Brian Kelly

Brian Kelly is an American tattooer and cartoonist based in Berlin. He tattoos in the New Traditional Style, which is a modern interpretation of traditional tattoo designs. He focuses on creating tattoos that are readable, long-lasting, and follow the principles of a good tattoo. Brian Kelly enjoys tattooing in both color and black and grey. His cartooning is black and white, made in analogue fashion on paper, with brushes and ink.

Brian Kelly received a BFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2002. He also began tattooing in 2002, forming the Brian Kelly Army shortly after. He received a MFA from the University of Galway in association with the Burren College of Art in 2006.

When not tattooing, Brian Kelly is usually painting tattoo flash or drawing comics. He takes pride in creating as much flash as he can, with only a brush for his fine line work and soft spit-shaded gradients. Brian Kelly’s collection of tattoo flash, The Cut-Ups: Tattoo Flash from the Third Mind, was published by Schiffer Books in late May of 2022. He is busy at work on the next volume now. His comic book/graphic novel, Francis & The Vegas Tramps was self-published in late 2023.

Brian Kelly has lived in Berlin for the last decade.