Sutherland MacDonald was a comparable artist to Riley.

Like Riley, MacDonald learned tattooing during his service period in the British Army, whereas he had the bonus of visiting an art-school.

Around 1890 he opened a modern studio in London and presented himself as a respectable professional. He named himself “Tattooist” and not “Tattooer” as usual. The reason was, that the word “Tattooist” sounded more like “Artist” instead of the “er” which sounded more like “Plumber”. Whereby he was right. This very day you should make differences in artist work and technical good work.

The skill to be able to create new pictures should be the main goal, not always copying the same picture over and over again.

Sutherland MacDonald was a man of some account at the Royal Navy. He went to Plymouth and was invited to the Admirals yacht in order to visit the war-ships. There, he tattooed Admiral Montgomery and other officers. Journalists wrote, that he made the finest Tattoos the world has ever seen. And he was not only working as good as the Japanese but also has really improved his style!

Another newspaper reported that he levied the tattooing to real art.

Sutherland MacDonald tattooed up to his death in 1937.