All searches in chit chat and lounge came up with very old threads.

I am looking for recommendations for a tattoo shop in the Raleigh/Cary area for a first time tattoo. It is not complex and will be small.

Any must avoid places? Any must visit places? Specific artists?

Thanks tww

11/27/2010 12:07:11 PM

annie at blue flame

most anyone at phoenix

11/27/2010 12:10:39 PM

Blue Flame or Pheonix is fine. Avoid Wizard's.

11/27/2010 12:18:15 PM

^

11/27/2010 12:20:47 PM

Be sure to get it in an obvious location that you will never be able to hide for job interviews. Otherwise you're just a pussy poser.

11/27/2010 12:24:57 PM

i got all my tattoos in prison.

11/27/2010 12:29:24 PM

I've just got the butterfly on my lower back.

I had soooo many appletinis that night.

11/27/2010 12:46:36 PM

Ok, Ted Mosby

11/27/2010 1:12:46 PM

I had to google that.

I have never watched that show.

11/27/2010 1:16:54 PM

i've had some lettering done by Marco (i think) at Pheonix. pretty nice guy, for what that's worth.

Regardless, you should check out portfolios at a few shops. You can do that online a fair amount, but it can't hurt to go into the shop and take a look at the actual portfolios. If you want color, then look for examples of that, if you want black and grey, then look at that, and if it will mostly be line work, look for good, clean lines.

11/27/2010 1:57:52 PM

When I get the money I want to get my last name written across my back in old english letters. For now I just have a barbwire tattoo around my arm.

11/27/2010 2:05:38 PM

i'd second Annie at Blue Flame, although i got it when she was at Phoenix

it was my first tattoo too and it was about 4.5 hrs but she was good at keeping me from going forward, i went through shock about half way through lol, it was a sunny 80 degree day and i was shivering during the 2 or 3 breaks in between

11/27/2010 3:26:02 PM

^annie did my joey!
she designed it any everything.

i started to fall asleep halfway through lol

11/27/2010 3:44:40 PM

+1 for blue flame

11/27/2010 5:03:07 PM

+1 for don't

11/27/2010 5:32:39 PM

+1 for blue flame

11/27/2010 6:56:53 PM

It's been 4 years since I lived in Raleigh but Blue Flame did all 3 of mine.

11/27/2010 7:34:38 PM

annie @ blue flame, she is the bomb diggity

11/27/2010 7:34:47 PM

Christy at Blue Flame did 2 of my tats, and I've gotten a lot of compliments.

Marco did my 4th tattoo, and his work is beautiful.

Lacie at Phoenix is amazing too.

Really depends on style, tho. Go check out some portfolios.

[Edited on November 27, 2010 at 7:47 PM. Reason : ...]

11/27/2010 7:45:31 PM

this is what i got done on my chest from Annie, well at least the first half of it, the second half was supposed to go wrap around on my back at some point

11/27/2010 8:03:58 PM

11/27/2010 8:19:48 PM

[Edited on November 27, 2010 at 8:48 PM. Reason : .]

11/27/2010 8:48:25 PM

Blue Flame or Phoenix, anyone at either place will do very good work.

11/27/2010 8:58:58 PM

Avoid Phoenix-worst tattoo ever on my wrist now!

Blue Flame(Neal) or Tattoo Zoo(Kevin)

All artists have different styles so you need to find one that suits what you are wanting. Go online and check out their galleries and go into the places and talk to different artists to see who would be the best one for you.

Good luck!

[Edited on November 27, 2010 at 11:57 PM. Reason : /]

11/27/2010 11:57:02 PM

Christy at Blue Flame did several of mine, including a cover up of a botched one from a guy at Blue Flame (whose name I can't remember). I've also seen pictures of an outstanding piece of work by Annie (mentioned several times in this thread), though I haven't worked with her myself.

11/28/2010 8:27:47 AM

thats it, im calling annie after my last exam this week

[Edited on November 28, 2010 at 10:47 AM. Reason : this is Joie damnit damnit. ]

11/28/2010 10:47:07 AM

don't have any personal experiences but my friend always raves about Annie from Blue Flame and gets all his work done there

11/28/2010 1:30:13 PM

I got my first one done at blue flame and would recommend.

11/29/2010 10:14:53 AM

I have had work done by Neil Scroggins and I know he was highly recommended (especially for color stuff)- I don't know where he is now though (if he is even in Raleigh anymore). He kind of bounced around, and when I last heard, was at Blue Flame, but that was well before they moved.


And I have heard great things about annie- I know that is where my Fiance is looking to get her next work done

11/29/2010 10:23:36 AM

You could come to Charlotte and see my guy Billy at Alternative Arts.

11/29/2010 1:25:44 PM

I know you said Raleigh, but Paris Tattoo in Charlotte is probably the best shop in North Carolina. Paris Piedres has lived and tattooed all over the world and in 1998 won the Extra Ordinary Outstanding Artistic Achievement award placing him as one of the top artists in the world. His works has been in many magazines as well. He's designing a custom tat for me at the moment. You may have to wait up to a few months to get an open spot, but it's worth it considering you'll have that ink for the rest of your life.
http://www.paristattoos.com/index.php
















[Edited on November 29, 2010 at 5:10 PM. Reason : .]

11/29/2010 5:04:04 PM

+1 for that guy! ^ nice work

+1 for blue flame if you want to get it done in Raleigh.

11/29/2010 5:11:36 PM

http://www.warlocks-tattoo.com/galleries/

Quote :

"Welcome to the world famous Warlock's Tattoos and Body Piercings. We're Raleigh North Carolina's oldest tattoo shop. We have over fifty years experience and five thousand sheets of reference material to assist you. We specialize in Tattoos, Oral Piercings, and Facial and Body Piercings."

Quote :

"Tattoos We specialize in the creation of highly detailed tattoos to provide our clients with a unique work of art that will magnify who they are. With over 50 years of combined experience, Warlock's can offer you a personalized touch that other tattoo shops cannot match. We've completed over 10,000 tattoos in the past and we are always trying to improve our artistic abilities. Whether you prefer a tattoo from one of our 5,000+ reference sheets, or a custom tattoo that requires free hand skills, we can create the tattoo you've been dreaming of! We provide color tattoos, black/grey tattoos and cover up tattoos, as well as scarification. If you can imagine it, we can do it!"

I've always heard great things about Warlocks, but mostly from people with piercings. They seem to meet your minimum specs though for a small & not complex tattoo. They're in the Raleigh/Cary area (they are in that western blvd shopping center place with the Sonic & Harris Teeter), and they always seem clean and seem to have all the requisite experience & certifications.

11/29/2010 5:31:41 PM

^ Never been to Warlocks, but I too hear good things

11/29/2010 7:25:36 PM

honestly if you are serious about going around different places for tattoos then you really should check out some places in fayetteville, they probably have the most experienced tattoo artist around (just from sheer volume)

11/29/2010 9:50:47 PM

well if tatting 50,000 cursive letters onto Army girlfriends makes you an expert then go for it I guess

11/29/2010 10:07:30 PM

LOL yea I wouldn't expect anything quality to come out of Fayetville.

11/29/2010 11:18:30 PM

Wolf Knife Laser Torch

12/1/2010 11:56:18 AM

^

[Edited on December 1, 2010 at 12:02 PM. Reason : ^]

12/1/2010 12:01:24 PM

OMG I was checking out Annie's work and I LOVE it! what's with all the owls? are they her specialty or something? they're badass!!

http://blueflametattoo.com/annie/

my favorite by far is the light blue owl on the far right, 3rd row down.

12/1/2010 10:05:05 PM

why would you not expect anything good to come out of fayetteville?
is it because you live there and know everything about fayetteville?
or is it because you just assume fayetteville is a bad place and therefore everything from there must be horrible

12/1/2010 10:23:39 PM

yeah, give Fayetteville a break! they're probably awesome at drawing the Tasmanian Devil

12/1/2010 10:32:11 PM

My official recommendation is to think twice, and then some more, about this. You're gonna have to explain this to your grandkids someday, so remember to keep perspective.


Oh, and if you run out of ideas, chinese lettering always looks badasssssssss.

12/2/2010 7:57:11 AM

Thanks for the recommendations guys!

The tattoo is not for me, its a 'gift' for my girlfriend who has wanted one for a while. Its a small one that she designed and drew herself with personal meaning.

Ill have her read over this thread.

Thanks again

[Edited on December 2, 2010 at 8:01 AM. Reason : *]

12/2/2010 8:00:53 AM

Quote :

"Oh, and if you run out of ideas, chinese lettering always looks badasssssssss."

lol

12/2/2010 8:04:20 AM

for those of you with sleeves and half-sleeves, were they designed by you or the artist? I love half-sleeves but i'm honestly not that artistically gifted. I think one of the reasons i've yet to get a tattoo is because of this.

1/14/2011 10:06:11 AM

^ i have about a 3/4 sleeve and the concept is mine. I chose someone i respected as an artist on a whole (not just a tattoo artist) to do it though. And we sort of worked together to come up with the final layout.

That being said, I am somewhat creative/artistic. I have 3 tattoos (1 is just lettering though), and that's how I approached each. I had the concepts in mind, some ideas of design/style, etc. I chose artists who I liked for each specific one. Let them know what I was looking for and went from there. They both delivered imo. And I wouldn't have had either do the other tattoo... if that makes sense.

I did this for 2 specific reasons -

A) short version - it's a specific craft, and they have infinite more experience in it than I. Also, a lot of them are pretty good artists. So I wanted their input.

longer version - Tattooing is a specific medium. And just because I can draw or paint something, that doesn't mean it will make a good tattoo - especially 10yrs after it's done. A good tattoo artist will know what will work as a tattoo (and hold up well) vs what looks amazing on paper. They'll also be able to create a design that works with the shape and flow of your body. That's something that's not too much of concern on a flat piece of paper.

B) A sleeve is a lot of work/time (mine was about 15-16 hrs over 2 days). I felt like the more it was "their" artwork, the more likely it is that they'll be as interested as possible and more likely to do a better job. Thinking every tattoo artist is going to their best regardless of their interest level is naive imo. I've drawn pictures and what not for friends for money. If i'm not that into it, it's really tough to take the time to work on it. I get bored working on it, and I'm less likely to do as good of a job as when I have some vested (creative) interest.

I actually let both of them have a good bit of freedom, including improvising the design along the way -- with some back and forth between them and me before they actually did it. But again, I looked at a lot of their work and made sure we were on the same page concept-wise before giving them that trust.

so yeah, my advice would be to come up with a concept. Look at a ton of tattoo magazines (and art in general) and get an idea for the different styles out there. Find a tattoo artist who works well in that style, and then schedule an appt.

[Edited on January 14, 2011 at 6:28 PM. Reason : .]

1/14/2011 6:24:56 PM

I went to Rock & Roll; one of the guys there was really knowledgeable about sensitive skin, which was good for me, since I have it. Mine was a small tattoo though, pretty simple, so it didn't matter too much who did it.

1/14/2011 7:31:40 PM