Douglas Kulbis is a Fort Collins tattoo artist specializing in Illustrative Realism, with influences from Japanese and American Traditional tattooing. His work often combines detailed imagery, black & grey, stippling, and strong composition while drawing from different tattoo traditions to create pieces that feel distinctly his own.

Douglas especially enjoys tattooing animals, skulls, macabre imagery, weapons, armor, and other subjects with strong visual character. His approach is rooted in custom work, taking a client’s idea and developing it into a design that works both as artwork and as a tattoo on the body.

With years of experience, Douglas is comfortable working across different subject matter and project sizes, but particularly enjoys tattoos that give him room to focus on detail, composition, texture, and strong imagery. His Traditional influences often find their way into his work without limiting a piece to one specific style.

Douglas has been tattooing since 2009, but his connection to tattooing began while serving as an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps. While overseas, he began drawing tattoo designs for fellow Marines, which helped spark the interest that would eventually become his career.

After years of developing his craft, Douglas opened Black Oak Tattoo in Fort Collins in 2021, creating a shop centered around quality tattooing, custom artwork, and giving artists the space to develop their individual styles.

For Douglas, each tattoo is an opportunity to combine strong artwork, thoughtful design, and years of experience into something made specifically for the person wearing it.