Dragon Tattoo Wahiawa

I have 3 tattoos from Lance @ Dragon Tattoo,and mean it with all sincerity when I say he is a living legend,and it is a honor and a priviledge to be able to get a tattoo from him. He does his work professionally and with excellent quality and deep color.
He has the classic & timeless style of the old school sailor/rockabilly type tattoo artists,and he chooses to stick with his speciality. You would swear you are taking a trip back to a better time when you walk into his shop,no loud music and trendy people around,just a shop and a tattoo ARTIST.  
For the lady complainer,you are of the "entitlement generation" and your parents sadly never taught you that just because you "want things your way",does not mean you will always get it.....Lance is the owner that means HE'S the BOSS!!! lol....kids I tell you.

Stumbled across Dragon Tattoo while searching on-line for tattoo shops in the area.  I was immediately interested when I read on the shop's website about Lance McLain knowing and working with legendary artists like Ed Hardy, Mike Malone, and Sailor Jerry.  I went into the shop, which is quite small, and hit it off right away with Lance.  Lance has been tattooing since the early 70's and the years of experience really show.  

He is a very specialized artist, his work is really focused on the old school, traditional style made famous by Sailor Jerry.  This means if you go in with a vague idea about customizing a complex piece of Celtic knot-work he's not going to be receptive.  He will, however, be bluntly honest about not wanting to do the work because it is outside of his area of expertise.  His focus on bold, simple, bright, traditional tattooing does limit what you can get from him but if that's what you want there is absolutely no better place to get it done.

I spent about 4 hours total in his shop talking to him, swapping sea stories, and learning a bit more about old school tattoos while he drew my tattoo, a sailor pin up girl.  Once we got to the tattooing I was really impressed with how confident, smooth, and precise his gun control is.  Every line was done with absolute consistency, no wavering or wiggling.  You can't be a wimp about getting ink, he does make sure that the needles go in good and deep, but in his words he "pound(s) the color in there and make(s) sure it's going to stay."

Pricing was very fair.  For a 6 color piece about the size of my palm the price was much lower than I expected, and certainly very competitive with any other shop in the area.  Given the years of experience and the quality of the work I would actually call the price cheap.

Other reviewers have left negative reviews after NOT EVEN GETTING ANY WORK DONE.  After speaking with Lance, seeing his work, receiving a tattoo from him, and given my decade of receiving tattoos (around 50 hours worth of time under the needle) I am positive that the situation was blown way out of proportion.  When a tattoo artist doesn't feel comfortable doing a tattoo, tells you they aren't comfortable, and chooses to not take your money, you need to realize they did you a favor, not get mad.

If you want bold, simple, traditional tattoos done with absolute precision and technical perfection go talk to Lance, 40 years of experience really shows.

Got tattooed by Lance on vacation, he is a living legend! My tattoo healed perfectly in 4 days and the experience is one I will never forget. If you are looking for a solid tattoo and enjoy excellent stories of years past this is your place. Thanks again Lance when I return I will be visiting again.