The place: The waiting area is super comfy with big leather chairs and cup holders. Lots of things to look at while you're waiting. Pricing information and disclaimers are available to see and sign. Make sure to pay attention and do your reading. The location: Off the 14 bus line and also easily accessible by car since there's a parking lot! Easy to see from the street because the store front is BLUE. The service: Today I worked with the apprentice, Courtney. She was great throughout the consultation process, totally open to my idea and easy to work with. This was my first tattoo and I was super nervous but Courtney gave me all the information I needed to be prepared and comfortable. During the process, Courtney was very communicative. She gave me a heads up when she started and gave me the advice that I could watch or not. It didn't take long at all to do a black, smaller than a penny tattoo, and Courtney was excellent. Most notable: Courtney was so professional and attuned to making sure everything was perfect that she made a miniscule adjustment to the alignment of the design to make sure it was straight. I was definitely impressed and felt like I was in good hands. If I look for another tattoo in the Milwaukee area, I'll definitely come back here. read more

Moving Shadow Ink - Tiny quotation mark took maybe 15 minutes. - Tattoo Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

They got me and the wife in on a walk in basis when no one else would. Other than that the only positive I found was Sammy. He was a new artist when he did my tat and my wife had a tat done by si simultaneously. Si fought my wife about color but eventually did the tat hope she wanted and it still looks great. Sammy was incredible he did my tat and to this day I love it however some lines are a little inconsistent. I still love my tat and feel it gives a little more freehand feel to a stenciled tattoo I would go to Sammy again but not moving shadow it seems a bit read more

Moving Shadow Ink - Anniversary tats! - Tattoo Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I don't know where to start really, but when you went through the hell that we did, its worth a shot to warn you now. My girlfrend asked the shop owner about getting a tattoo, so he set her up with one of his "artists". They exchanged emails and she asked about setting up an appointment to get a rough draft drawn up. Long story short, the guy isn't there when we arrive, so she puts down a deposit and he says he will draw it up before she has it done. So.... Hesitantly, they schedule the appointment. She texts him a couple times over the course of a week or so about updates on the tattoo (because he stopped replying to emails). No responses. Then on the day of the appointment... HE REPLIES! Saying "hey im gonna b running a little late today just come at 1o'clock" thus, pushing her scheduled time back by thirty minutes. We then drive another hour to get there, only for him to tell us he needs to go set up. Thirty minutes pass.. Then an hour.. He walks back into the room with a draft. Wait?!!! Did he just draw the design when we got here? The thing that should have been done well beforehand during the two and a half weeks proir? The drawing looks nothing like the picture she sent him, and sloppily put together. To no surprise, my girlfriend hates it, but gives him a chance to redraw it with her critiques. He takes another hour. By this point we have watched an entire (crappy) movie in their waiting area. Which is covered in plaques and awards for BEST TATTOO SHOP IN MKE. He shows us the big reveal we were waiting for. Mr."Artist" had googled random images into the design and photoshopped them together. The new design wasnt even drawn. My girlfriend tells him what she doesn't like about it, mainly the fact that it looks messed up and NOT EVEN DRAWN (that's what her deposit was for). He ensures her, "it wont look like this when I tattoo it on you, this is just an outline. Ill change everything that's weird. I'll tattoo it better than that." After trying to explain that she doesn't feel comfortable, he keeps insisting that he can do it better. At this point, my girlfriend is almost in tears, because this is an extremely awkward and redundant situation. The guy just doesn't understand, that he's willing to tattoo this (excuse my french) poo poo on her arm for life. No effort was put in, NO DRAWING was put in. Our day was wasted, and throw in all the excitement built up for getting the tattoo.... We are devastated. This was supposed to be a momentous experience. She was willing to pay the higher cost of $150 for 3-4 hours, on a tattoo no bigger than four inches. We thought, higher price meant higher quality. Instead, higher price meant you are going to have to pay in more ways than one. The deposit was not refundable and money, time, and patience was wasted. We even contacted the owner explained the entire situation and still no deposit. All he offered was to pawn her off to a different artist, and she's not in any way comfortable with his poor excuse of a tattoo shop. P.s. I made this yelp account just to warn everyone about this experience. Wasting more of our time, just so you don't have to waste yours. read more

I think that this is one of the most underrated tattoo shops in Milwaukee. Mario Z is a great tattoo artist (owner). He has done wonderful work for me at reasonable prices. I would recommend you and a friend. I will go back myself...as a matter of fact i need to contact Mario now for a touch up. Mario is a artist first and a tattoo artist by trade. Which means that he is good with art so that enhances his abilities with a tattoo machine. I would recommend this shop if you want portraits and realistic tattoos. Good shop cool people. read more

Jon is by far the best tattoo artist I've ever met; he's actually the only artist I will let tattoo me. Anytime I come up with an idea of something I want to do, I can reach out to Jon and he will help me make my idea become reality. He's thorough, precise and has amazing free hand skills. If anyone wants to get amazing work done, see Jon, and please remember, a tattoo is an investment. If you want to ensure your going to get quality work, please don't complain about spending the money. This tattoo will be with you forever. read more

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***Don't go to this place if you expect good service!!! *** My artist was alright, work well done, but the store is not willing to return my deposit $50, which is supposed to go towards my payment. I had one small tattoo and paid for my service in full on that day. I decided not getting another tattoo and requested for my deposit return. The receptionist said if the artist is okay and they can return my deposit electronically. I later talked to the artist. He is totally okay with that. After a week I checked back with the store because I did not receive my refund. The same receptionist said the owner would only give store credits. I confronted the receptionist about the different advising she gave me earlier. She said she understood but it's up to the owner to decide and refused to let me talk to the owner. I finally reached out to the owner. I explained my situation. He said he doesn't care what I think of what a good business is. He is not going to issue any refund. It is just $50...and they did not provide any service for that. I don't understand why returning this deposit would be a issue. Anyways, strongly don't recommend this place because of their terrible customer service. read more

Very pleased withy tattoo I actually feel sexy with was nervous about doing it but very relaxed very professional !I would highly recommended going there ! read more

Moving Shadow Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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I was way charged $150 for a thin cuff around my arm that isn't even completely straight in some areas. It felt rushed and then I was charged a high amount for what I thought would be the simplest tattoo to get done. read more

Moving Shadow Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Mario is the best tattoo artist I have gotten work by, but if your appointment is scheduled for 12pm show up at 3pm, each time I've gotten tatted he's had me wait longer than an 2 hours. Why I chose to take my money elsewhere. read more

I had great work done on a tattoo for my son's name, but it was time to get some work done for my own interests. I have fallen in love with a few different lyrics from songs over the years, and wanted something unique and personal created off of them. Nina absolutely killed it. I am 6+ hours in, with 2 to go or so, and I can't wait to get it finished. It's great to see the owner pop into sessions and see how things are going. Everyone from the front desk to the owner, from the artists to the pierced and tattoo removal, the customer service is great. The shop is clean. Check this place out. Wish I could give more stars. read more

Where do I start?! I will keep it short and sweet. Do not do business with Jon! After various text messages my first schedule tattoo placement he drew up the wrong design So the appointment had to be rescheduled. I had a 6 p.m. appointment and he was about 15 minutes late, no big deal. Jon tells me I could go get something to eat and he should not be much longer, okay not a problem, he stated to me that he would call me, Jon never called back! So I decided to take my business elsewhere. I later called and asked for a refund. Jon gave an asinine excuse, he knew he was wrong. I never got my money back but I have found a new artist that will draw up what I want as big as I want and he makes me feel very comfortable! Take heed! read more

I had the worst experience with tattoo guy !. I can't even call him an artist. He said he would have my design ready when I got there and never even started it. He wanted me to pay up front before looking at my design. I regretted the whole experience and never would recommend anybody to damage there skin here. The tattoo was a big disappointment. It came out sloppy af, and now I gotta look at it and remember the experience that I had. Not only that but he should up late. DONT COME HERE!!!! read more

I got my hips pierced here by Lexi. I just had to go to a different shop (Avant Garde) because they were getting granulomas. Turns out she used a really poor bar for the piercing, that is not at all recommended for the piercing I got and that was causing the problem. Lexi is really precise in her placement, which is great, and made it possible for my new piercer to salvage my piercings. However, the precision means nothing if you're using incorrect jewelry. read more

Amazing tattoos. I got mine done by Cisco and was more than impressed. Communication to the shop itself usually isn't the best. Get an artists number or use Facebook messenger. Cisco replies quickly as well. Overall great shop with great artists read more

Moving Shadow Ink - Tattoo Near Me - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The lines on my tattoo are extremely crooked and it seemed next to impossible to get my tattoo idea to be drawn. Wouldn't recommend.

Jon did a really great job on my tattoo. The staff were professional and knowledgeable, and the shop was clean.

Got my nose pierced a year ago by Lexi. She was very sweet, calm, & explained everything she was doing. She made me feel relaxed & it went very well. She even gave me a recommendation for nose jewelry thru a piercing website. Would go back for sure! read more

Over rated shop. Very rude and disrespectful to customers. There are many other much more talented artists in the area, and many other qualified piercers, too. We were mocked and taunted by the receptionist because we didn't have a birth certificate for our daughter to have her cartilage pierced. We went to Starship Tattoo, were told exactly what we needed, and the customer service was a million times better. I would recommend you do not go to Moving Shadow; they do not appreciate new customers, or maybe customers in general. Way over rated. read more

Set up an entire consult and I go to the address and it says new location so I walk to the new location about 1/2 a mile away and it's under construction so I call my artist, no answer, call her again and I ask where she is and she just says shit...and seems to come up with the excuse that my appointment never showed up in her calendar even though I got countless texts and emails reminding me. She says she is driving and will not make it but she will text me and reschedule, I also drove an hour away for this appointment so I'm already so upset but I stay calm and just say it's ok to reschedule. She never texted, called or emailed and I have even tried contacting her but with no response. I was so upset cause her work did look amazing, but this was horrible service and I will be finding a new artist. Been planning this tattoo for so long and now I have to start all over looking for a new artist. read more

Great place to get a tattoo, if you want to pay a ridiculous price. I mean, don't get me wrong, they have quality artists, but $150 an hour. You're out of your mind. I got a black an white tattoo. It should have taken 3 1/2 hours tops. It took 6!!!!! It's hard too give a bad review when there are such good/talented tattoo artists, but when they clearly rip you off, you have to warn people. Sorry, Moving Shadow, you need to know this. Sincerely, The guy that likes his tattoo, but wants you to not pay an insane amount. read more

Over priced for low quality work. I would not recommend Jon. He took forever to get me the art work and I could tell he wasn't really interested in doing my tattoo. I guess it was too boring for him. He got irritated when he had to keep redoing the placement. Sorry - this is permanent and I would like it straight. I should have followed my gut and left before he got started. I immediately told him what I didn't like and he said he would redo it if I still didn't like it after it healed. What? Now I will have to pay another artist to fix it because he won't take my calls. I have called the shop almost everyday for a month and he is always with a client. Seems like the same situation as jnovakattack. Sounds like the management won't do anything so I will save myself that frustration. read more

I don't care how good the tattoos are, if you are rude when I walk through the door, you will not be getting my business! I have never encountered a ruder group of people from the person who "greeted" us to the owner, himself. I was asked for a deposit for my son to get his first tattoo. I gladly put the deposit down before realizing that this shop had hired a sub-par artist that I had a bad experience with at a different shop and gone to moving shadow ink to have it fixed. I said that I did not want this guy doing my son's first tattoo, and was told that a different artist would contact me. I waited two weeks and didn't get a call so we stopped in there. I was told that they would not refund the deposit even though no appointment was ever made, and to wait for an artist to call. I waited another week and still no call! Now I'm pissed and they are not getting another dime of my money. I went in to talk to the owner about refunding my deposit and apparently the only way this guy makes money is to screw people. He wouldn't refund the deposit and I lost 50.00. Oh well-lesson learned! I wouldn't let the asshole tattoo me for free at this point! read more

Terrible customer service and follow through! I was a first time customer on December 2nd, 2014 as a walk in to talk to an artist about a large piece I wanted to get done. The tattoo artist Nina came out to the waiting room to talk to me about my tattoo. She seemed to be in a rush and unconcerned with the little details I wanted her to include. I was quoted $1,000 which I thought was a tad bit steep, but I gave my money for Nina's drawing fee to the receptionist and was told the drawing was to be completed in 2 weeks. It has now been almost 3 months and I have yet to see any drawing. I have called 6-7 times, morning, night, weekday and weekends to be told that Nina isn't there. I spoke to a shop manager and her response was disgusting and extremely unprofessional. Even stating "well, she does $1,000 tattoos everyday, so this isn't very important to her". I have asked 3 times for Nina to just refund my money so I can go elsewhere to be told "she's an independent contractor and that's up to her." No drawing and zero returned calls in 3 months- Nina and Moving Shadow Ink in Milwaukee are more of scam artists than tattoo artists. read more

The tattoo artist was not on time for a pre scheduled appointment. Waited 30 minutes and he still did not show. No one in the shop had his phone number or even a business card. It was unclear when exactly he would arrive so we left and went to another shop. Also, the girl working at the front desk was not knowledgable or very helpful. read more

Terrible...very unprofessional. You are unable to make appointments and when you finally are told to come in at a certain time they are not ready. 2 hours not ready! And they don't call to tell you this because they don't make appointments therefore do not have your phone number. We purchased a gift certificate but the owner Mario would only let us use it with an apprentice. We did not get a good tattoo. Most of the wording and colored pealed off when it healed. Unprofessional on all levels!! Ended up going to Serenity Ink on 51st & Howard and they fixed us up on the spot. Great work! And great customer service as well! Go to Serenity Ink! read more

Worst experience ever. Went in with picture over 3 weeks ago. Left a 50$ deposit. Got there today and artist was not prepared. They had beer and food all over shop from a party the day before. Even offered me and my husband beer. He showed me a design and was nothing like I showed him. He asked me to text him the pic again and he went and re drew it. It looked awful. I told him it was ridiculous he was just drawing it today. Told him I wanted nothing to do with it and was leaving. He got defensive and rude. Would never recommend this place to anybody. read more

Sub-par tattoos and awful service. Very rude and uncooperative staff, from the time you come in for your tattoo to the time you (attempt to) schedule a touch up. I wouldn't even go back here for a free touch up; I'd rather pay to have it done by a company who cares about their customers. read more

I met with Mario Zapata, the store owner and featured artist a few months ago. I knew that he had won several awards and I was excited to get a piece done by such a talented artist. We went over images and discussed an extensive sleeve piece. He books out months in advance and we set a date. A week before our appointment he texted me saying he had to move it. The day of the appointment I waited for nearly 3 hours for him to show up. When he finally did he said that he had just woke up because he was on a 2 day bender. He then disappeared for another 30 minutes "looking" for his drawing. He returned and said he couldn't find it. He refunded my deposit, but it is very disappointing after months of saving for a piece I've wanted for a long time to walk out. His contract states that if a client is more than 20 minutes late they have to pay a $50 fee. All I ask is that you pay your customers the same respect for their time. This was a very unprofessional experience, and I hope he makes some changes in his life so he can continue spreading his talent. Unbelievably disappointing experience. Sorry brother, but that's unacceptable. Good luck to you. read more

Horrible, after researching places to go for several months, not to mention I have several tattoos which were done several years ago however my artist passed away , long story short, I sent a email with pictures and detail what I would like, told someone would contact me, was contacted days later by text to come in that day which I couldn't, I scheduled an appointment then 2 weeks out to talk , told by the artist everything I wanted is possible that he needed time to draw up ( 3 weeks ) , so I left 50.00 deposit and scheduled for 3 weeks thinking everything would be ready to go AND how I wanted it! Not to mention I asked the artist several times how much he thought it would cost because I had a limit , even a rough estimate, and the response I kept getting several times was " It depends how long you want to sit for". I told him it didn't matter I have sat for several hours in the past . He never gave me an amount. In between the 3 week time I was told by text there were to many items with to much detail and could not do them all, I then told him fine, texted him then exactly what I wanted pictures , and color I wanted . He said fine, Went to appointment after waiting 20 min. in the lobby area which was not friendly at all, felt very uncomfortable. The artist came out with this picture looked like nothing at all what I wanted or explained, very small, ugly, and looks like he possibly just drew it. I told him I wanted what the pictures looked like which he no longer had and I had to show him again, not to mention he acted stupid about it like he had no clue what I wanted . Well what was the consult about and all the texts/ emails we sent each other . Not to mention what now 4- 6 weeks later since I first contacted this place!!! So he said he would fix, and took me back and started to free hand draw on me, It turned out for the most part what I wanted , So I asked again the price, It came back to the response , " how long do I plan to sit". Well how long will it take about ? Since I have had several other tattoos I didn't think it would take longer then 3 hours. SO I told him I will sit 2 hours. He then told me it would be 300.00. My limit was 500.00 . I sat the 2 hours , he got the outline done that's it. I had to go back 2 weeks later , I went back to sit 3 hours pd 450.00 and he got not even half filled in ! Not to mention he was very slow, took several breaks, was on his phone several times, was eating, seemed like he didn't want to be there to name a few!! Then Told me to come back in 2 more weeks. At that point I left very irritated . I did not want to make another appointment, I WAS WAY OVER MY LIMIT AND NOT EVEN HALF DONE. I ENDED UP PAYING 750.00 FOR 5 HOURS OF NOT MUCH WORK!!! Not to mention it took well over 3 weeks to heal, was red and hot , lots of scabs, and painful after which I never experienced with my tattoos in the past. Was time for next appointment , canceled was told I would get contacted when he was done with his day ! Still haven't heard from him. I had to go else where pay for it but now LOVE IT after the new artist had to redo the outline, and touch up the color from previous and finish what needed to be . BOTTOM LINE, PLACE IS DIRTY, UNPROFESSIONAL , LAZY, THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE CUSTOMERS, THEY JUST CARE ABOUT THE MONEY, SLOW, AND TAKE YOUR MONEY ! CHARGE WAY TO MUCH FOR SHITTY WORK AND SERVICE !! DO NOT GO HERE!!!!!!!. read more