Inside the Palette: How Thomas Carli Jarlier Builds Depth with Black & Gray

Creating a realistic portrait in black and gray takes more than strong black ink and some well-executed shading. It takes an ink palette that gives you complete control over value, contrast, and subtle tonal shifts, from your darkest black inks to your lightest grays.

That's exactly what inspired world-renowned realism artist Thomas Carli Jarlier to create the Noire Ink Set with us. The set is based on his own black and gray process, and offers a carefully calibrated range of neutral black inks and gray washes that work together, helping you unlock your most lifelike black and gray realism yet. This blog has everything you need to know about this set and how it can change your whole approach to black and gray work.

But First, Meet Thomas Carli Jarlier

Thomas Carli Jarlier's path to tattooing wasn't exactly traditional. While studying music in London, he picked up a tattoo machine and started with small pieces. What began as a side pursuit quickly became a calling.

Over the years, Thomas devoted himself to refining a style that would become unmistakably his own: black-and-gray realism defined by exceptional depth, contrast, and texture. Today, he owns Noire Ink Studio in Clermont-Ferrand, France, where he tattoos alongside a team of accomplished artists.

A quick scroll through Thomas's Instagram makes one thing instantly clear: he's a master of realism. His portfolio spans everything from iconic pop culture portraits, like Wednesday Addams, to mythological figures such as Athena, rendered with lifelike precision and intricate armor details. Every tattoo strikes a remarkable balance between meticulous detail and visual restraint, so the tattoos look effortless.

But they’re not. That top-tier level of realism doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of lifelong experience and a carefully chosen palette.

How Thomas Approaches Black-and-Gray Realism

If you've ever watched Thomas tattoo, one thing’s clear: he isn't trying to make every part of the tattoo equally detailed. In his own teaching, he comes back to the same idea again and again—the art of realism is really the art of values. It's less about copying every pore or wrinkle from a reference photo and more about understanding where the viewer’s eye should go first.

That's where your values come in.

The darkest blacks grab your attention and anchor the main subject. Midtones do the heavy lifting, adding form, depth, and those buttery-smooth transitions that make a portrait feel alive. And as for the lightest values: they give the eye somewhere to rest, keeping the tattoo from feeling muddy or overworked.

Even the parts you barely notice are doing something important. Softer contrast lets background textures and supporting elements quietly fade away, while richer blacks and crisp edges pull your focus right back to the subject.

It's all a balancing act with every value serving its purpose. 

A Close Look at Thomas Carli Jarlier’s Ink Sets

Thomas Carli Jarlier has two signature ink sets with World Famous Ink, both designed to help you achieve that balancing act: the Noire Ink Set and the Volcanic Tones Set. While they’re both built for black-and-gray realism, they approach the process from different angles.

The Noire Ink Set

The Noire Ink SetOpens a new window is Thomas’s original signature palette. It’s built around the way many realism artists work: combining transparent washes, opaque grays, and carefully selected values to create depth, texture, and smooth layering. Instead of following a strict light-to-dark progression, Noire gives you a range of ink consistencies designed for different stages of the tattoo—from soft shading and atmospheric effects to stronger saturation and contrast.

The set includes six inks:

1. Noire WashOpens a new window – A transparent gray wash designed for soft shading, smooth transitions, atmospheric effects, and subtle texture.
2. Rolling StoneOpens a new window – A lighter opaque gray that adds more saturation while maintaining soft value shifts and smooth blends.
3. StonehengeOpens a new window – A balanced mid-tone gray for building form, creating dimension, and transitioning between values.
4. Battleship GreyOpens a new window – A darker opaque gray for strengthening contrast, deepening shadows, and adding weight to a composition.
5. Outlining InkOpens a new window– A rich black for outlines, deep shadows, and the darkest values in a piece.
6. Portrait WhiteOpens a new window – A bright white for selective highlights, accents, and finishing details.

If you’re looking to build realism through layering and blending, this set is for you. It works with your process of moving between gray wash, opaque gray, and black for texture and depth. This palette is also versatile enough to adapt to your own unique way of working. 

The Volcanic Tones Set

Rather than focusing on different ink behaviors, Volcanic TonesOpens a new window is built around a defined grayscale system. Every gray in the set is made using only black and white pigments, creating neutral healed tones without unexpected color shifts. As part of the EU REACH-compliant World Famous Limitless line, the set gives you a predictable range of opaque grays organized into light and dark value groups.

Here’s what’s in the set:

1. Lighttone Light – A soft opaque gray for lighter areas, subtle transitions, and the beginning stages of value building.
2. Lighttone Medium – A mid-light gray for shaping forms and adding dimension.
3. Lighttone Dark – A deeper light gray that bridges lighter values into stronger shadows.
4. Darktone Light – A darker value for developing depth while keeping transitions smooth.
5. Darktone Medium – A richer gray for stronger contrast and more pronounced shadows.
6. Darktone Dark – A deep gray for heavy shadows and areas that need additional weight.
7. Thomas Carli Black – An extra-thick signature black for the deepest values, structural definition, and maximum contrast.
8. Straight White – A bright white for highlights and finishing details.

If you prefer a more methodical, clearly defined way of working, this set is for you. Instead of mixing or adjusting values throughout a tattoo, you can move through a ready-made grayscale system with clearly defined steps from light to dark.

Which Set Is Right for You?

No matter which set you choose, both reflect Thomas’s approach to realism: 

• Understanding values
• Controlling contrast
• Using the right tone in the right place

The difference comes down to your workflow. Noire gives artists you more flexibility between washes and opaque tones, while Volcanic Tones gives you a more structured value map.

Building Smoother Gradients and More Depth

Better black-and-gray tattoos start with a clear plan. Here are a few key steps you can use to get more control and dimension in your realism work.

Step 1: Plan the full value range: Identify the deepest shadows, main midtones, soft transitions, highlights, and areas of open skin before you begin tattooing.

Step 2: Work through neighboring gray values: Avoid jumping straight from black to a pale tone. Smaller shifts between values can create smoother gradients and give you better control over the form.

Step 3: Adjust the contrast by area: Keep secondary elements softer to create distance. Then, use darker values, sharper edges, and clearer details to bring the main subject forward.

Step 4: Protect the lightest areas: Preserve highlights and open skin from the start. White can strengthen selected accents, but it can’t replace thoughtful value planning.

Bring More Control to Your Black-and-Gray Work

Check out all the inks inspired byThomas’s approach to contrast, tone, and depth. Shop the complete Thomas Carli Jarlier collectionOpens a new window and start leveling up your black-and-gray work.