I went in for piercing... Nose and later lip. Had it done with Kaitlyn, she's a rockstar and very sweet and gentle and takes time to understand what your wants and needs are. I visited her again for multiple new jewelry purchases and she was always so helpful and knowledgeable. I highly recommend her for your piercing needs! read more

I recently got my 8th piece done here. I'd been batting around what I wanted to get, with some vague direction. I ran into a girl at Fred Meyers who had some really vibrant ink and she mentioned Tattoo 42. Having driven past this place a billion times (theyre down the road from me) somehow, I just hadn't visited. I came in one nite with some ideas, but all the tattoo artists had left, the piercer was closing up. She took the time to get my ideas, look at my pics and get a sense of what I wanted and had me look at John S's portfolio. Immediately I saw a lot of skulls, machinery, hot rods...exactly my kinda thing. Turns out John is a gearhead and hotrodder so considering that my art would be car-themed she steered me right. I dropped in the next day, and even though John was tattooing another client he still took the time to get a sense of what direction I wanted to go in. He checked out a few pics I had stored in my phone I described some ideas and he seemed enthusiastic about taking it on. All the while, he's doing work on another client...never once acted like I was interrupting or distracting him. I set up another time to come back when he'd be free (didn't want to abuse his patience) and also sketched out a few basic concepts that evening so Id have something more direct to show. I re-visited the next day with a more solid direction. We went back and forth on the details as he started drawing out what I was getting at. He took my cues and put his own spin on it, and basically took the idea out of my head, tweaked it so it would work and put it to paper. Turns out there was time to go right to the needle, so the same day I got he tattoo. Between John, Rich, and Katelynn (I think that was the piercer's name) the staff at Tattoo 42 are a down to earth, friendly bunch. True artists who take their craft seriously. I had a good time B.S.ing with these guys about cars, rock music, etc the whole time too. And the ink? Looks fantastic! I tend to heal very rough with many tattoos but between John's technique and my own learning curve on the healing process I can honestly say that now 3 days in, this ink has been the most easygoing of all my work as it heals up. Everyone who has seen my piston/combustion chamber/fire ghost skull tattoo has immediately said its BADASS!!!! Except my mom....she's not crazy about my other 7 and wont even LOOK at my sister's back piece. Either way, I will absolutely be back! You just cant go wrong here. *disclaimer* Ive read some other reviews on here and I see a handful of negative or mediocre write-ups. The overwhelming majority of those aren't even complaining about the actual tattooing, but whining about someone having an 'ego' or being 'mean to them'. Grow some balls! This is a tattoo shop, not a support group! Theyre here to stick needles in you and make you bleed....after the fact, that work is expected to still look good years from now. They're here to do their job, not kiss your candy ass. If you show up with no idea of what you want, or you want professional work for cut rate prices, or some other form of unrealistic expectation then expect to get looked at like a noob. One such customer came thru while John was doing my ink. He gave a brief description of what he wanted, John quoted what I thought was a reasonable price and the guy suddenly got all mealy-mouthed. I wouldn't say John's response was rude in any way, but he was definitely direct and to the point. That's preferable to pussy foot b.s. any day of the week where I come from. read more

I got a good tattoo there but guy was a dick not very friendly at all

I came in on a Monday afternoon to get a 2nd opinion/quote/ideas about a sleeve that I had partially done at another shop and that I needed finished because the artist who started it really, really messed it up. I know from talking to 2 other shops that it will be $800- $1000 (2-3 sessions) to finish and rework but they will not being getting my business. I was greeted only after I said something to the guy behind the counter, even though he was not busy doing anything. I told him my situation and he was very unconcerned, barely looked at my tattoo and had no advice for me other than "look through the folders". The work was actually pretty good that I saw but the shop I came from right before I went here spent a solid 20 minutes with me quoting me session prices and reassuring me that they'd love to work on the pice to fix it. I was open to going somewhere closer to my home but I refuse to go to an attitude ridden unfriendly shop who I have to beg to give me a quote. I recommend anyone reading go to Breaking Ink in Hillsboro because they are super helpful, friendly and will be receiving a lot of money from this customer in the coming months! read more

I've had two tattoos done by Doug and he is amazing!! Very respectful and talented!! I will be going back...

I came here for a quick addition to an existing tattoo --just to add stars-- and I left quite disappointed. Douglas Lamb - the artist - was sloppy and the lines on the stars ended up crooked and uneven. I got the feeling while I was sitting for him that he was uninterested in the work and just rushing through. Now I'm going to have to have another artist fix his mistakes. On the upside--the shop was very clean and hygienic and the rates seemed reasonable until the artist failed to deliver quality work. read more

Rich is an amazing artist and so educated on the art of tattoos! He is also a local!

This place is great! Doug is awesome! good prices and nice artists.

Got my first tattoo from Rich. He took the time to get everything right and I'm happy with how it turned out. He had incredible attention to detail and pride in his work. My friend and I enjoyed his dry sense of humor, and we had a fun time at the shop. read more

Great place and nice guys, their work is the sh*t I've been there for three tattoo's and am mos def going back highly recommend them to anyone!! Oh yeah john did my work.. read more

My friend and I walked in at 5 pm and the guy said he could help us at 7 pm so we cleared our schedule and waited until 7 pm. When we walked back in he said that he couldn't even do it. A phone call would've been nice. Never do a walk-in at this place again. read more

John did a wonderful memorial piece for me today and I love it. I went to other shops and met with artists, but when I met John, he had a great casual vibe and I felt really comfortable. His skills are mad amazing!!!! I couldn't be happier, and wouldn't go anywhere else after this experience. read more

Kaitlyn did my microdermals and belly button and she did a proper job. She went above and beyond to make sure my experience was a great one. I highly recommend her she's awesome:) read more

Customer service has to be number one priority for some business. If customers feel welcome, they eventually will come back and recommend :( and please answer your phone with kindness and at least sound helpful :) read more

My husband and I both had tattoos done here and we will never return. Extremely rude and unprofessional behavior by both "artists". They are not medical doctors ffs, they tattoo people. Lose the egos. We will be going elsewhere next time. read more

I come here for all of my tattoo work, decently priced and always a great job. John is great and I'll continue to come back.

Glad very happy with my small lettering tattoo and the guy who did it was fun to talk to and gave a good atmosphere. I had heard good things about Tattoo 42 from a close friend and I'm glad I chose to come here for my spontaneously timed tattoo. I'll come back. read more

Awesome staff. Rich is a true artist. Got some upper sleevework started and with a quick 15 minute rundown of the idea I was going for, Rich nailed it to the T...freehand no less. Just went to work and I could not be happier with the outcome. read more

John was very rude to my friend and just had a nasty attitude. Would not recommend coming. I completely understand his critique of hand, face and neck tattoos which is what my friend wanted, but there is a polite way of addressing it. Theres a difference between being rude and being honest. read more

That bad review is plain out stupid. Just a bitter person who has nothing better to do with their life! Doug is a bomb tattoo artist! He is talented and incredibly nice! I will only get tattoed by him. The shop is well kept. Everyone who works there is fantastic. Ihave been tattooed at other places and nothing compares to this place. read more

For our 18th anniversary my husband and I were on the search for a tattoo artist that was both talented and respectful. We met Doug Lamb at Tattoo 42. Of all the people we met we were most impressed with, not only his work but with his courteous, gentle attitude. He sketched our work for that same day and far exceeded our expectations with his art. He made sure we were always comfortable and was always patient and listened to us. No attitude, no ego. We will definitely return to him at whichever location he's at. Thanks Doug for making this such a great experience for us! read more

I went here once before to get a Tat and luckily i got John who did an amazing job and was real reasonable with price and even hooked it up since me and hubby got matching tattoos. Well i went in today asking for him to get a new tat or at least described him because I couldn't remember his name and the guy there said there was a guy quitting and he was the only one that was going to be in so i went ahead and continued with him instead. Well i asked for a quote and he gave me a price so i said ok lets go for it. Well i somehow i ended up having to pay double of what he quoted. This tattoo was alot more simple and straight forward than the previous tat i had done by John. Which btw ended up walking in 1/2 hr later. I'll stick to one guy from now on. I like this new tat but for the price i do regret not waiting for John and being assured he wasn't going to be in like the guy had said. read more

Not sure what's going on here but only one person was in the shop. Customer service sucked...perhaps it was a bad day to drop in...

Nice work but extremely overpriced. Rude customer service. Glad I decided against getting work done here. My brother deeply regrets going here. read more

I have gotten 3 tattoos (2 from john, 1 from doug) from this place and have never had a problem with any of the guys, i also got my tongue pierced here. yeah doug rushed my tattoo and he forgot to add a pupil to the eye of my lion but the art itself looks fine, the only reasons some of my lines were not straight was because i would twitch during some spots but that is my own fault. read more

I love this place. Rich is awesome! I just had my second tattoo by him and very pleased with his work! Everyone there is very friendly. Very relaxed atmosphere. Thanks Rich!!!! read more

Extremely rude and not helpful at all. I've never had a tattoo and it was my first time. I was pretty nervous but I knew what I wanted. I wanted a small dandelion and the guy was so rude to me and said why do I even want it if it's that small. I Do not recommend this place. read more

All I can say is Douglas Lamb should NOT be in the business ! I have been in the tattoo world for 23 years now and i know my shit I took my fiance in here to get his neck done he messed up so bad where to even start... his attitude is shit if you want an awkward tattoo he's got ya covered ! he messed up all the line work and pumped so much ink in after his body was rejecting it and to the point it healed like shit! and on top of the fact one side is higher on his next then the other come on dog seriously? just cause you can go to school doesn't mean you should hold a machine... half of the tattoo has blowout and you can't fix that! no matter who tries ! we went back in there and he said give me another hundred and i'll fix it this is after we had aid him 300!!! for a shitty tattoo I will be posting bad reviews to make sure he doesn't tattoo in portland ever again ! doug you fucked over the wrong people and blowout isn't common! don't believe him! marine ... ya sure! a true marine wouldn't fuck over another man! if you can't do the job or don't have time admit it Douglas cause even though another customer is waiting doesn't mean that you should rush through someone else's ink a tattoo is FOREVER!!!!!!! ya dip shit ! read more

I went in awhile ago for a tattoo and saw Rich. He was rude from the get go by greeting me with "What" as I walked through the door. I wanted a Buddha tattoo so I showed him the picture I had printed out and he said it was a crappy picture so he printed out a different one. This would've been fine but I didn't get to have any say in what picture he chose. I also wanted words and he laughed at how many I had cause it would be bigger. (Mind you, the bigger the tattoo, the more money he would get.) When he typed the words on his computer he spelled the words "no matter" as one word with one t (nomater). When I told him it was spelled wrong he replied "I don't know how many t's are in that" in a very condescending tone. When I finally got him to put another t in the word, he still wouldn't put it at 2 words. (Again, it would've been just a little bit bigger and he could've charged me more if he wanted.) When he printed it out and started to trace it, he traced quite a bit out of the lines. I decided I didn't want him to do my tattoo and told him today wasn't a good day money wise (I lied) and he said, very rudely, that I wasn't gonna get a better deal anywhere else. Well I did. It was cheaper at Canyon Body Art, the artists are nicer, the words were spelled correctly, the art was drawn IN the lines, my picture was used and I got to pick my own font. read more

If you want a tattoo done by an artist with an inflated ego this is definitely the place to go. Owner is the rudest person I've had to deal with and the other artists basically choose their own work to go on your skin. Other than the piercing lady who is extremely professional, Clean and very friendly. I would not recommend this place for a tattoo. Piercings definitely . read more

I just got my first "big" tattoo there that spans from top of shoulder to the elbow. As soon as I walked in to schedule an appointment there was nothing but a good vibe. I checked out their work first and I went along with my gut feeling and was not disappointed! Rich was the artist who worked on me ( and he truly is an artist). He really knows what he is doing!!!! And I trusted him completely. I am not sure why other people with their own designs had a bad experience because mine was excellent. Rich was super respectful to the design and really made it come alive. It took 4 hours with breaks and at no point had I experienced rudeness or egos. In fact, for the talented guys (and a girl) that they are (check their flash and examples of finished work if you don't believe me), they are all incredibly down to earth. They took a great care of me! I love this little place and I will not go anywhere else but there for my next tat. Rich, I cannot thank you enough! read more

I dealt with a fella named Doug. He was rude and condescending. He rushed through my appointment. He didn't know how to position me. He did very poor work, a lot of breaks in the line work and blowout (ink bleeding into the skin outside the tattoo because of going to deep) and poor fill in. No original work or any kind of originality. He simply took the design idea I gave him and blew it up with no personal touches. Very amateur and novice. I am currently in the process of finding out what I can do about it legally. Either way any one who thinks Doug is a good artist is either sleeping with him or doesn't know a damn thing about tattoos avoid this place at all cost especially Doug. He basically ruined the area where he tattooed and now I have to pay even more money to fix his crappy work. Thanks a lot there Doug. read more

I walked in, four people in back, two working and the other two may have been cleaning up shop. Got one bit of eye contact and I said hello. Although I spent ten minutes up front flipping through the artists' portfolios, no one ever spoke or approached me. I have numerous tattoos, but they were mostly covered because it was cold and rainy. I'm also in my sixties so perhaps I wasn't "cool" enough or they thought me a looky lou? I'll never know, no one cared to learn. I'll never go back. I know great artists in Portland but thought I'd support an artist in my new hometown. They probably lost a $400- $600 sale that day. read more

Got an amazing tattoo from John. He was super nice and helped me get get exactly what I wanted. The place was super clean and priced great. Very very happy with what John gave me. read more

Cool, clean, friendly shop. Zach is professional, kind and humble. Love the tattoo I got today and will definitely be back for more! Thank you! read more

Walked in and had an idea of what I wanted. Zach nailed it. He made my idea a reality. Couldn't be happier with my new tattoo. Super friendly guys in the shop and a great vibe too. I will definately go back for future ink. read more

I came in over the weekend to get a complete rework of a tattoo I've had for years that I've been unhappy with. I always felt that the tattoo was unsalvageable and it made me extremely self-conscious. Zach told me he could fix it and came up with some great ideas. He turned one of the worst tattoos I've ever seen into a masterpiece, and he did it all free hand. A true artist. Always professional, made me feel comfortable, reassuring, and everything you could possibly want in an artist. I would definitely recommend coming here! read more

I had a great experience working with Rich. He took the time to make sure I was happy with the very specific idea I had in mind for my tattoo. He didn't pressure or rush me with my decision. I would recommend this place to anyone! read more

Ok. I stopped in here a couple years ago, asked some questions, and was treated like a fucking tool. So I walked out and thought, "Wow, I'm never going back there". My wife convinced me to go back and check this place out again yesterday because she's had a lot of good work from Rich in the past. At first I was totally against it, but figured I would give them the benefit of the doubt. We stopped in and were told that basically unless it was going to be upwards of $200 that we were basically wasting their time, and that rather than discussing what type of piece we each wanted done, we needed to "have it all planned out". I walked out with my wife and we went elsewhere. As a result we had no problem paying almost $400 to the other place because they immediately understood my wife was looking for large amounts of work and treated her as such. ------------------------ Doug, thank you for your response. I am going to upgrade the review from 1 star to a 4 star and edit my initial review a bit because you took the time to respond. I guess my biggest issue was ALL my wife was asking the other artist is "Is it cool if I come back in a couple hours when you're done with this tat to talk about getting work done?" and the response was very abrasive as if she was asking him to book her without a deposit. She knows better than that. She was trying to tell him she had several different ideas of things she could do that day and we had several hundred to spend, she wanted ask him which ones he felt like doing and book him for basically the rest of the day. She likes getting to know an artist and designing large fun pieces that integrate the artist's style. She knows she looks like a soccer mom but under the clothes she's covered and knows the process for booking. She was very friendly but was treated like a newby and an idiot so after several attempts she nicely left. She's disappointed because she's seen Rich several times in the past and was happy with your shop. We ended up heading up to a different place and spending all our money there. She was disappointed you yourself were busy, she thought you were very professional and greeted us very nicely when we walked in. Thank you for your response, very professional. read more

I will not go anywhere else to get tattooed. Doug is not only good at what he does, but he talks you through everything and talks to you while you're getting tattooed which makes it less nerv racking. His writing is amazing. He's done work on me three times and I'm going in for my fourth one!! read more