I got my first tattoo here 6 years ago and am still unhappy with it. I brought in an image with me of an art nouveau woman in a fabulous dress, but it was only half a woman. They (I believe it was Greg) drew up a sample finishing the dress, adding legs and feet to the woman. The drawing itself was amazing and I couldn't wait to get it done. I went to Jimi's because it had been voted Best Tattoo Parlor in Ventura County, I thought, "hey, all these people can't be wrong!" Well, they kinda were.
It's a fairly large piece on the bottom half of my back, and it took 6 hours and two sittings to do. I immediately felt the pervy vibe as some others had mentioned, but I thought, hey, he's a tattoo artist, I'm not here to judge on character, I'm here for a tattoo. I should have listened to myself. Jimi took some artistic liberties with the woman and gave her huge Double D boobs when in the original drawing, and the stencil only had her with normal sized boobs. And the face, oh god, the face. The face has no distinguishable characteristics. It's all just a mash of black lines. Her jaw, her neck, her nose, her lips, all just a MESS. No details, just messy. It breaks my heart. The first tattoo was extremely symbolic (as I'm sure most people's tats are) and it's all a mess. I hate showing it off, I hate spotting it in the mirror.
However, the dress is done very nicely, and the shading is done very well, and it has stood up very well in the past 6 years. (although I suspect because it never sees the light of day). I wanted to have it colored in when I first got it, but Jimi said that he couldn't do the colors I wanted. He only had very bright colors, and all I could think, was "no way I'm getting these clown colors on this piece of art nouveau!" I stuck with just a black and grey tattoo and hope to find an artist somewhere that can color it the way I want it, fix those horrid Double D boobs that no one asked for, and that mess of a face.
Sure, go to Jimi's for a tattoo, a brightly colored shape, or some classic old school tat; he seems to make lots of people happy. I'm not one of those people though. I wish I would have done more research and found someone who could accomplish the piece of art I wanted. Oh well.
Love Jimi's I have several tattoos by him, and some from others. I took my daughter to Jimi for her first tattoo and have had no problems, would recommend Jimi with no hesitation. Jimi did my first tattoo in 1994 I moved back and brought my daughter in, in 2010 for her first tattoo. He remembered me, which tattoo I got and the tattoo and piercing of the two people with me back then. (I had not been there since the tattoo and was surprised that he remembered.) Thanks Jimi!
Review Source:It seems that almost everyone that has a tattoo that I know has been to jimi's and almost all of them have had a similar experience. I, of course had my first tattoo (back when I was inexperienced and a naive 18 year old) and at that time there were slim pickings of tattoo shops around. First off jimi, isn't the one drawing the tattoos, his brother is, he just traces them on :/
Girls beware, if you get a tattoo you may be asked to remove or lower your pants and pull or lower your shirt far away from the spot that's being tattooed and told it's "in the way" Â He is also known for signing the tattoos with starbursts even if you say no...an old friend wanted regular stars and he thought these would look better...and I've seen the same thing on countless of people, perfect!
Also, he uses sharpies for marking where you will get pierced...um how do you sanitize a sharpie? bleh.
There are numerous of shops on main st in Ventura, I'm sure you can find a great artist. If you're considering a tattoo and you've never had one before, research your artist, look at portfolios, talk to people with other tattoos similar to the style you're looking for, just don't walk in and point to something on the wall- it is forever!
I have two pieces from Jimi's, a Seabee and a petroglyph. Both are clear, concise and still colorful as the day I got them. It was so good, I had it signed! Â Jimi's is recognized all over the world in the military. I finished one piece and was able to catch a ride back to the base. Â Every deployment, Jimi's adds a piece of artwork to commemorate.
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