Portland-based tattoo artist Winston the Whale creates simple yet impressive 3D tattoos that make viewers feel like they are experiencing blurry vision.

Winston the Whale started making his signature 3D tattoos after a friend asked him if he could make a three-dimensional design for him. It ended up better than he’d hoped, so he kept making them. To be clear, the artist’s artworks aren’t really 3D, they just have that nostalgic red-and-blue color scheme and overlapping pattern that tricks the viewers’ eyes into thinking they are seeing double. Even though trippy, colorful tattoos are now his bread and butter, 3D tattoos still have a special place in Winston’s heart.

Photos: Winston the Whale/Instagram

“I think people like 3D tattoos so much because they are just for fun and very trippy to look at,” he told BuzzFeed back in 2016, when his designs went viral for the first time. “It’s also very nostalgic. Everyone knows that classic red and blue 3D look and so it is something that is familiar for them.”

Winston’s tattoos are usually fairly minimalistic, featuring simple designs, but the way he overlaps the red and blue or black and blue shapes to trick the eyes of the beholder is simply fascinating.

“It was totally experimental and I really wasn’t sure how it would look, but it turned out awesome and the response from it on Instagram was phenomenal,” the artist told BuzzFeed.

For more of Winston the Whale’s tattoos, check out his Instagram, and for more awesome tattoo styles, feel free to check out the sticker-like tattoos of Clayton Dias, Amanda Graves’ glitter tattoos, or Jonny Hall’s amazing UV tattoos. These are just some of the awesome tattoo styles we’ve featured on Oddity Central over the years.