Kelly Violet

History & Background

Kelly Violet has carved out a recognizable space in the tattoo world through a focused commitment to black & gray, floral, and dotwork styles. With over 337,000 followers on Instagram, her audience speaks to the demand for her particular blend of botanical precision and ornamental detail. She operates as an independent artist, maintaining creative control over her portfolio and client relationships. Her website, lobstersnatch.com, serves as the primary hub for her professional work and booking inquiries. While specific career milestones and early training details are not publicly documented, the consistency and refinement visible in her portfolio point to years of dedicated practice. Kelly's Instagram presence at @kellyviolence showcases an evolving body of work that has clearly resonated with collectors seeking detailed, nature-inspired tattoo art.

Defining Characteristics

Three techniques define Kelly Violet's work: black & gray shading, floral composition, and dotwork application. Her black & gray pieces rely on smooth value transitions, moving from deep saturated blacks to soft washes that give petals and leaves a sense of dimension without any color. The floral work is not generic. She selects specific botanical subjects and renders them with anatomical accuracy, capturing the veining on a leaf or the layering of overlapping petals. Dotwork enters as both a structural and decorative element. She uses stippled shading to build gradients that feel different from traditional needle shading, creating a slightly textured, almost etched quality. When these three approaches overlap in a single piece, the result is a tattoo that reads like a scientific illustration crossed with fine art printmaking. The restraint of working only in black ink forces a discipline that makes each design decision more visible and more intentional.

Popular Motifs & Subjects

Floral subjects dominate Kelly Violet's portfolio, but the range within that category is broad. Roses, peonies, and lotus flowers appear frequently, often rendered at a scale that allows for interior detail like stamen, petal curl, and shadow depth. Beyond single blooms, she composes multi-element botanical arrangements where flowers interact with vines, leaves, and buds to fill larger areas of skin. Ornamental and mandala-style pieces also surface in her work, leveraging dotwork's natural affinity for geometric repetition and radial symmetry. Some designs incorporate natural specimens like insects, moths, or butterflies alongside botanical elements, creating small ecosystems on the body. The common thread is a preference for organic subjects rendered with technical precision. Even her more decorative pieces maintain a sense of natural growth patterns rather than stiff, mechanical repetition. This organic quality keeps the work feeling alive on the skin rather than stamped or transferred.

Placement & Sizing

Kelly Violet's detailed approach to black & gray, floral, and dotwork tattooing tends to favor placements with enough surface area to let her compositions breathe. Forearms, upper arms, thighs, and the back provide the canvas space needed for layered botanical arrangements and intricate dotwork shading. Smaller pieces do appear in her portfolio, but even those carry dense detail that rewards close viewing. The nature of dotwork and fine black & gray shading means that healing can soften some of the most delicate stippling, so placement on areas with less friction and sun exposure helps preserve longevity over time. Clients considering her work should think about how a design flows with the body's natural contours. Floral pieces, for example, often follow the curve of a shoulder or the line of a ribcage rather than sitting in a rigid frame. Discuss placement directly with Kelly during consultation so she can advise on sizing that holds detail well as the tattoo ages.

Booking & Working with Kelly Violet

Kelly Violet manages her bookings independently. The best way to reach her is through her website at lobstersnatch.com or via direct message on Instagram at @kellyviolence. Because she specializes in detailed, time-intensive work, expect a consultation process where you discuss design direction, placement, and sizing before a session is scheduled. Have reference images ready, but also be open to her artistic interpretation. Artists who work in specific styles like dotwork and black & gray floral often have strong compositional instincts about what translates well to skin. Pricing, minimums, and deposit requirements are not publicly listed, so contact her directly for that information. If you are traveling to work with her, confirm her studio location and any guest spot schedules in advance. For broader exploration before your consultation, browse black & gray and floral tattoo ideas to refine your vision, or use the AI tattoo generator to mock up concepts you can bring to the conversation.