There is paid 3hr parking along broad st. in front of the shop. And there is usually free parking along Allen st. Watch for signs & hydrant.

DO NOT PARK AT LOWES, KROGER, OR THE LOT NEXT DOOR! THEY WILL TOW YOU, AND VERY QUICKLY TOO!

It depends…

If you are starting the initial linework for a large tattoo, or something that needs to be drawn on: NO.

Reason being: by the time the stencil is ready, chances are you’ve already lost hours of “numbing time”. You’re better off waiting to use it only on very sensitive spots in your later sessions. Numbing cream only works for maybe 1-2 hours max, and when its worn away, you feel that pain EXTRA bad since your body didn’t build up any Endorphins.

Relying on numbing cream too often can even build up a tolerance in your system, rendering it useless or even cause overdose symptoms.

Your best bet is to save it for the really really hard spots. Trust me, you are stronger than you think. Pain tolerance is something that you build up over time, and the only way to do that is to experience those tats the good ol’ natural way, baby!

I only ever suggest products i have tried personally and can attest to their working. Because of that I highly recommend brands: HUSH, NUMB520, DR.NUMB, & TKTX.

NO.

I personally only accept cash, Zelle, Venmo, Cashapp, or Paypall.

CASH or ZELLE is preferred.

NO. But there are banks and a gas station nearby the shop that offer ATM for a small fee.

Unless we are working on a large scale tattoo that requires additional check ins, i will not send you design proofs before hand.

There are many people scheduled at any give time and i draw for appointments in the order they are booked. I just don’t have the time to pre-draw everything in advance. I’m sorry if this is an inconvenience to you.

That is why I cannot stress enough that all potential clients know exactly what they want before contacting me to book. I discuss with all of my clients in-dept, either online or in person, so that we are on the same page regarding design details. I also offer sit down consultations, free of charge, to those who are having trouble putting ideas into words and just need someone to walk through it with them.

You will have plenty of time to sit with the design day of, and I always allow buffer time between clients to make small alterations and adjustments to their design if need be.

I want you to love your tattoo for the rest of your days, and i will never pressure you into getting something you don’t want. If for some reason I totally missed the ball on your design, we will reschedule you for another day to allow me time to make things perfect for you.

Check the “DEPOSITS” page for links and QR codes on how to find my payment accounts.

Make sure your cards/bank accounts are updated and correct on your payment apps, and that you deselect “goods & services” for any tattoo payments so it doesn’t charge a 3% fee. It may be worded as “payment protection plan” and that isn’t appropriate for tattooing either.

Some payment apps have a max you’re allowed to send in a day. Please familiarize yourself with yours and prepare accordingly!

Deposits are the collateral we artist need to make sure we aren’t drawing for free if the client decides to no-call-no-show us. It tells us you are serious about getting tattooed and we can count on you showing up. Often artist block off an entire day for a client’s project, and those spots are difficult to fill if they cancel last minute. Meaning we loose out on making money that day entirely.

I require a $50 deposit, and it goes towards the total cost of your tattoo. If your tattoo takes one session, it comes out that day! If you need more sessions to complete your tattoo, the $50 rolls over to secure your next appointment date. You generally do not have a guaranteed spot unless you leave a deposit, or unless you have been told otherwise.

Deposits are non-refundable collateral for last minute cancelations and no-shows.

That said, we are very flexible and compassionate towards mistakes and hard times. We only ask that you call or email us more than 24 hours notice from your appointment. If you cancel within that 24 hour window, you forfeit your deposit, and will need to leave another one the next time you book.

Set alarms, write it in your phone calendar, make a sticky note for your bathroom mirror, anything. We show up to your appointment, and we expect you to do the same.

You can always contact me through Email or my Work Phone (if i’ve given it to you).

Do not rely on DM’s and don’t call the shop for info regarding appointments. They wont have the information to create nor reschedule anything for you. All of my bookings go through me only. You can, however, call the shop for anything time sensitive day of your appointment at (804) 303-0641.

Remove your initial bandaging within 1 to 4 hours unless otherwise instructed.

If you’ve gotten tattooed later in the night, and your bandaging is secure and comfortable, it is possible to leave the tattoo in its original wrapping and then promptly removed in the morning.

Please refer to the “After Care” page for further information.

I have found that gentle, fragrance-free, antibacterial hand soaps, and lotion work the best. Remember, you are treating your tattoo like an open wound.

Soap Brand recommendations: SOFT SOAP, & DIAL.

Lotion Brand recommendations: AVENO, LUBRIDERM, CETAPHIL.

Please refer to the “After Care” page for further information.

Maybe…it depends…

Do NOT use Vaseline, A&D, or Neosporin.

If lotion just doesn’t work for you, Aquaphore is a good substitution. Remember though, it is petroleum based, so i cannot stress enough that a little goes a LONG way.

A very small amount can be applied a few minutes after washing. Carefully massage the ointment into your tattoo and pat off any excess left over. It should have NO build up of ointment what-so-ever. It should be moisturized just enough to restore elasticity to the area.

Too much can make the scabs wet and soft, causing them to fall off prematurely.

If your artist applied a medical grade adhesive bandage, such as Saniderm or Tegaderm, to your tattoo then you will remove it after 4 days.

REMOVE SOONER IF YOU NOTICE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

*leaks from the bandage.

*red bumps/ irritation occuring in or around the bandage perimeter.

*bandage rolls over exposing fresh tattoo

Please refer to the “After Care” page for further information.

Refrain from heavily exercising and excessive sweating for the first 48 hours. Light exercise is perfectly fine.

Always shower after working out to clean any bacteria from the tattoo. And be careful not to have any gym equipment come into contact with your fresh tattoo.

It is reccomended to go swimming no sooner than 4 weeks of getting tattooed.

It is important for your tattoo to fully heal, settle into the dermis layer of your skin and fully regenerate its new epidermis layer on top. Without a fully healed epidermis, your tattoo is extremely vulnerable to sun damage!

Touch-ups are a normal part of the tattoo process. Sometimes a spot gets over-worked, a scab gets picked off, a dog jumps right on it, or you just had a really bad heal for whatever reason. Shit happens, so we always guarantee everything we do with a free touch-up if needed.

However, It’s important that the tattoo is fully healed before going back into it for any touch-ups. So we ask that you wait between 2 to 4 weeks, or until there is no more shiny new skin on top the tattoo, before getting it touched up. This is a precaution we take to make sure no unnecessary damage is caused to the skin, further impairing the tattoo.

I currently charge $150 /hour. Stencil time usually goes un-charged, however, if major revisions are being made that wasn’t previously discussed, i reserve the right to charge for additional labor.

Small tattoos are generally priced individually using the hourly as a basic frame work.

Larger tattoos generally stick to the exact hourly rate.

Large scale work is broken up in to multiple sessions and charged an hourly rate of $150. Several factors can affect the total cost of the tattoo making it difficult to give an official quote, so i prefer to give a general range.

I believe large scale tattoos are quite manageable if the client can figure out a budgeting plan. Other than the first initial session, where we do the line work, all other sessions can be as long or short or as frequent as you want. So if after the lines are all done, and you want to take a month in between color sessions thats totally cool. Or if youre like, “I can only sit for 2 hours today” etc etc. It’s super flexible. 

*Be prepared for the first session to take the longest. It’s the day we make sure everything fits and alterations are made so it sits perfectly for your body. The stenciling process can take a few hours on its own but is the most crucial since it’s laying the groundwork. So be prepared by eating a big breakfast, bring lunch and snacks and sugar drinks to keep you fueled, comfy clothes, a blanket if you wish, music or books. whatever makes you comfortable. For back tattoos, i recommend bringing a button up shirt that you can put on backwards.

*Do not use numbing cream on outlining sessions. It will wear off by the time we actually start tattooing. If you wish to use numbing creams, it’s best to use in specific areas during our color sessions. 

*I recommend sessions be no shorter than 2 hours. It is more financially viable for the client since too short a session ends up interrupting the flow and actually winds up taking more time in total. 

No. I’ve moved into the upstairs studio space at the shop and no longer take walk-ins.

I’m appointment only now, and book my own appointments through the form linked here.

My appointment days are Wednesdays-Sundays 11am-7pm

All payments for tattoos will be made through me personally the day of the appointment. A card reader is no longer available at check out.

My coworkers and I each have our own instagram.

Shelby Crow @shelbycrowtattoo

The Shop @allforonetattoo

Martin McCoy @martin.mccoy.art

Mike Debolt @gundamofficial 

Opie @opieafot

Matt Creasey @mccreasey

Justin @jlouis_tattoo 

Jake Taylor @jaketayllor 

Ben Butts @bennbutts 

Tom Strom @tomstrom

It is generally safe to take Tylenol up to 30 mins before your appointment.

Stay away from blood thinning pain relievers such as Ibuprofen, Aleve, Motrin, and Advil.

Always consult your regular doctor before hand if you have any issues normally around these drugs.

Of course!

Bringing company is a great way to distract from the pain of getting tattooed. We will offer them a seat right at your side.

It is extremely important that you eat before your appointment to prevent any drops in blood sugar. Even if you’ve managed to go into previous appointments without eating and reemerged unscathed, you’re playing Russian Roulette with passing out.

The body goes into fight or flight or “vasovagal syncope” response when getting tattooed. When your adrenaline rush hits you, (usually right before we start tattooing) your heart rate and blood pressure increase, making you highly susceptible to fainting.

This can be a normal bodily response for people whether they’ve eaten or not. But It can be the end of your session before we even get started if you can’t recover quickly. Hence, eat before you arrive!

 If using Venmo/Paypall for tattoo payments, don’t choose “goods/services” as it takes a 3% fee from the transaction on the artist end. When this happens, artist either take the hit or have to tack on the amount to the final cost of your tattoo. While it may seem silly to back charge someone for 3%, please know that it adds up substantially over time.

“Payment Protection Plans” are a safety net in case a financial deal goes wrong, like when an item you purchased online doesn’t arrive, is different than the description, or is counterfeit. Not tattoos.

In the past, there have been people who have abused the service’s “refund” function and refunded payments without contacting the artist, after the tattoo was complete, scamming the artist out of the entire payment. It sucks that a few bad eggs soil the pot for others, but its the precaution we have to take in order to continue offering the service.

We like to offer online payments for the convenience to our clients so they don’t always have to come to the shop physically to drop off deposits. If there is ever an issue with service or quality of work, we strive to make it right, so always let us know of any concerns or dissatisfaction with your experience. We want you to leave having a happy association with your new tattoo.

NO.

It is so hard to give a price to a concept without seeing the final design. I can generally give a very loose ball park range, but I won’t be able to give anything specific. Final pricing depends on the complexity of design, size, how well you sit, and how long it takes. If you are working within a budget, let us know ahead of time. We can usually make something work, or at least break things up into sessions to make things more financially manageable.

NO.

NO.

In my experience, watercolor tattoos do not age gracefully. That is due to the fact that they aren’t bordered by any black ink, causing the color pigments to spread at a much faster rate than they would have with an outline, leading to an overall, patchy, bruise-looking, faded tattoo.

When it comes to tattooing (or fine art in general), developing a style often comes with the burden of learning to do things “the right way”. So you can fudge the things you want on purpose and have it look intentional. 

That said, i know plenty of tattooers who don’t know how to draw people “the right way”. Many tattooers trace over and alter old flash from old tattoo books/collections. Redrawing old flash this way can be super helpful in learning how the old timers simplified their designs to make lasting tattoos. You’ll have to buy old flash books to find good learning references. 

(I’ll link some website below where you can find some). 

Books are fucking expensive but an incredible investment in learning the basics of tattoo design. Every style of tattooing benefits from learning traditional tattooing. Start off with a book with a high variety of subject matter. And practice making flash sheets with 5 designs from the book that you redraw. You’ll pick up on where they start and stop their lines, how close lines are to each other, and drawing things at a size for tattooing. Then you’ll find it much easier to start designing original flash using the knowledge you learned from the book.

Many tattooers like to paint flash on 9x12 watercolor paper. Use arches paper, Micron pens and FW liquid acrylic paints.

https://belzel.com/collections/traditional

https://www.painfulpleasures.com/collections/tattoo-flash-art?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-_mvBhDwARIsAA-Q0Q6QDh1vyiiDqszseRolZqCnxs0Ome8HRdFI-4EgTgr6-rwFXXDWw-waAp4DEALw_wcB

https://www.tattooflashcollective.com/collections/tattoo-books-1

Here are some videos on painting flash:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d1UfdPooQ4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa-CA64Ffbw

Drawing figures are really fucking tough. We see people literally all the time, so we pick up on any wonky-ness in drawings with figures really quickly.

So it really pays off to look at figure models in the poses you’re trying to draw. Keeping proportions is crucial. There are useful rules about figure proportions i think are worth learning. I’ll also link some useful websites I use when i need to study a pose or just work on my figure drawing. Getting a pad of grid paper is also super helpful to pay attention to your proportions. 

https://www.posespace.com/posetool/default.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/@ProkoTV

http://www.youtube.com/@bradwynn

Thats really my biggest advices I’m comfortable sharing. What i know about getting into a tattoo shop is that they want to see a well considered and thoughtfully laid out portfolio with you showing a basic understanding for drawing tattoo-able things (ie simple, clean, old flash) and a good sense of perspective (ie figures, proportions, etc). Throwing in a well done portrait or fully rendered work of art in another medium is a plus and can show that you have other skills outside the traditional style. But most tattooers wont look at loose sketches, cartoons, or digital art. 

Most tattooers only have eyes for their own preferences. So the quickest way to their heart is by doing what they like: Flash. 

Getting apprenticeships are really hard. And there are so many dickheads out there who want to use you for free labor.

Reports for sexual assault and overall general verbal abuse is very common. Be very careful and suspicious about who you trust and if you ever feel uncomfortable and disrespected do not waste your time.