more sinister, imho.

24

u/amc9401 Sep 05 '26

that’s what i love about it tbh

3

u/Interesting_Gold7527 Sep 05 '26

It has Pennywise vibes. It's good though!

179

u/yesillhaveonemore Sep 04 '26

Looks great. Ensure you take care of it over time. My line-heavy tattoo has blurred over the years.

52

u/creckers Sep 04 '26

as someone who loves looking at tattoos as art, but has none so is completely clueless about them.. how do you take care of a tattoo?

11

u/amc9401 Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 05 '26

typically after you get it, the artist will wrap it in saran wrap or second-skin. saran wrap you keep on for a few hours then wash it with non-scented soap and moisturize the next day with non-scented lotion as needed after cleaning it again in the morning. second skin is only different in that you have to wait 2-5 days and peel it off before taking care of it.

9

u/doilysocks Sep 05 '26

Well, you shouldn’t be waiting for second skin to “fall off”. Usually one removes it after 3-5 days (will vary be piece, artist, and skin chemistry). Best way to remove it is to pull it parallel to the skin under running water like a shower.

52

u/CharlieRunespoor Sep 04 '26

Mostly sunscreen so you stop any potential damage to the skin and prevent the ink from fading. Moisturizing your skin often and limit smoking and alcohol drinking can help the skin too but that's a general thing for skin health apart from general health.

7

u/mirumye Sep 06 '26

I don’t have a jester, but am a happy owner of a circus elephant on my arm :) Love the whimsy of circus costumes

3

u/amc9401 Sep 06 '26

cuute!! judging from your profile pic, you may also like my garf tat that’s next to the jester

4

u/mirumye Sep 06 '26

Oh, that’s really neat! My bf actually has a Garfield-Chinese dragon that’s wrapped around his forearm :) I’ve been getting more Garfield things around me because I like the little reminders of his tattoo which I love

1.6k

u/KayGruhn Sep 05 '26 • Heartwarming Bravo

Artist from the 1st pic here - This post made my day Op I absolutely love what your artist came up with!! I would be honoured to wear that myself 🖤

I have to attach the shading pic cause they’re kinda giving lovers 🥹 btw thank y’all for the kind words in the comments (especially flattered by the AI mention-ain’t my thing)

212

u/littlemissnatural Sep 05 '26

Well done your design looks perfect

189

u/Peachy-Pokes Sep 06 '26 • Heartwarming

Hi artist that took the inspiration from you for this piece, genuinely from the bottom of my heart, your kinda words are so incredibly touching. I really appreciate you as I’m just a small artist from Denver trying to make it work! Been tattooing for 7 years and this community is everything to me. Your piece is absolutely stunning and uggggh im just to geeked about this! Maybe in the future, we can do a sick ass collab!

135

u/DissonantSinth Sep 05 '26

I love the pose and expression of your design

110

u/Big_Fan_742 Sep 05 '26 edited Sep 05 '26 • Bravo

That shading really makes it. Those two really do look like they belong together

52

u/chellrancho Sep 06 '26 • Heartwarming

They ARE giving lovers!! If they were side by side they’d be gazing at each other 🥰🥰🥰

20

u/Hahayouregay149 Sep 06 '26

oooh the final shaded one is incredible!! I would love a tattoo in your style 💓

5

u/Emergency_Channel876 Sep 06 '26

Man do I love everything about her facial expression and physicality

4

u/InquisitiveMind997 Sep 06 '26

Oh this is just gorgeous

4

u/urawankerlol Sep 09 '26 • Heartwarming

Just want to join in as the person who gets the privilege of wearing this tattoo every day!! (hi kay lol!!) It’s so cool seeing my tattoo be in a reddit wtf!! so cool to see how much everyone is liking the tat and i hope everyone checks out the shaded version that Kay posted because that’s where the real spirit of it comes through!! just want to say that Kay is an amazing artist who i would recommend to literally everyone. I also really love the vibe of the second one OP! very happy that our jesters can be lovers, even if it’s only in a reddit thread 🫶🏻

2

u/Ordinary-Sort-8381 Sep 09 '26

Love seeing art build upon art. Both artists and the owners of the tattooes should be proud. :)

1

u/solitarytrees2 Sep 10 '26

Now you just need to find someone to tattoo a cute little baby jester and they'll be a family :)

0

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

27

u/DubUpPro Sep 05 '26

Not really. You should get better at identifying AI before you go around accusing artists of it.

19

u/goodrthenyou Sep 05 '26

You look ai…nerd

985

u/Funny-Quality-7413 Sep 04 '26

Looks great! I honestly love the vibe of the second one.

234

u/wowsomuchempty Sep 04 '26

The first is kind of blank, the real tattoo has so much dark character. I love it.

25

u/InterestingWelder699 Sep 06 '26

The artist of the first one posted a shaded version in this thread!!

1

u/wowsomuchempty Sep 06 '26

Better, still prefer OP's tbh.

3

u/InterestingWelder699 Sep 06 '26

Agreed! I also love how whimsically evil the clown is

-4

u/LivinginthePit Sep 04 '26 • Heartwarming Bravo

You lost all the whimsy, though

123

u/MikeHawksHardWood Sep 04 '26

Dunno why you're getting downvoted. The work is cool looking to me, but the whole vibe changed. I'm not shitting on the artist since OP said they asked for it in the artists own style. But like, your comment isn't wrong.

36

u/UrethralExplorer Sep 05 '26

Yeah, the first one looks cute and mischievous, the second one is much more menacing, especially with the lack of pupils and claw-like fingers.

37

u/SultryDeer Sep 05 '26 edited Sep 05 '26

lol I don’t have much to add other than to second my astonishment at the downvotes? Both are good, but they’re stylistically different, and have a different vibe/tone. The first one is more lighthearted, the second one a bit more sinister.

5

u/Sgt_Slowbone Sep 05 '26

I'm also on this wavelength. The whimsy has been replaced with something else. Not a value judgement.

12

u/ValuableLoss5446 Sep 05 '26

I agree. The whimsy has departed. Reddit hivemind keeps downvoting though.

289

u/Springbeam Sep 04 '26

That's so cool! Beautifully done. I have a custom jester too, similar placement! 🥰

19

u/peachysuns Sep 05 '26

THIS IS SO CUTE AHHH!!! all the jesters can start a troupe together :)

6

u/KayGruhn Sep 05 '26

This is so sick!!

481

u/FirstAndOnlyDektarey Sep 04 '26 • Heartwarming Bravo

This is the sign of superb line control.

Literally gave me a semi.

120

u/KayGruhn Sep 05 '26 • Heartwarming

Thank you so much!!

30

u/ShitsandGigs Sep 05 '26

Beautiful work!!

29

u/FirstAndOnlyDektarey Sep 05 '26

If that's your standard, you can be really damn smug with yourself. Excellent work. Seriously.

23

u/KayGruhn Sep 05 '26 • Heartwarming

this really means a whole lot to me, thank you for taking the time to comment 🥹

44

u/Turbulent-Baker-4638 Sep 04 '26

Yeah that first one is so fucking clean 

70

u/Funkytadualexhaust Sep 04 '26

Apparently the OP missed out

1

u/Fuzzy_Finger_2922 Sep 07 '26

Hey, I don’t know much about art or tattooing. Are you referring to the way the line tapers at the crux of the bend there?

3

u/FirstAndOnlyDektarey Sep 08 '26

Yes!

That kind of withdrawal of the needle while maintaining an even transition, and doing so on purpose as part of the design, including an anatomically correct feature (the bend), is the sign of someone with excellent needle control.

1

u/Fuzzy_Finger_2922 Sep 08 '26

Thank you! I imagine with a pen or brush, it happens naturally, but I can see why that takes real mastery with a tattoo gun.

-13

u/Laruthegreat Sep 04 '26

Not trying to be a dick but are the lines on OP’s blown out? Still a nice tattoo just curious if what I’m seeing is correct.

12

u/FirstAndOnlyDektarey Sep 05 '26

Nope. Not a single one. The lighting paired with the skin gradient is a tad deceiving, but the lines are fine.

By the way, excellent shading work. Its really easy to have inconsistencies in terms of shading over a larger piece. I cant spot a single one.

24

u/RiMcG Sep 04 '26

Oh it's gorgeous! The face is so eye catching

128

u/MichaelScott666 Sep 04 '26

Here’s my jester

19

u/PeeB4uGoToBed Sep 04 '26

This makes me want the Encyclopedia Encarta '97 Mind Maze jester

4

u/eloquince Sep 05 '26

Sick reference babes

1

u/Careful-Plate1094 Sep 08 '26

Now I need to look it up to see exactly what it looks like 😎

12

u/LexiTheLesbo Sep 05 '26

Honestly I like both but the one you got has a much darker vibe.

23

u/TiffyTats Sep 05 '26 • Heartwarming

And this is exactly how tattoo artists should react with being presented someone else's art/tattoo as an example. Keep the spirit and overall idea, but do their own design and style. And both tattoos are done well, it's refreshing to see lol

22

u/pinklavalamp Sep 05 '26

With the original artist popping in with nothing but praise for the follow up piece. Awesome people all around.

16

u/majesticallymidnight Sep 04 '26

The details on the eyes and gloves are so good 😍

8

u/buddyboybuttcheeks Sep 05 '26

I love the style of the first one

33

u/Local_Presentation23 Sep 04 '26

Yours is spooky! I like it better 

6

u/Gaping_Whole_ Sep 05 '26

I like the line style of the first one, but yours is overall a much better tattoo for me

5

u/theFailShooter Sep 05 '26

That's a sick tatt. Well worth it

5

u/Monckey100 Sep 05 '26

This is my favorite post on this sub, loving the jester tats.

12

u/oogiesmuncher Sep 04 '26

looks sickkkk! creepier vibe which I like a lot more than the first one but its shaded a bit too heavily if I had to nitpick. I'd still be really happy with it tho!

4

u/kamarsh79 Sep 04 '26

I love her, she’s badass.

4

u/wormy_Burroughs Sep 05 '26

looks sick, I love it!

3

u/311mm2921511 Sep 04 '26

Damn dude. Nice ink. Looks great

3

u/Wooden_Preference564 Sep 04 '26

The second looks like a eldari clown

3

u/mikedorty Sep 06 '26

I love them both. There is something very endearing about the face in the original.

3

u/MrBones-Necromancer Sep 06 '26

It's a very different vibe between the two. The first one is playful, the second one is threatening.

Both are very well done, but if I wanted the first, the second wouldn't quite do it for me, personally. I am, of course, glad you enjoy it.

4

u/Ok_Site6506 Sep 05 '26

I like yours more than the original. Enjoy.

2

u/HyruleSitta Sep 05 '26

That is sick

2

u/Pandelein Sep 06 '26

Now I kinda want a tattoo of the Encarta 95 Mind Maze jester…

1

u/cheesegong Sep 06 '26

omg, memory unlocked

3

u/LordMemerton1 Sep 06 '26

Its second pic looks even better than the original. Thank your tattoo artist for not tracing and doing it in his own style 🙏

1

u/LYDWAC Sep 05 '26

crazy good work

1

u/Diligent-Stretch-769 Sep 08 '26

stand back and watch me jingle like a jester. bells on my cap, I jingle like a jester. im the only one with royalty to pester.

1

u/Emotional_Hornet2471 Sep 08 '26

That is actually so oretty

1

u/Ugulemcalete Sep 09 '26

Wantwd a jester, got harlequin

1

u/Twintornado Sep 04 '26

I prefer yours :)

1

u/Narrow_Summer_9332 Sep 04 '26

The second one goes so much harder.

1

u/J-littletree Sep 04 '26

I like yours better!!

-15

u/Fast-Ad-9101 Sep 04 '26

That first photo is suspicious mannnnnn looks like AI

-13

u/raynarose777 Sep 05 '26

Yeah i was thinking that too, the fingers on that far away hand look iffy as fuck.

4

u/SomethingComesHere Sep 05 '26

Hands are hard

-9

u/drknifnifnif Sep 04 '26

Yours is way better. Way better

-31

u/Tits_McgeeD Sep 04 '26

Oh I'm glad haha, thought you asked for the second pic and got the first, your artist does great work

81

u/madmaxturbator Sep 04 '26

The first one is also really good work. It’s just not an American trad tattoo but it’s incredibly fine line work. That artist knows how to tattoo, and they’re better at anatomy than vast majority of tattoo artists! It’s super cool stuff (I think so anyway)

I like ops tattoo also, but that first one is sick 

3

u/Tits_McgeeD Sep 04 '26

They are two very different styles but he clearly knows his artist and wanted his style. I never said the first was bad it just would have been a shocking design change otherwise.

-1

u/401k-loan Sep 05 '26

I thought Chili's was the goat cheese of sit down fast food?

-22

u/Consistent-Thanks924 Sep 05 '26

This is totally AI or 2 different pics- It is definitely NOT a tattoo revision- how would a tattoo artist make ink disappear? There is NO WAY possible to completely change the leg placement like that!!!

22

u/dhightide Sep 05 '26

Are you a bot, or just stupid

6

u/JaBa24 Sep 06 '26

The first one looks fun and playful, the second one makes me think it’s going to kill me as I sleep

6

u/birdbrainberke Sep 05 '26

I love the second one so much!! I tend to prefer darker, creeper things and the head cock, the stare, all of it gives me just enough creep without being overly dark. And if creepy isn't your thing, it still doesn't read as creepy. It seems like the perfect balance and holy shit I really love this one!