Rita: Floral Tattoos in Vienna

Rita has been tattooing since 2021. She started with fine line work, and today her focus is on fine lines, floral designs and ornamental shapes. Flowers are often drawn freehand, directly on the skin.

Rita tattooing at True Canvas in Vienna, photographed at work in the studio

Thin outlines, soft grey gradients, dotted shadows

Rita works with fine lines and soft grey gradients. Flowers are often drawn freehand on the skin, alongside animals, lettering and ornamental shapes.

Depth in Rita's work does not come from heavy black. The line stays fine and understated, and the shading comes from soft grey gradients and dotted areas, which keeps even large pieces light.

Around the blooms sit ornamental shapes that hold a composition together. Lines that frame a design, leaves that set a direction, small elements that fill a gap.

Floral tattoo in Vienna: large fine line bloom composition across the whole back, set along the spine

Floral tattoo in Vienna: peonies and cherry blossoms across the forearm, with a small paw print among the leaves

From fine line to a style of her own

Rita, born in 1997, is originally from Ukraine. Art has been part of her life since childhood: she started drawing early, went to art school and later studied at an art academy. Before coming to Vienna, she tattooed in Barcelona.

What she learned there is the core of her work today: she can combine techniques and styles instead of committing to a single one.

Fine line tattoo in Vienna: lilies on the forearm with finely drawn stamens

Flowers often take shape on the skin

Rather than fixing a design on paper, Rita draws many of her floral pieces directly on the body. There is a practical reason for that: a vine following the hip line and a branch wrapping around the upper arm work better when they are drawn directly on the body instead of on a flat template.

It is also why her large scale pieces sit so calmly. The further a line runs, the more of the body's own shapes it picks up.

How differently the same subject can look from one artist to the next is covered in our article on floral tattoos.

Floral tattoo in Vienna: a large bloom in detail, worked across hip and thigh

Realistic detail, graphic elements, ornamental shapes

Rita likes to combine things that do not obviously belong together. A realistically shaded subject next to a clear graphic shape, fine outlines next to stippled surfaces, with geometric elements or lettering added in.

The result is a tattoo that does not follow a single style but forms a composition of its own. On larger projects, that is the real work.

Sometimes it is not easy at first to bring all the ideas together. But that is exactly where the magic starts for me, when all those separate ideas suddenly turn into one design where everything fits.

Fine line tattoo in Vienna: moon with a ring and lettering on the upper arm

Animal tattoo in Vienna: cat portrait in soft grey tones on the upper arm

Animal tattoo in Vienna: sea turtle in fine detail on the forearm

Animals and designs from nature

Alongside flowers, animals are among her favorite projects. She works those more realistically than the florals, with soft grey tones and a lot of detail in a small space.

Animal tattoo in Vienna: dragonfly with finely drawn wings on the forearm

Small tattoo in Vienna: postage stamp with a bird on the upper arm, fine and detailed

Fine line tattoo in Vienna: fine line lettering across the back

From small and minimalist to large-scale

Rita works on small, quiet tattoos as readily as on large projects. The approach stays the same: the same fine line, the same soft grey tones, on a smaller or larger scale.

Small designs make every millimeter count. Fine line lettering or a postage stamp on the upper arm leaves little room to adjust: placement, size and line weight have to be right from the start.

Tattoos with Rita

Rita is a good fit for floral designs in fine line, for ornamental compositions, for animals and nature, and for larger projects that bring several ideas together.

What helps with your inquiry: your idea, references, the placement you have in mind and an approximate size. If you are unsure which flower it should be, that can be settled in conversation, and the shape often comes together while drawing on the body.

What she values as much as the drawing are the people who come to her:

Almost every day I meet new people who come to me with their own ideas and often very personal stories. Every encounter is different, and that is what helps me see the world from more than one angle. For me, tattooing is much more than drawing on skin. It is a mix of art, creativity, encounters and stories that make every project special in its own way.

If this will be your first tattoo, the whole process is covered on our page about your first tattoo. For the other styles we work in, see our overview of tattoo styles.

Rita at True Canvas

It started in 2023 with a guest spot. Shortly after, Rita became a permanent part of the team.

For an overview of the whole team, see our artists, and international guest artists come to Vienna regularly.

You can see more of Rita's work on her Instagram profile.

Send us your idea, your references and the placement you have in mind through our inquiry form.