Review / Complaint About My Experience With David at Steve's Tattoo…read moreI've been getting tattooed at Steve's Tattoo for years -- by Steve himself and by many artists who've come and gone, including David, who this review is specifically about. Up until recently, I actually liked David's work. He's done multiple tattoos on my sleeve and even tightened up some older pieces to make everything flow together. His talent can be great when he actually tries. But what happened this year is something people deserve to be warned about. 1. The First Red Flag Last year David tattooed a tarot card of my dog on my bicep. The work turned out great, but his behavior that day was... off. He was short, rude, and uninterested in even basic communication. I brushed it off as a bad day. We talked afterward about finishing my sleeve, so I assumed things were fine. 2. October 26th Appointment - The Point Where Everything Went Sideways I booked an appointment for October 26th at noon to finish some filler on my sleeve. What actually happened: He made me wait over 30 minutes just to start setting up. He barely spoke and acted irritated from the second I walked in. I explained what I needed: the same pattern and color he started near my wrist, carried up the rest of the arm. I put my headphones in because the tension was so uncomfortable. While he was tattooing, it felt like he kept going over the same spots repeatedly. I have tattoos on my neck and feet -- I know what tattoo pain and swelling look like. This was different. When I looked, the area was extremely red, raised, and bleeding more than anything I've ever had. When I got home, I realized why: He only used ONE color -- and it was the WRONG color. The design didn't match my sleeve at all. It looked sloppy, rushed, and honestly more like flames than the pattern he originally created. It already looked like something that will age terribly. I emailed him politely because I was genuinely afraid I had somehow upset him and he did this intentionally. That's how uncomfortable and off his behavior was. He told me to come back on December 10th so he could "fix it." 3. December 10th - The Gaslighting & Disrespect I went to my appointment today hoping he would make it right. Instead: He completely gaslit me. He insisted the tattoo "is the same" (it absolutely is not). He claimed "there's no room," "it would look crowded," and "that's the best he can do." When I showed him the areas that are clearly different, he just argued and dismissed everything. And then he said the part that really tells you everything you need to know: "I don't want to work on it anymore." "You're being too emotional." "I just don't feel like it." He refused to finish the work he messed up. I begged, I reasoned, I even offered to pay him AGAIN just to fix the damage -- because I've already had multiple artists start and stop this sleeve and I wanted the same person to finish it. He didn't care. When I asked for Steve's contact info, he refused to give it to me. When I turned to look for a business card, he literally yelled at me: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THE DOOR IS RIGHT THERE." He treated me like trash and threw me out of the shop after knowingly giving me a tattoo that doesn't match, isn't the right color, and was done so aggressively that it raised and bled more than any tattoo I've ever had. 4. Why I'm Warning People I've never disrespected an artist. I tip well. I sit still. I don't complain. I've never caused a scene or been rude. There was absolutely no reason for him to treat me the way he did. And here's the truth: **If David gives you work you don't like, he will NOT fix it. He will gaslight you, blame you, and then kick you out.** I don't know if he was having a bad month, a bad year, or if something happened between appointments. But what I DO know is this: What he did to my arm was careless and nothing like the work he is capable of when he actually tries. And the way he treated me -- after years of being a good client -- was inhumane, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable. People deserve to know.

Steve, the owner of Steve's tattoo gave me this dragonfly tattoo two years ago. It completely blew…read moreout a year later. I do not recommend Steve's tattoo to anyone.

We took a mini girls' trip and wanted to get "matching" zodiac tattoos to symbolize our friendship…read more Kai is phenomenal! They took their time and was so warm and down to earth. Their fine line work surpassed what I was expecting. I'd like to book again the next time I'm in town! In addition, we spoke with their psychic medium, Andrea. I don't have adequate words - she was spot on with me and my two girlfriends, was very specific about each of us, and overall, it was just a very surreal experience. HIGHLY recommend stopping by to meet her (even if a tattoo isn't in the cards).

Jaded Moon is an amazing artist! I called right when the shop opened to check for walk-in…read moreavailability, and she was super helpful over the phone regarding the size/placement of the design I wanted. When I came in 20 minutes later, she already had the design ready and everything prepared. The tattoo turned out exactly as I had envisioned it. Highly recommend!!

I've gotten quite a few tattoos here, solid work, good pricing, clean shop and amazing people. I'm…read morereally happy with all the tattoos I've gotten here. Highly recommend this shop!

Another great tattoo at Black Moon!! Took my idea and turned it into something awesome!…read more Thanks Aaron

I sought this particular tattoo place out based on recommendations and it being an all female shop…read more I reached out to Gabe Joyner multiple times. The lack of communication, follow-up and professionalism is completely absent. After multiple emails, Gabe would just stop responding. I do not recommend this artist & have a negative view of the shop as a whole. Don't waste your time waiting for a response, just go to another shop or seek out another artist other than Gabe.

My mom, sister and I got three small tattoos in one appointment with tattoo artist Justice. He made…read moreany size, design or location adjustments we wanted after the initial consultation via email and then in person during our scheduled appointment. Everyone at blue lotus was friendly from the front desk to the tattooists. Most importantly we all got the perfect tattoos we had imagined. Justice was empathetic and funny as well as very talented and had great attention to detail. Given this was only my second tattoo, it was the best experience I've ever had with customer service! (I am very picky and can micro manage every detail so this is a big deal to me!)

I came and put a 100$ deposit down to get to my appt at 4:04 and then since I forgot my id since I…read morecame right after work I was told I can go get it and once I returned I was then told that its too much into the appt so I have to either forfeit the 100 and pay ANOTHER 100$ or just loose the 100$ and cancel. I ended up canceling because I was not told that before wasting gas to go home collect id and come all the way back. no symphony for making someone do all that just to try and collect more money. would not recommend

I've been here twice, once for a small Friday the 13th tattoo with Billy and once for a large…read morecustom piece with Zach. Both experiences were faaaantastic! I really can't say enough good things about Zach. I looked through his entire portfolio while waiting for my Friday the 13th tattoo and decided then my next big piece would be by him, since he's got that clean, bright traditional style I love. We emailed a bit then set up a consultation. I knew the placement and basic design elements--a portrait of my cat, flowers, maybe her name--and left the rest up to Zach. When I came in for my appointment and finally saw his sketch, I was ecstatic. It was so much better than what I had come up with, which is why I'm glad I gave Zach creative license and let him do his thing. We had talked about splitting it up into 2 sessions, but I was sitting well so we knocked the whole thing out in 3 hrs. I had a lot of fun talking with Zach and Billy and the other artists that popped in, and Zach made sure I had some candy halfway through to keep my blood sugar up :) Once he finished Zach actually brought me into Spike's studio so he could see it, which was cool, since he was Spike's apprentice! The tattoo healed beautifully, no hard spots/loss of ink and very minimal weeping. In conclusion: this place is great, Zach is great, and I can't wait to get my tax refund and come back for more work!

This will probably be one of the only shops I could give 5 stars to-and they deserve it…read more I've been to countless tattoo shops, and Spike's is on a pedestal. The staff is easy going and professional, and above all, absolutely amazing and gifted artists. They truly work with you, put in the time and effort, and have a passion for their jobs. I've gotten most of my tattoos here, and even had them cover up past tattoos. (Not because they were necessarily bad, but because the guys at Spike's just do so much better.) My tattoo work has been displayed on several different websites and I'm constantly receiving compliments-I turn everyone over to Spikomatic. The shop is newer. Give it a few years and I have no doubts it will take over as Madison's prominent tattoo shop. UPDATE: I've been disappointed in my last few runs there. They're losing most of their artists, and the fun atmosphere has gone way down, as has the work.