Antony Flemming

History & Origins

Antony Flemming built his reputation in Calgary, Alberta, developing a style that bridges Western realism and Japanese tattoo tradition. Operating under the Six and Grace brand, he has cultivated a significant following, with over 93,000 Instagram followers tracking his latest pieces. His online presence reflects consistent output and a clear artistic identity. Calgary's tattoo scene has grown steadily over the past decade, and artists like Flemming have helped raise the city's profile in the broader Canadian tattoo community. While specific details about his apprenticeship or early career are not publicly documented, the technical quality of his current work speaks to years of dedicated practice. His website and Instagram serve as his primary portfolios, where prospective clients can review recent projects before reaching out to book.

Defining Characteristics

Flemming's work stands out for how it merges three demanding styles into a cohesive visual language. His realism shows in the precise rendering of portraits and reference material. Skin tones, facial features, and textures come through with strong contrast and accurate proportion. His Japanese pieces draw on traditional compositional rules, flowing backgrounds, wind bars, water, and floral elements that frame central subjects. The black and gray execution ties everything together. Smooth gradients, controlled saturation, and clean value shifts give his pieces depth without relying on color. What makes his approach effective is the restraint. He does not over-saturate or over-detail. The negative space in his Japanese work and the tonal control in his realism both show an artist who understands when to stop. That balance is hard to teach and harder to maintain across different subject matter.

Popular Motifs & Subjects

Within his three specialties, certain motifs appear regularly in Flemming's portfolio. Realism pieces often feature portraits, both celebrity and personal, rendered with attention to light direction and facial structure. Animal portraits also show up, particularly dogs and wildlife, where fur texture and eye detail become focal points. His Japanese work includes classic subjects: koi fish, dragons, cherry blossoms, peonies, and samurai figures. These are composed with traditional background elements like waves and wind bars that give the pieces movement and narrative context. Black and gray religious imagery, skulls, and roses round out the common subjects. The crossover between styles is where his work gets interesting. A black and gray portrait framed by Japanese floral elements, or a realistic koi rendered in grayscale, shows how his specialties feed into each other rather than sitting in separate silos.

Placement & Sizing

Realism and Japanese tattooing both demand space. Flemming's style works best on larger canvases where detail has room to breathe. Full sleeves, back pieces, and thigh panels give his compositions the area they need for background elements and smooth tonal transitions. Smaller pieces are possible, particularly with black and gray work, but the realism and Japanese styles both benefit from scale. A portrait needs sufficient size to capture the subtle shifts in value that make a face recognizable. Japanese motifs need room for the flowing backgrounds that make the style work. Common placements for his work include the outer forearm and full sleeve for Japanese pieces, the chest and back for larger compositions, and the inner bicep or calf for medium-scale black and gray. If you are considering a smaller piece, discuss sizing minimums with him directly. Some subjects simply do not read well below a certain scale.

Choosing an Artist

Selecting a tattoo artist comes down to three things: style match, technical skill, and communication. Flemming checks the first two clearly. If you want realism, Japanese, or black and gray work in Calgary, his portfolio demonstrates consistent quality across all three. The communication piece is on you. Reach out through his website or Instagram with a clear idea of what you want. Reference images help. So does knowing your preferred size and placement. Be upfront about your budget range. Artists appreciate clients who respect the consultation process. Before committing, review his recent work on Instagram, not just the highlights. Look at healed photos if available. A tattoo that looks sharp fresh but fades poorly is not worth the investment. Also compare his style to other Calgary tattoo artists to make sure the fit is right. Different artists interpret the same style differently, and finding one whose visual sensibility matches yours makes the whole process smoother.