Traditional, blackwork, fine line and cover-ups by three artists who draw their own work, above the record shop on Womanby Street. Flash on the wall from £60; custom work from a free consultation.
What we do
NO. 01
American and British traditional: thick black outlines, a limited palette of red, yellow, green and black, and designs that still read from across the room in thirty years. Mari's speciality, and the house style of the flash wall.
Flash from £60.
NO. 02
Heavy black work from Dai: geometric sleeves, ornamental patterns that follow the muscle, dotwork shading, solid black panels and blast-overs. Large-scale by design, planned across the body rather than one piece at a time.
Half-day £350, full day £650.
NO. 03
Delicate single-needle work from Ash: botanical and floral pieces, script and lettering, tiny symbols and micro-realism. Honest advice about where fine line holds and where it does not.
Small fine-line pieces from £80, botanical forearm pieces from £180, script from £70.
NO. 04
Covering a tattoo you no longer want, reworking one that was done badly, or blasting over it with solid blackwork. Dai and Mari between them, after a consultation in person with the old tattoo in front of them.
Cover-ups are quoted after a consultation, usually from £250 for a palm-sized piece.
NO. 05
Pick a design from the flash wall, show your ID, pay the fixed price on the sheet and be tattooed within the hour on most days. Over 300 designs across three artists, from £60.
Flash from £60 to £180, printed on each sheet.
NO. 06
Sleeves, back pieces, chest panels and anything drawn specifically for you: a free consultation, a drawing you approve before anything is stencilled, and sessions booked in a run so the piece is finished rather than started.
Hourly £110 for pieces too big to fix-price; half day £350, full day £650.
Flash wall
8 x 12 cm
£110
6 x 9 cm each
£120
10 x 10 cm
£140
7 x 9 cm
£90
8 x 10 cm
£110
9 x 14 cm
£160
wraps the wrist
£180
6 x 6 cm
£80
Eight of three hundred. Walk in Tuesday to Saturday between 11am and 4pm with photo ID. No deposit, pay on the day, most pieces done within the hour. Saturdays fill by noon.
How we work
Fine line on a knuckle fades. White ink goes yellow. Tiny lettering blurs. We will say so before you pay a deposit, and suggest what will still look right in ten years.
Flash is a fixed price. Most custom pieces under a palm are quoted as a fixed price after the consultation. Only large work goes on the hourly rate.
Fifty pounds to book, taken off the final total. It is forfeited only if you miss the appointment or cancel with less than 48 hours' notice.
You leave with the aftercare sheet, the film on, and the artist's email. If anything looks wrong in the first fortnight you send a photo and we answer the same day.
Hygiene
Needle cartridges, grips, ink caps, razors, rinse cups and barrier film are single-use and come out of sealed packets at your station. The machine is wrapped, the chair is wrapped, the clip cord is wrapped. The council inspects every year and the certificate is by the door, next to each artist's bloodborne pathogens certificate.
Gallery
TraditionalMari
Flash from the wall, re-coloured with a red rose at the client's request. One sitting, ninety minutes, healed photo at the three-month touch-up that it did not need.
BlackworkDai
Drawn on the arm with markers over an hour, then three day sessions. Solid black packed in one pass, dotwork on the final day once the black had healed.
Fine lineAsh
Single needle, drawn from pressed flowers the client brought in from her grandmother's garden. Two and a half hours. The lines are exactly as fine as they will stay.
Reviews
Walked in on a Tuesday with no idea what I wanted, walked out with a dagger from Mari's wall that I still get complimented on four years later. The healed photo looks like the fresh one. That is the whole point of traditional, apparently.
Ash talked me out of fine line on my finger and into my forearm, and showed me a healed photo of why. Wildflowers from my nan's garden. Two years on it is as crisp as day one. The honesty is why I keep coming back.
Dai covered a tribal band I have hated since 2004 with a panther that is darker than I expected and better than I hoped. He told me at the consultation exactly how big it would have to be and he was right. No laser needed.
Find us
Number 22, first floor, the black door with the red flag next to the record shop, between the Castle and the stadium. Buzz and come up. No parking on the street; St David's and Westgate Street car parks are five minutes, Cardiff Central six.
Flash is a fixed price on the sheet, £60 to £180. Custom pieces up to a palm are usually fixed-price from the consultation, £120 upwards. Larger work is £110 an hour, £350 a half day or £650 a day. The studio minimum is £60.
Not for flash: walk in Tuesday to Saturday between 11am and 4pm. Custom work needs a consultation first, which is free and can be in the studio or by video, then a £50 deposit to book.
Yes, in a manageable way for most people, more on ribs, feet, inner arm and anywhere bony, less on the outer arm, thigh and calf. We stop for breaks whenever you need them and we will not push a session past what you can sit.
One person, who sits in reception rather than at the chair for most work; the stations are small. Nobody under 18 in the studio, including your own children, because it is a licensing condition.
Tell us at the consultation. We do not tattoo during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and blood thinners, isotretinoin, some antibiotics and recent surgery can mean waiting. If in doubt, ask your GP first and bring what they say.
Custom work starts with a free consultation, in the studio or by video. Flash is walk-in, Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, with ID. Eighteen and over only.
