I am so late writing this - but Dodge at Koi tattoo deserves a rave review.
Dodge isn't the type to do touristy tats - so you better be serious and have a thoughtful idea of what you want. Â He is a local artist and takes a lot of pride in that.
I was able to chat with him with what I wanted and two days later came back to an awesome sketch. I loved it so much I changed my mind from it going on my back to my bicep.
That area is known for being so painful that macho of men have told me they cried like a baby getting a tat there - but I gotta say - Dodge has such a light hand it wasn't bad at all.  I have five other  tattoos so I know what to expect - and it was not any where near as painful as I expected.
Even before we got started he let me take as long as I needed to make sure I had it in the perfect place on my arm - while giving me his honest feedback.
The whole process was great and Dodge is a fun artist to shoot the shit with while you are trying to ignore the crazy pain. He's fun, nice and chatty.
As someone who was a total tourist - I am so lucky to have gotten work done my Dodge. I am pretty sure while this is not my biggest tattoo - it's my most expensive. Â And every time I look at I know it is worth every damn penny.
Dodge and Lisa do great work. Â My younger brother went to Dodge and he did superb work. Â I had back work done about two years ago with Lisa. She recreated my vision superbly.
Recently I went to Dodge as I could only get tatts on a certain day and Dodge was available. Dodge is very chill and cool. I highly suggest both Lisa and Dodge.
Know that they do not accept credit cards. Cash only. The quality of their work is very high and they listen to you and what you want. They are both easy going and they do not make you feel intimidated. I like that.
I highly suggest both of them. Both of them are masters at what they do. I drive all the way from the East Si' to Kailua just get work done at Koi Tattoo. They are that good. I'm very pleased. I highly suggest!
I will be back again :)
I had a back piece done by Lisa. She is exceptionally talented. She is patient and has a soft hand, but still somehow works really fast. I uploaded a pic of what she came up with for me. You can't tell by looking but it is a cover. She is a gifted artist and if you let her, she can blow your mind with what she comes up with! Â Couldn't recommend her more!
Review Source:We went to hawaii on vacation to visit family and to get some R&R and before leaving i'd decided to get another tat the day before our departure. Asked my wife if she wanted to get her first tat as well ( she already had her mind set on one ) So we called koi tattoo to set up an appt for my wife and i to get another tat by dodge since he did my first tat on my back 11 years ago when he first opened and i still love it. Got there and of course they were both ( dodge and lisa ) busy with clients. I didnt know much about Lisa's work since 11 years ago dodge was just starting his business in Hawaii. Didn't know exactly what I wanted so beforehand I bought a book called "the Polynesian tattoo today" Â and came across a pic of some work that I liked and it was from Lisa at "koi tattoo" what a coincidence. So we showed up for our appt to talk to dodge about what we wanted and showed him what I saw in the book and noticed it was Lisa's work that I was looking at. He introduced me to her for a second and she continued to work on a client. So we told dodge what we both wanted. He referred me to Lisa to do my tat. The reason being is that the work I wanted was similar to what I saw in the book but changed a few things as well as added to it. They asked when we wanted it done and we said on friday. They said that they will be at the blaisdell for the expo and asked if we wanted to do it there so my wife and i agreed. Dodge said he would do the tat that my wife wanted since it was a smaller piece and that he had to do a painting that night after he did my wife's tat. My wife's tat took about 30 min and she loves it of course and Lisa showed me what came up with for myself and i was impressed. It depicted my hawaiian lineage and family aumakua. It took 6 hours to do and i couldn't have been any happier when i saw the finished piece. Looking forward to next year and to add to it. Dodge and Lisa are the two most down to earth people you you will ever meet they have the aloha spirit in them and I'm so glad to have them both as our tattoo artists. They both do amazing work and if you are ever on Oahu go to koi tattoo and will never be disappointed. Mahalo dodge and Lisa
Review Source:I wanted to get my first tattoo while I was back home in Hawaii visiting family. Â I did a thorough search online for various tattoo shops and was impressed with Koi Tattoo in Kailua. Â I was equally impressed with artist, Lisa. Â I had an idea for a Hawaiian arm band and so I emailed her. Â Lisa was amazing! Â She responded very quickly, was very professional, she understood what I wanted and so I booked an appointment from out of state. Â I am so very happy with how my tattoo turned out. Â I was a bit nervous about it all, but Lisa was calm, cool and collected and knows her stuff. Â She is a wonderful artist, and made the process bearable. Â She also has a light touch and that really helped. Â Lisa was prepared and drew out my artwork ahead of time and was very efficient with time. Â I feel fortunate to have found Lisa and Koi Tattoo. Â If I get inked again, it will definitely be with her.
Review Source:I had my first tattoo done by Dodge at Koi Tattoo in Kailua and I couldn't be more happy with the results. Â The shop is clean, staff is friendly, Â the artwork was amazing and the artist is pretty gentle with the needle. Â I appreciated that getting my first tat on my ribs. Â I would absolutely go back to Koi for more work and would recommend anyone I know who wants a tattoo to go there as well.
Review Source:Everyone's raving about Dodges work, which I agree is fantastic, but no one's given props to Lisa yet!!!
She's the most fantastic artist I've ever seen! I LOVE HER! Her work is so great, I keep going back time and time again. I recently started a pretty huge back piece with Lisa, a peacock, and her sketches blew me away. Above and beyond the farthest reaches of my imagination. I feel like her work is so feminine and flows so beautifully with the contours of the body. I have since referred her to several of my friends and anyone who asks me where I get my work done, and believe me, when people see her work I ALWAYS get approached and complimented.
I gave Lisa a picture of the type of peacock i wanted to go with, a henna-ish, asian type of influence. The picture I showed her had incorporated cherryblossoms, which I felt was a little too cliche for my tastes, so I asked her to replace them with peony flowers. At first she was a little skeptical, and told me that it might not work with the style of bird. But she worked tirelessly and eventually sketched up something PERFECT for me, exactly what I wanted and exactly what the vision was in my head. Actually, it was a thousand times BETTER than what I had in my head. She's really awesome, and will tell you if something just doesn't quite mesh well in your design so that you end up with something that you love and that you will CONTINUE to love for the rest of your life. After all, it'll be a piece of who you are forever so you should really go with an artist you're comfortable with that will give you  something perfect.
Her pricing for the quality of work she does is also very fair. You might end up paying more than you originally plan on, but believe me, when the product is finished, you'll be glad you went to Lisa.
**edit: her work is feminine IF that's what you're looking for. I wanted something womanly being a woman, but I've seen her work on several men, and it blew me away as well. I couldn't believe that Lisa had done it! Her style is so diverse from polynesian to asian arts and everything in between. She is literally a tattooing superhero.
Hands down the best ink experience I've ever had, and that's coming from someone with 14 tatts. Â I was referred to Dodge (the owner and main artist of the two that work there) by someone I randomly met on vacation. Â She was adamant that if I was going to be getting a piece done while on Oahu I shouldn't even consider anyone other than Dodge, and damn I'm glad I listened to her.
From the moment I walked into his shop and shook Dodge's hand I could tell that he had the right energy and skill to do the piece I wanted. Â Plus, the fact that he knew of Ralph Steadman and HST and was stoked to do a Steadman piece made me feel even more comfortable because the piece, and HST specifically, has so much meaning to me. Â I explained a few things about how I wanted the design to look, left him a few pictures to sketch from, and made an appointment for later in the week.
As usual when I'm about to permanently alter my body, I woke up the morning of my appointment a little nervous, but when I arrived at the shop the good vibes took over and I immediately felt at ease. Â There were some good tunes playing, we had the shop to ourselves and I was eager to get inked. Â Not only did the piece turn out perfect, but Dodge has a 'soft hand', as it were, and I really didn't feel more than minor irritation during the session. Â Granted, I've got multiple pieces on my ribs, back and inner biceps (this one was on my outer bicep), so I'm used to a lot of pain, but I get the feeling that any piece that Dodge does will be a little less painful no matter where it goes on your body. Â Good tattoo artists have a way of doing that, and trust me, it's something to be grateful for when it happens because I've had some where I seriously felt like I was being punished.
Anyway, Koi Tattoo is a fantastic place to get some work done. Â The $150 per hour rates are pretty heavy, but with ink you definitely get what you pay for. Â And Dodge works very efficiently (no cigarette breaks, interruptions to take/make phone calls, etc.), so you can rest assured that whatever you get done will take the minimum amount of time possible.
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