Fred Gomes

The new website is out! 🎉 Is it completely perfect? No. But nothing is and It was time to show what I’ve been working on. In this process of rebranding I also found myself figuring out who I am as an artist and what moves me. Here’s a bit of the manifesto I wrote: “It happened again. Staring out the window, grasping for words to help explain what makes my heart beat faster. Music, silence, love, queerness, handmade drawings, vulnerability, soft colors , bright colors, ceramics, food, nature, nostalgia, friendship, inner exploration, cute dogs, fluffy cats, the ocean, the mountains, the clouds, the universe… I think I might love too many things. I think I might love too much. My eyes always focus on beauty, my mind dreams of possibilities, my heart falls for the potential of everything. Maybe it’s the potential of everything that makes my heart race, the escapism of a better everything. Right now I do creative direction, design, photography, illustration and tattoos. Before this I made music, directed a TV show, taught workshops for the EU, hosted several podcasts, designed posters, illustrated books, spoke at universities and helped others build businesses. I connected, I created, I loved. I fell in love with the potential of everything, and I did everything. I love the problems because it leads me to me find solutions, and the solutions were always on the bright, playful, beautiful side of life. I never know what’s next, except the urge to create, to keep falling in love with the potential, to keep finding the beauty.” And now, with my soon to be move to Berlin, I can’t wait to keep on falling in love over and over again. 🥹❤️ Go check out my new website! (Link in bio)

Hi there, cuties! ✨ I’m Fred! I always feel like when I write here, I’m writing to a little room full of friends. But honestly… there are way too many of us to fit in a little room 🙈 Some of you found me through my tattoos, others through podcasts, music, working together, or simply by chance. Some of you have been around so long that I feel like we’ve grown up together. Either way, it’s time I reintroduce myself! I’m Fred and I live in Berlin. I’m a creative director, designer, photographer, illustrator, and tattoo artist with a tendency to fall in love with the potential of everything. About 7 years ago I fell in love with tattooing, which brought me closer to people, feelings, and my own introspection. Since then, I’ve been traveling around Europe, meeting kind people and doing cutesy tattoos along the way. Queerness is present in everything I create, and it’s deeply important to me. Growing up queer, fat, and poor in Portugal in the 90s meant I went through things I never want any child to experience. That’s why I speak up, loudly, about these issues. I believe practicing empathy every single day is the formula for a kinder, fairer world. I’m a feminist, anti-racist, pro-human-rights type of person, the one who will absolutely have a serious talk at a party if someone’s being problematic. I’m now 36, more certain of who I am than ever, and the journey of discovering, reinventing, and falling in love with myself has been the most amazing roller coaster. Here I share the happiest side of my days: illustrations, photography, tattoos, design, and the things that inspire me. I hope what I create here inspires you too, and reminds you to believe in the beautiful side of life, even when it feels hard to find. Now that I’ve introduced myself, go say hi in the comments and tell me about you and how you found me and my work ❤️ @3.14t23 thank you for clicking the button 📸

Hey Berlin cuties 🤍 My bookings are finally opeeeen 🥳 I just moved here and it really feels like the start of a new era. A gentle one. A cute one. Come be a part of it ✨ If you’re new here — hiiii 👋 My name is Fred and I make soft, emotional tattoos about growing up, healing, mental health, self-love, and all the tender little moments in between. You can choose from my flash (check my highlights or website) or we can create something custom together. Let me draw your feelings ✨ To book, head to the link in my bio and fill out the Berlin form. You’ll find all the details there — pricing, sizing, faqs, terms, everything you need 💌 I don’t take bookings or share info via dm, so please make sure to check the form. Let’s make something cute together 🫶

Went for brunch at @onette_berlin and it was delicious ❤️ cozy space, yummy food and friendly staff! Even Semmel approved ❤️ should I start a series discovering places around Berlin? 👀

Reike asked me to create a tattoo about her dogs, Collin and Eli. She had always wanted something for them, but after Collin passed away, she felt the urge to carry him with her on her skin. I felt truly honored to turn this beautiful love into a tattoo. She told me about their travels, running on the beaches of Denmark and picking blueberries in the woods of Sweden. I did not want to create a portrait. I wanted to capture a moment, something where you could feel their happiness and freedom. She chose the design of them running after each other, surrounded by flowers and blueberries. A soft, joyful memory to carry forever. On the day of the appointment, she was unsure about the placement. The design was long, and she was afraid it would feel too big on her arm. I suggested letting Collin and Eli run around her arm, as if they were chasing each other in circles. A poetic way to capture their energy through movement and placement. Luckily, she said yes. It turned out so beautiful. Light, full of joy and life, a little bit cutesy and full of love 🤍 If you want to create something meaningful together, my booking form is open. You can find the link in my bio.

Feeling overwhelmed, like I’m not enough, is always familiar. I’m back to being 10 year old kid. Fat, queer, poor growing up in a small village in rural Portugal. The media and everyone around me keeps telling me everything I am is wrong. I’m too much, too less, too loud, too quiet, I cry too much and and I don’t even know how to sit like a man. So when I’m feeling overwhelmed I know it’s not about what’s happening right now, I know it’s little Fred feeling like there’s no place for him in the world. So I keep saying: “You survived, you thrived, you’re enough and the right path is the one in front of you.”

Most of our adult lives are about reconnecting with the child we once were. To heal them, take care of them, appreciate them, or sometimes to be more like them ✨ Marco told me that growing up, his favorite things were dinosaurs and the universe. In my work, the universe, starry skies, planets, and comets are always about wonder. They remind us that we are part of something bigger, something magical. So when I was designing this tattoo, it made perfect sense that this dinosaur was exploring the universe as if it belonged there. I see this tattoo as a reminder not to lose the connection with the kid we once were. They always know better. They are the most honest version of ourselves. In this case, it’s about never losing our sense of wonder. If you’ve been wondering what your next, or first, tattoo could be and don’t know where to start, tell me about the things you loved as a kid 😊 Let me draw your feelings. Sometimes tattoos can carry a lot of meaning and a lot of feeling without being complex. This is a good example. Thank you for trusting me and my work, Marco ❤️ If you want to get a tattoo with me, check the booking form. Link in bio.

A friend told me the most exciting part about moving countries is that you get to reinvent yourself. A kind of permission to start over. That clicked somehow. I get to be the person I want to be, fully and without limits. The fun, and also terrifying, part has been figuring out what I actually want and allowing myself to just be. Life lately has been more time in my head than on paper. Running around the city in awe, seeing art and live music, meeting after meeting. Getting excited and overwhelmed, then disappointed and frustrated. Walking in the snow, trying not to slip on the ice. People watching and wondering if that life is the one I’m chasing. January is gone, and I feel like the answers might come with spring. Until then, if life keeps giving me exactly this, it’s still pretty good 🤍

There’s a saying that no man is an island, when Jule asked me to create this arm band about the ocean and islands I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I just moved countries and, sometimes, I too feel like an island. From the outside, an island can look still, even lonely. But it’s never not moving. It’s carried by something bigger, slowly traveling, shaped by currents we don’t always see. I love the idea that even when we feel stuck or unchanged, we are still in motion. That there’s so much happening beneath the surface. The ocean holds so much more than what’s visible from above, and so do we. Jule came to me for two armbands on the same day. One inspired by mountains (check my last tattoo post), and this one by the ocean and islands. Thank you, dear Jule, for trusting me with both of these pieces and for such a beautiful, calm session. 🫂🌊 If you’d like to get tattooed by me, you can find all the info in my booking form (link in bio). I don’t take bookings through DMs — everything goes through the form and email.

Frozen rivers, the sun hanging low, blue skies, too many layers of clothing, more sketches than final designs, Berlioz demanding cuddles all day, introspection, and the slow turning of a house into a home. I don’t know how else to explain it except that life feels fast while the days move slowly. I keep searching for a rhythm, not a routine, and I am still figuring out what that means. Nothing is unfolding the way it is supposed to, but honestly, when was the last time it did? And when was that ever a bad thing? As soon as one path closes, three more seem to open, and I keep wondering which one is right. I spent the last year rushing, trying to get to Berlin, and my heart is still moving at that pace. There is an urgency to get everything right, right now. Today, following Google Maps to a meeting, I chose a longer route because the fastest one was not the prettiest. Walking beside a frozen, quiet Berlin, I realised I am already here. There is no need to rush. It is okay to disagree with Google Maps, not just on the way to a meeting, but in life.

Like mountains, we carry depth. ✨ We hold what is hidden and what is still growing. Our strength is not only in what stands tall, but in what endures quietly and holds everything together. We are mountains, layered, alive, and whole. 🫂 I have been drawing these people who are also mountains for a while now. The first time I did it, I think I was trying to calm myself, as if reminding myself that everything has its rhythm, even when it feels like nothing is moving. When Jule reached out to me, she told me she wanted a full composition of these mountain people that would wrap around her arm. I immediately saw the image of what she wanted. I am so happy with the result. 🥹❤️ We also did another armband on Jule the same day, but I will share that one another time. 🙊 Thank you, dear Jule, for trusting me and my work, and for such a lovely session 😊 I am back to tattooing, now in Berlin. Check out my booking form, link in bio, for more information.

The days have been busy and short. Everyone warned me about the cold in Berlin, but I think it is the short days that are harder to get used to. Time feels like snow falling in my warm hands, just melting and dripping away. My to-do list is not realistic, but my fear of failing is bigger. Moving countries requires courage, trust, and patience. I feel like I have always been courageous. I trust myself more now than I ever did before, but I am still learning how to be patient. My head is always living in the future, my heart tries to keep up with it, and life does not change its pace for any of it. The icy streets of Berlin have been a good reminder to slow down. If I try to run, I will end up on the floor, literally. It is so slippery outside that it is quite lucky I have not fallen yet. The shorter days also make me want to go outside more, to enjoy every bit of light before it is gone. This weekend we walked around some flea markets, parks, and ponds. Literal ponds. Snow and ice still feel magical to me. To walk on a frozen pond is magical. And as we walked around, everyone moved slowly, like penguins on a march, afraid to fall, but steady and strong. Maybe there is a lesson here too. Like walking on a frozen street, even if I am afraid of failing, or falling, if I go slow and steady I might reach my destination intact.