well i am looking to get my first tattoo. its semi bicycle based. and i was wondering if anyone on here in the NYC or philly area has gotten black work done recently. the design i am looking to get will have some intricate shading, and I was just looking for artist suggestions in this area. also if anyone has some picture examples, that would be great...

try looking here https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...&highlight=ink

i work at a tattoo shop and here are few simple guide lines that will help

1. dont be cheap. cheap tattoos are not good .good tattoos are not cheap. in the tattoo world you get what you pay for.

2. ask if they have an autoclave in there shop, if they say no run like hell! if they say yes ask to see there latest spor test results. any good shop will have both of these. if they dont do not get your tattoo there.

3. ask to see a portfolio of there work, if they dont have one run like hell! if they do look at the work see if its good or not.

4. ask around, there are alot of good shops nyc and philly. dont just rush in because you want one right now. this will be there the rest of your life!

there's a great guy for black and white work right outside of philly, his name is ken bryan, his shop is in glenside, i have a camera on my forearm that he did and people are constantly asking about it and complimenting it, infact i'll post it in the tatoo thread later on, his website is https://www.intimatebodyart.com

theres a guy in NYC named brian randolph.sick......he just moved out there form san francisco.check everlastingtatoo.com for his portfolio..the robot is on my left arm...not sure what shop hes working at in NYC.im sure if you called up everlasting theyd tell you where hes at now.i think its on the lower eastside.....theres a guy in philly,goes by past.not sure if hes even still tattooing.but if he is he'll be worth tracking down.

dude youre doing some ink for me next year.

I manage a studio in Chinatown thats been around for over 15 years in NYC.
One of my artist (Nik Moore) likes to do a lot of black work as well as many other styles. He is Bike rider as well and im sure he would do work for trade for bike stuff. Otherwise his rate is $100 an hour and usually only does custom work.

his stuff can be found at our website www.sacredtattoo.com

link to some of his work.

https://www.sacredtattoo.com/index2.html

P.S.
We are a really bike friendly shop. Insted of locking your bike outside on Canal street, Bring it up while you are getting work done.. Plenty of room.. we actually have a little area where we park all of our bikes in the shop

Ohh here is one more thing for ya..

ONLY TO BIKEFORUMS MEMBERS....

If you want to get tattood.. Come in and let me know your Bikeforums screenname and I will personally give you 10% off a tattoo/ piercing or jewelry.

PM me before you come in

****************************************************************

all of these artist seem like they really really know what they are doing..

one more question being that this would be my first... obviously because this is custom, the artist must first produce a sketch. what kind of "i dont like that.. change it/do this" dialogue is acceptable/appriciated. i understand that they are artists and that i souldnt be like "do it this way" but how do i say "i dont like that"

dang, that's cool.

ehh.. I try

I thought you worked at sacred. We have common friends, but I don't think we have ever met. I used to work at shop on the east side.

every artist i've dealt with has made it clear that it's going on your body you need to be happy with it, i assume that's an industry standard. if they aren't receptive to your comments you can easily take your business somewhere else, i however am certainly not saying that you should try to haggle with price, that would be insulting, remember it is art but it's art that's going onto your body, you need to be happy with what you're getting and you pay for quality

Yup.. im there Wed, friday and sat to babysit the guys . on the other days, im at our main office.

Feel freet ot stop in and say hi sometime

Kev

yellow fixed gear-
i'm savin up right now. see you soon.

Field trip!

come bring your bike down, get some ink and we will all go for a ride after work..

CF4L, the relationship between you and your tattoo artist is complex but good. You have an idea and you work with the artist to help you realize your idea. They are an artist but at the same time they understand that it's your idea and that it's going on your body. It's like an architect or a custom frame builder, they have the talents but they're also working with a client to make sure that what they produce makes the client happy.

So work with your artist however long you need to make sure you're happy. I've always come in with my stuff pretty much fully designed, but the artist has always had small suggestions for changes and things like that.

Any tattoo artist who gets bent out of shape because you're not allowing them to realize their vision on your body doesn't deserve your business.

my friend myles tattoos at Bowery and does some pretty awesome stuff. he's doing my first ink next week. can't wait.here's some of his portfolio. go by the shop (bowery and 3rd or so, across from CBGBs) to check out a lot more and newer stuff. most of the stuff on that site is stuff he designed and not art people brought in, but he does both very well.

emma's done almost all my work

https://porcupinetattoo.com/

myles did this one, i think (not on me):

Rite on.. Bowery Tattoo is our other studio. Myles is a great guy. When you look at his work, you can tell its his..


ohh and bostonTrevor: You hit the nail on the head on that one

i dont do tattoos im the guy in charge we have three artist here the owner is my brother id hook u up with him check out our shop website www.area51tattoo.com his name is jeff he has a online portfolio. the guy on this forum named Rancid is talking about getting the true till death logo.

we are the smae way all but one of us rides bike we park them inside and mop under them as they thaw in the winter.

just tell them what you dont like we get that all the time no big deal we take no offense to it there are some things we tell people that just wont flow with the tattoo but if they insist we do it . like people who want to put all six of there kids initial's in a one inch hart.