Tattoo parlors in the area

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

The last post on this topic that I found in the archives was over a year ago, and things change fast in the body-mod world, so I'm asking again.

Can anyone recommend a good tattoo parlor and/or artist in the area? Preferably one who could look at an existing tattoo and replicate it with minor changes? That would be awesome. Thanks :)

Comments

[exsplusohs.livejournal.com]

I got my tattoo at Painted Bird (They have a shop on Somerville Ave and one in Medford), done by Elize. You can see her artist page here: http://thepaintedbirdtattoo.com/elize.html

My experience was great there. She (and everyone else I met there) was really nice, the shop was clean and she is an incredible artist. I would go back to her in a heartbeat.

[melithiel.livejournal.com]

I just got a tatto at The Painted Bird too. Elize is working from the Medford location now, so I got mine from Abby. She's really talented, and was really nice. The only thing was that they seem a little short-staffed, so she had to get up a couple of times during the tattoo to talk to customers when the counter boy wasn't around.

[autumnsshadow.livejournal.com]

Definitely Darkwave (http://www.darkwavetattoos.com/) in Roxbury. They're right on the Silver Line. Licensed and very clean.

Got THIS PIECE (http://pics.livejournal.com/autumnsshadow/pic/000dsydr/s640x480) done by Chunky May May (http://chunkymaymay.com/) over there and would highly recommend her.

[kidsmokes.livejournal.com]

imo, fat ram in jp is the best. i got my ink done at redemption in porter and am all around satisfied.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

2nd for ram's. that doesn't change.

check out the reviews on yelp as well.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

Is the waiting list still in the 6+ month range? From everything I've heard he's worth the wait, but it's still useful to know.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

depends on who you see. i haven't been in in a bit as i'm dead broke, but for instance, i got my backpiece done by alex, who had a much, much shorter wait time. also depends on what you want done and whether the artist really has to work [as in, do they have to think something up based on ideas, or do you bring in an idea pretty much already as you want it, etc].

anyway, you can get a consult usually within a week though, and certainly whoever is working the front can let you know, they're all super cool.

[publius513.livejournal.com]

Pino Brothers Ink in Inman Square, according to my sister the body mod fanatic.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i got my tat from mike shea at redemption tattoo (http://redemptiontattoo.com/splash.html) and am very very pleased. i wanted a frank lloyd wright style armband, and mike took a couple photos of stained glass windows that i'd printed out and designed a very wright-y tattoo.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if this was mentioned in the older posts about tattoo parlors, but the small shop over on Washington at the McGrath overpass closed last year. Or moved. Or something. Just in case anyone might consider going there, the journey would be futile.

Not that it looked like that a great place, and seemed mostly to cater to former gang members who wanted to cover up their gang tattoos. But they were probably decent enough.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Mongo's Tattoo Madness. I actually got my last tat there and would have loved to go back, but I noticed a few weeks ago that it was no more. alas.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the name. Thanks!

[turil.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the place next to Newbury Comics upstairs in Harvard Square's Garage Mall has a lot of artists working there. I got a small very detailed one with courier font writing from one of the guys there and I was quite happy with the results, but I'm not much of a tattoo connoisseur, and I don't remember his name, so I'm probably not much of a help. :-)

[turil.livejournal.com]

Chameleon (http://chameleonbodyarts.com/home.html) is the one in Harvard Square.

[eclecticavatar.livejournal.com]

I went to Redemption Tattoo on Mass Ave just past Porter towards Arlington. I was really impressed with them.

What I've found, though, is that once you pick a parlor, you're really loyal. Everyone finds something about particular places that really speaks to them. Maybe stop into a few and talk to the artists and check it out for yourself. You'll find a match, for sure!

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

heh, that does seem to be true (re: loyalty) although personally I've got six tattoos and no two of them were done at the same place - more due to circumstance than anything else.

[turil.livejournal.com]

All four(ish) tattoos I've got were from different places.

I guess I just like variety. :-)

Or, really, I just tend to go wherever is easiest for me to get to, and get them so infrequently that the places I went before aren't near me anymore. I would go back to Chameleon, though, if I had the money to get another one.

[rui]

Nthing the recommendation for Redemption outside Porter. I've gotten two (fair sized, full color and shading) tattoos from Erick Lynch there and he does very good work.

[daft.livejournal.com]

What style of tattoo are you looking for? Different artists will excel at different things, but there's few (and none I can think of in the area) who are going to be brilliant at every style.

For blackwork, I second the recommendations for Fat Ram in JP. My fiance has a piece from him that is mind-blowingly clean, sharp, and dark after many years.

For Asian style, I have heard good things about the guys at Redemption.

I'm a New School fan myself, and am hoping to get work from Cory Kruger (http://www.krugertattoos.com/).

If none of this means anything to you, and you're just trying to replicate a previous piece of flash, any of the shops mentioned above will be clean, affordable, and up to the task.

[catling.livejournal.com]

This isn't exactly in the area if you mean Davis/Camberville, but the best tattoo place I know is in Jamaica Pond, near the Stoneybrook T stop. It's called "Fat Ram's Pumpkin Tattoo," and the tattoo artists there are phenomenal. I've gotten two tattoos there and was very happy with their talent, level of professionalism and sanitation, etc.

Here's the website:

http://fatramtattoo.com/

A bunch of my friends have also gotten tattoos there, so I know that my experience was not a fluke. They rock!

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Every single person I've stopped to admire their tattoo, on this side of the river, went to Redemption. A friend got hers at Fat Ram's and it is amazing.

[truffles629.livejournal.com]

Pino Bros at Inman Square.