I have to give Brian Wren some love on here since he doesn't seem to have any reviews yet. Â A little over a year ago I was about to move away from NYC where I'd been living for the past 13 years. Â It was a difficult decision to make and I wanted to commemorate the time I spent there with some ink. Â The only issue was, unlike my other tattoos I made this decision pretty spur of the moment and needed to find someone available in the next few days. Â As anyone with a lot of ink will tell you, most of the well-known artists in the city book up weeks if not months in advance and getting an opening at the last minute is rare. Â I did a lot of research and was actually referred to Brian by Emma Griffiths (who now has her own shop) because she didn't have any openings. Â I dropped by the shop and talked to Brian for a few minutes about what I wanted, and came back the next day. Â The drawing he did was not EXACTLY what I wanted but very close. Â We made a small tweak and he got to work. Â About three hours later, my tattoo was finished and I was thrilled! Â I don't know if Brian has a light hand or if the back of your arm just doesn't hurt as much, but this was my least painful tattoo I've had done. Â Could have stood for several more hours if necessary. Â My one minor complaint was that I thought it took longer than it should have. Â I have a few other tattoos of similar size that took about half the time. Â But, he gave me a really good price and like I said, it wasn't that painful so it wasn't a big deal. Â Check out Brian's portfolio on their site, I think he is a rising star in the NYC scene and you're going to wish you got an appointment with him while you still could!
Review Source:Being "extremely apologetic" does not equate with doing the right thing and offering some kind of compensation for my having booked a trip for the sole purpose of doing a consultation. Â If there was any question or confusion in that regard, I should have been warned up front that consultations are frequently cancelled. Â I paid $173 for the sole purpose of coming to the consultation. Â Although I am frequently in New York and could have rescheduled, I would have gladly done so BEFORE I BOOKED THE TRAIN TICKET. Â I booked the ticket early to get a better travel deal - TC contacted me a month in advance. Â Thanks but where does that leave me? Â Still with no ability to get a full refund for cancelled travel. Â What could TC have done? Â Something besides just saying "I'm sorry." Â Maybe a coupon? Â A booking fee waiver/reduction? Â Something more should have been done.
And not everybody has the luxury of dropping what they're doing and to take a weekend trip at the beck and call of a store. Â I am frequently on call, and my schedule doesn't allow for throwing my clothes in a bag and coming to New York any old weekend. Â I had to make special arrangements to use 2 personal days and switched call in order to make the trip. Â So now I am out money AND HARD-EARNED time.
Poor customer service. Â Great tattoo artist. Â The latter does not justify visiting the shop when you're just another number. Â
I'll go elsewhere. Â I don't want anything to do with Tattoo Culture, and I advise people to be absolutely clear on consultations and planned dates for the tattoo session BEFORE booking travel. Â If not you will be SOL, albeit notified by a "very apologetic front desk."
Super clean and efficient shop. Â Gene's work is absolutely worth the wait for an appt. Â His art is unique and beautiful and I am proud to have an original Gene Coffey on my arm. Â I have never seen birds or flowers captured as eloquently and vividly as Gene's. Â I will return. Â On top of that, he was able to cover almost my entire upper arm in just about 3 hours. Â Just amazing.
Review Source:I did a lot of research into different tattoo artists and their styles but I decided to get a watercolor style kitten from Gene and it turned out beautifully. 2 hours of pain was totally worth it. He showed me the artwork before we got started and I made some changes and we got started right there. Everyone there is really chill and super nice. The studio is very spacious and comfortable without the tacky samples of tattoos that you choose off the wall. There are only talented artists here!
I will be back here hopefully to get a tattoo from Loic when he comes around as a visiting artist.
I trusted Gene to my first tattoo because of his clean, neat linework. I wasn't disappointed. I was able to book an appointment quickly after my consultation. As people have mentioned, Gene doesn't seem to talk much while he works, which is plenty fine with me. I can shut my mouth long enough to let someone concentrate on not messing up a permanent addition to my body.
The store is very clean and attractive. Afterwards, I was given a little after-care packet to take care of my new tattoo. My only nitpick was that they wrap their tattoos in saran wrap after they're done, but I was told to take it off after just a few hours, so I wasn't too worried about letting the wound breathe.
Went here today to get a tattoo of a mass card on my arm .. Super clean spot, amazing calm energy .. professional yet friendly staff ..GREAT music - I mean the best - not too hard not too soft .. Amazingly splendid tattoo by Emma who did her work with joy and love - can't get better than that .. I will definitely be back + bring them as much business as I can!!
Review Source:I got a HUGE piece here and I went with LOIC who is one of their guest artist from France. I actually found this spot because i was at the tattoo convention and saw his art. I looked at it and decided that he was the one that can make my weird tat come alive. I did a memorial piece for my cousin who passed away. It's a weird design but he was so excited to do it that I got really excited.
I got the piece on my side and it was absolutely ridiculous. I almost passed out with pain and cursed the shit out of LOIC who was really patient with me. I cried i yelled i made funny noises but after 3 hours of work it was done and i was SO HAPPY!!
The only thing that i had to complain about was some stupid chick that kept laughing at my pain. Which i think was really rude since she was only doing her arm. Not sayin she needed to be nice to me but rudeness i can't stand and if i wasnt in so much pain i prob would've tried to punch her.
OTHERWISE, the people there were awesome and I LOVE my tat! It's a great place to go and i would def recommend going there. its clean and it's relaxing and they really try to keep you as comfortable as you can be in such a painful situation.
I picked this spot for my first tattoo because of these raving yelp reviews. Â The design I wanted was, essentially, an extremely basic circle and arrow. Â The circle appears to be more of an awkward oval, and the arrow noticeably crooked. Â I was thinking about returning to have the thing touched up, but the result was so unacceptable that I think
I'll definitely be getting my ink fixed at a different salon. Â Unsure why I had such a different experience than everyone else- but it was really a shameful job on a simple tattoo. Â Sorry guys.
I've gotten two tats done here from Gene and I love both of them so much. I'm actually going in this Saturday to talk to him about another I want to get. He's like the only dude who works there most of the time and he's just incredibly nice and easily approachable which I think is almost as important as an artist's actual skill. Gene never makes you feel nervous or anything.
Gene's tattoos are incredible. My favorites of his seem to mostly be on his Flickr account.
Ok I have to admit we started out a bit rocky.. My artist lost the sketch to my ink-wishes and when I arrived EXTREMELY READY for my first ink he wasn't prepared! STILL 5 stars! Loïc is truely an artist.. Chaotic, fun and totaly talented! :) so we came up with a design and about 7 hours later we were done!
His work is very neat, detailed, playful and a piece of art!
As of the tattoo experience.. He asked me constantly if I was ok if I needed a break.. The shop is ultra clean and friendly vibe!
My first tattoo experience was top notch!
I absolutely love my piece of art and will definitely stop by in France :)
oh and one more thing
u might wanna learn French cause these guys speak a lot of it kinda like the Chinese nail salon lol
I could not have asked for a better experience getting my first TWO tattoos. Yes, I went nutzo and got two wrist pieces at the same time. OCD much? Yes. I am amazed that I can verbalize an idea, a vision, and someone can translate that and make it come to life.
This is what Gene Coffey did for me. I got a splattered peace sign on my left wrist and some text on my right wrist. They both healed and came out beautifully.
The shop was really very nice and open and they were not pretentious at all. BIG plus, guys. Seriously. I have been raving about them and hope to send some of my friends there.
I will be back.
Oh Gene, I fawn. Â My skin itched and yearned to be quenched with ink and you provided the craft. Â Crazy mad straight lines. Â I hold my wrist to my cheeks and doted over the beauty of it. Â So basic on paper, but brought to life on skin. Â I want more, but I mustn't. Â I need to map out the canvas I have left and make a more smarter layout. Â Yeah...
Finally I was able to get a coveted appointment with the kookie yet lovable Frenchie, Noon. Â Like I stated before: He's the SICKEST! Â At first glance, some may say his work is primitive (freakin' amateurs), but the details he puts into his craft is laboriously amazing. Â Oh and they don't just call him the butcher for any reason. Â Prepare for pain (the bigger the tat is or longer it takes, your pain barrier will fold eventually. Â we all do. Â i wept like a baby...ok i didn't, but i had a tear!). Â The results will be all the worth in the end.
I got my second tattoo here a few weeks ago. I picked this shop because I wanted a local place, so I started looking around my neighborhood. When I saw Noon's portfolio on Tattoo Culture I knew I wanted my piece to be by him. He travels around the world doing tattoos and was only going to be in Brooklyn for a few days, so I booked my appointment months in advance. We emailed back and forth about what I wanted (a camera), I made my deposit to the very friendly guy behind the counter, and 4 months later came in for my ink. The place was spotlessly clean and everyone was really nice. My tattoo came out perfectly and I can't wait to go back for more! No complaints whatsoever.
Review Source:So clean. So kind. It was my first one. The visiting tattoo artist was so sweet, she kept me relaxed when that awful fill needle was OWNING me. I brought a crap drawing of what i wanted (which was an ultra exact, geometrical image) and she drew it up for me with the perfect measurements. SO careful, it had it be at exactly the right angle and it is PERFECT.
Highly recommended.
I wanted a great tattoo from a place so clean I could eat off the floors. Â That place was Tattoo Culture. Â
I spoke to Gene and showed him a picture of what I wanted--a tattoo of a little doll I've had since I was a baby (in honor of my grandmother who would fix her when she ripped). Â He sketched it, tattooed it, and I love it. Â I get compliments on it all the time, particularly about the vividness of the color and close resemblance to the actual doll.
With all the great reviews Tattoo Culture has, it would seem like I'm wasting my time writing another positive review. Well, maybe I am, but I don't care damn it! I want to shout my love from the rooftops.
I've been wanting to get a tattoo for since i was, maybe, 12 years old. After choosing a style and design, I went looking for an artist. Here's where I found a few things out: 1) some tattoo artist are snotty bastards that will scoff at your idea 2) Good tattoo artists will sometimes be so booked that they won't even take a consultation 3) Some tattoo establishments have the business management skills on the lower level of your local McDonald's franchise. But none of these apply to Tattoo Culture. The artists (Gene in my case) are cool guys that you can talk to, they help develop your design, and he was only one cigarette away from being ready to start when I showed up. The design was just how I described it and looks great. So, while I'm contemplating my next tattoo, I'm not looking for another place to go.
wow, this place and the people are fantastic!
i went in for my first tattoo (first EVER!) and talked to the front desk person and then to gene. Â they were both SO nice and easy-going. Â i didn't feel intimidated or out of place at all. Â then the big day came for the tattoo and i was so nervous. Â i kind of held my breath and gene had to stop, so the front desk guy (i'm sorry, i don't remember his name but he was uber cool) gave me some water and a candy to get my blood sugar back up. Â then they both talked to me to keep my mind off of what was going on on my wrist and it was fine.
after i was done gene let me know all the after care information and he did a phenomenal job. Â thank you, thank you, thank you! Â I will definitely be back.
I'd been wanting a tattoo for years and finally had the time/funds/design/readiness to do it! I came here a few times a year ago with my boyfriend at the time to watch him get a sleeve done and I really liked the shop and Gene. Anyway, came here myself a week ago to get my first tattoo ever. Gene was wonderful and so nice and took his time to make it look great!!! Definitely going back to him for my next (probably early summer).
The shop itself is fabulous. Very clean and organized, art on the walls, extremely comfy couch. I came for one of the gallery openings a while back too - fun.
Highly recommend it! A few of my tattooed friends saw the work and asked me where the shop was, since they've been looking for a good tattoo shop here for a while now.
Tattoo Culture is a sharp little shop in the heart of Williamsburg and, a mere three minute walk from Yours, Truly. Â I was able to walk right in and get my tattoo, although that was a year ago and there is probably more of a wait now. Â Gene did my work and I was 100% happy with it. Â I will go back! Although I have to admit, it's a dangerous, dangerous thing to be located so close because I am a whimsical kind of gal and love getting tattooed. Â I fear I may be covered before I know it!
Review Source:Gene Coffey is the sh*t! Â I got a fairly large piece on my side not too long ago and went to Gene because of his amazing work with flowers. Â I emailed him my idea and some pictures to go off of and when I came in for my consult, he had a sketch already prepared for me. Â The drawing was pretty much perfect - he was really able to grasp my idea. Â I put down my $50 deposit and scheduled time two weeks later to get it done. Â I also was able to get some touch-ups done free of charge - not sure if that is standard or he was just hooking me up.
The staff is friendly, the place is really clean and doubles as an art gallery, there is no ridiculous wait list, and the work is amazing. Â I highly recommend going here if you are considering getting custom work done (I believe they only do custom work.) Â Prices are pretty reasonable at $125 an hour - they accept credit card - cash tip.
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