I've never gotten a tattoo before, so after asking around, and talking to sweetie about the whole thing, I checked out Yelp, of course. Â This place was in my top three, and we moseyed in on a Friday evening. Â They weren't too busy, and Alison did a great job of translating our ideas into drawings. Â Then she walked me through the whole process, and I walked out without shedding any tears or blood (okay, a little blood.) Â The tattoo looks great and is healing well. Â Sweetie's is just perfect too. Â
The place is clean, the staff is welcoming and full of amazing artists, and prices are reasonable. Â I don't have anything to compare it too so I hesitate to give it five stars ("as good as it gets,") but I am very happy with my experience.
Several people referred me to Brett.
So let me sum up the first two visits - first - getting the appointment, talking the design.
The second? Outline. So painful outline. Brett said he is fast and brutal - and he had a half-sleeve done in under sixty-minutes. I was bruised and sore - but I fucking love the outline (including the touch-up he did for a previous tattoo to fix a date).
The third - coming up, the coloring.
Brett has been awesome and friendly, and the rest of the staff has been cool and friendly - more so than other parlors I've been to.
I have several more planned - and if their staff is up for it, they'll be the ones I stick with.
With an ego-maniac, prima-dona for an owner, I wouldn't recommend it. I went to Brett Prince because he is a talented artist and soon learned that he is also an accomplished A-hole! Where shall I begin!? He would not let me see his sketches until the day of the tattoo appointment and assured me if I wanted to change the design there would be no problem, but when i actually did want to make a small change he immediately bristled and became indignant that I "had had a month to look this over!", this was not true, since I saw it for the 1st time at that moment. He seemed offended that I wanted the image to be my vision and not his, he refused to make the changes I asked for and the conversation quickly escalated to an argument for his lack of communication skills.
He immediately raised his voice and was talking over me. I could see that he was unstable and so i spoke with him as diplomatic as possible, but it's hard communicating with someone with such an enormous ego. He insulted me several times, his language littered with profanity, and called me unprofessional, accused me of being an "emotionally unstable woman" and acted as though I were judging him for being covered in tattoos (clearly I wasn't since I wanted him to tattoo me). Ironically, in his rant he shouted that he was "known for his customer service skills" and that he "wouldn't have two tattoo shops if that was not true" (the 2nd is now out of business). He rounded off this soliloquy with another nod, to his own superior skills as a tattoo master stating that he was now at "a place in his career where he could be choosy about his customers" and that I was "already a bigger pain in the ass than people with entire back pieces" (I guess I should just be honored he "chose" my body for his art, and shut up?) He then told me he wouldn't tattoo me and stated that he would be keeping my $100 deposit.
In the end I am grateful for that interaction, because I would NEVER want the hand of such a person to etch anything permanently on my skin! Especially considering that the tattoo I had chosen, was to symbolize the interconnectedness of humankind (I would rather not be connected to him). I offer this story for your consideration because, for me getting a tattoo is a spiritual experience and should be focused on the customer and not an exercise in the ego of a narcissistic artist.
Stopped in today for my artist consult and I must say I was impressed. I was greeted by not 1 or 2, but all three of the staffers there when I walked in the door. The space is open and bright and the art on the walls is eye-catching and fun. The tattoo area is clean and sterile. Everything is very well-organized.
I met with Gorilla Gillum - as his card proclaims - and he took my reference art and morphed the concept and idea into something that I'm sure will turn out beautifully (I'll be sure to update when I see the final product). He incorporated not only my references and ideas, but also some really fantastic concepts I hadn't even considered.
The price I was quoted was $100 an hour - which is more than fair and pretty much industry standard as far as I can tell from my 5 previous tattoo experiences. Finding a time to get my tattoo done around my weird work schedule and sleeping needs (Hello my fellow 3rd shifters!) was super easy since he pretty much let me dictate my needs to him.
All-in-all, I'm very pleased with this first experience and look forward to updating you all when I'm done with my first session in a week.
I was recommended Brett Prince through a friend and I can safely say that I am very happy with how my tattoo turned out. I sent him an initial concept that I whipped up in Photoshop and he came up with a truly exceptional custom piece. Â
Across 3 sessions I always felt comfortable in the shop and enjoyed my time their. The have a large tv mounted on the wall and watching movies helps take the mind off the tattoo process.
Tattoos should be looked at as an investment and I felt what I paid was more than fair given the quality of my finished product. I would recommend Brett to anyone and I will be definitely getting more work done from him in the future
Before even getting into how talented the artists at Short North Tattoo are, I have to talk about the initial reaction you have when walking into the shop. The front is an art gallery--wood floors, tall and ornate ceiling--extremely minimal yet inviting. The actual area where the tattooing is is super comfortable. When I had my latest tattoo done, we put Netflix on the large flatscreen and it served as an enjoyable distraction.
There is no awkwardness when presenting an idea and they are always willing to take some time to sketch out an idea to make yours even better.
I definitely recommend Short North Tattoo. Will I be going back? Yes. Just give me some time to save up for the next tattoo.
A little background - I'm not really a "tattoo guy" Â and actually was kind of opposed to the idea of ever having one as recently as a few years ago. Â However, I warmed dramatically to the idea over the last couple of months and was finally pushed into action after an impromptu visit to Short North Tattoo with a friend of mine. We stopped in to say hello to his brother, who was getting a piece done by Cary, one of the artists at the studio.
I was extremely impressed as soon as I walked in, as the studio doubles as an art gallery, and the space has a very clean, minimalist feel with hardwood floors, high ceilings, and exposed brick. Cary was gracious enough to discuss my possible tattoo while he was working on my friend's brother's piece, and seemed genuinely excited about working with me. We exchanged a couple of ideas, and he committed to sending me a sketch of what he came up with. The sketch ended up being truly amazing, and surpassed my wildest expectations. Â I immediately made an appointment to have the work completed.
(Let me just say that Cary is an awesome artist. His work doesn't begin and end with tattoos - he has many paintings and other works on display in the studio that are available for purchase.)
On the day of my appointment, Cary was very professional and kept my mind at ease, as this was my first tattoo. The whole set up was very clean and very sterile...not like those nasty ass tattoo parlors you see in the movies. Â Over the course of the two hours it took to complete the work, I watched in amazement as Cary basically turned my arm into a work of art. I could not be happier with the outline, and can't wait to return in two weeks and have him do the coloring and shading (hopefully the pain subsides before then. Haha.) Â
Cary charges $100/hour, which is extremely reasonable for an artist of his caliber. He won't work on other peoples work, so don't walk in expecting him to fix the tramp stamp you got when you were 18. However, if you want a truly original piece of art that will literally be a part of you for the rest of your life, do yourself a favor and check out Cary and Short North Tattoo.
I was referred to Brett when I was looking for an artist who was good with reworking existing tattoos. He is currently working on my entire sleeve that I was less than thrilled with. The initial consultation went better than expected and I was impressed that he hit the style I was going for right from the get go. Being that he is having to work with a piece that he had nothing to do with, the limitations that come with that and still be able to produce an amazing result is worth commending. I've had two sessions so far and can't believe how he's been able to salvage a washed out, dull, poorly planned tattoo and turn it into something I'm proud of.
Sovereign Collective sets itself apart by being stylish and comfortable rather than contrived and intimidating. Â The space is clean and doubles as a gallery for emerging artist. Parking is easy and pricing is very reasonable.
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