The Vision: A Grin You Can Wear
I was eight years old the first time I saw a copy of Alice in Wonderland. It wasn't the story that got me, it was the cat. That grin. It felt less like a smile and more like a secret, a piece of the universe folded into itself and grinning back at you. I spent years trying to draw it, to capture that specific brand of impossible, and I always failed. The paper was too flat. The ink was too obedient. It took becoming a tattoo artist, and a client with a truly wild idea, to finally get it right.
The Vision: A Grin You Can Wear
This piece isn't an illustration from the book. It's the feeling of the book. It's the disorienting, delightful moment when logic dissolves and something more interesting takes its place. The client came to me at Montana Tattoo Company with a simple, brilliant request: "I want the Cheshire Cat, but I want him to look like he's made of the wonderland he lives in." That was the key. Not a picture of the cat, but the cat as a vessel for the entire surreal landscape. The long, skeletal neck built from stripes. The body that seems to phase in and out, part creature, part cartoon, part blueprint. And those mushrooms, not just background, but active participants in the scene, glowing with their own internal light. This is where color realism meets surrealism head-on. The goal was to make the impossible feel tangible, to give weight to a dream.
Think your idea is too out there? Let's talk. Book Now for a consultation and we'll build it together.
The Technical Craft: Building a Dream from Skin
This is where the rubber meets the road, or more accurately, where the needle meets the skin. A surrealism tattoo like this lives or dies in the transitions. How do you make a stripe feel solid and ethereal at the same time? How do you render a comic book grin with the depth of color realism? The answer is in the layers. The blue and white stripes on the cat's form aren't just lines; they're built with washes of color to suggest volume, with sharp, crisp edges to maintain that graphic, almost mechanical comic book aesthetic. The mushrooms use a completely different texture—softer, more organic blends to contrast with the cat's constructed feel. The biggest challenge, and my favorite part, was that grin. It had to be cartoonishly wide but anchored in realistic shading, so it looked like it could actually exist on that face. It's a balancing act between multiple styles, and it requires a specific kind of focus. You have to think in three different artistic languages at once.
The Collaboration: Client as Co-Conspirator
The best tattoos are conversations, not monologues. This client brought the perfect energy: trust and specificity. They knew they wanted the iconic character, but they were brave enough to let it evolve. During our sessions at the studio, we'd look at the progress and they'd say things like, "Can we make that mushroom look more like it's glowing from within?" or "What if the stripes here felt a little more like energy?" That feedback is gold. It pushes the piece beyond my initial drawing and into something neither of us could have fully pictured alone. They weren't just getting a tattoo; they were helping to engineer a pocket universe on their arm. That collaborative spirit is what makes custom work at Montana Tattoo Company so special.
Why Noelin Wheeler for Your Surreal Vision
Not every tattoo artist in Missoula is fluent in the language of dreams. My work lives in the space where precise, realistic technique collides with unrestrained imagination. I treat skin like a canvas for the fantastical, whether it's a biomechanical sleeve or a grinning cat from a childhood story. I'm obsessed with the technical puzzle of making unreal things feel vividly, undeniably real. If you have an idea that feels a little impossible, that's exactly where I want to start.
Ready to make your surreal idea a permanent reality? Book Now and let's begin.
Noelin Wheeler is available for consultations at Montana Tattoo Company. Ready to start your custom tattoo? Book a consultation with Noelin Wheeler today. Explore Noelin Wheeler's portfolio and see more work at their artist page. The studio offers world-class custom tattooing with aftercare, directions, and booking available 24/7 at 406-215-4321. Walk-ins welcome, appointments preferred. Let's create something extraordinary together.
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