Michael, the owner, can be a very good tattoo artist, but there are issues with his approach and his arrogance. Michael gave me a great tattoo the first time (right shoulder). There was some discussion to get him to do what I wanted, but he relented and included a couple of elements I requested. He seemed jazzed to do the tat. He even touched it up nicely at another session. Then, I went back for a second tat, and that's when I got a tattoo that was NOT like the pictures I had shown him. In fact, he indicated that he understood what I wanted, but he ignored my directives, and drew the tat directly my calf, then spent 3 hours on my calf and gave me a tattoo that had several elements I did NOT want, and he left out the elements I *did* want, saying that he would fix those when we did the rest of my lower leg (in the future). Some of that decision came about because his tattooing of my calf hurt like hell, likely because of the tremendous amount of color and the black he used for "contrast". So $600 down the drain and a tat I hate. Micheal loves to do what *he* likes, but not necessarily what the customer wants. So now I have a shitty tattoo on my calf that nobody can identify as a black hole. I get questions like, "What's that supposed to be?" Bummer. Micheal does B&G, but color? Not so much. So because of the first tattoo, I wanted something on my left shoulder and that's where the train left the rails. I paid him $100 for drawing/design time and provided via text messages four or five pics, and every time, he ignored the pic and came up with something entirely different. Part of the problem was there would be a medium cover up of my old tattoo, on the bicep, but I wanted a complete shoulder all the way down to the elbow. He finally came up with another completely different design (a skull and spider) than I had requested and made sure I knew he had worked on it ALL NIGHT. I did not know at the time that he meant, I'M DONE! I requested a small change in the eyes and waited two days, then I asked again, and his tone changed from slightly annoyed to pissed. He sent me the new art which did NOT include the eyes looking up as we'd discussed. So, I took the design and modified it to look like I wanted and sent it back to him. No reply. No reply. I finally had to visit the shop to get an appointment for the left shoulder tat, which was done better as a cover up as he worked on it. At yet another session, I had him add a second spider, but the appt was on a Friday evening and he spent most of my time talking with his friends who kept dropping by during my whole session. Michael had fun, but he did not do the spider with realism, which is what I wanetd. He did not do the webbing the way I wanted and the spider's legs are crooked with a few blowouts. IMHO, he's not worth the trouble or cash to get a black and gray tat. I certrainly wouldn't approach him for a color tat in this world or the next. Unless you want him to do it *his* way. Good luck with that. If this review had been about Veronica, a lady that works at Grateful Ink, it would have been 5 stars. Her work is non-pariel. read more

Grateful Ink Tattoo - Colors aren't right, this tat is not even close to the image I showed him, he just blew me off and drew directly on my calf. I hate it. - Tattoo Near Me - Nevada City, California

The joys of working in a tattoo shop means that you will get gassed up for having a weird idea to get tattooed. About 5 years ago I had the funniest idea of getting (Do Not Resuscitate) DNR tattooed on my chest. My friend and shop apprentice said that they would love to do it, so it was. Fast forward to now, a million people want to discuss my tattoo every time I have on a bikini or low cut top on. Everyone has an opinion on why I did that to my body. I am totally over this tattoo. Desperate to get it covered up with a flower I would enjoy seeing everyday, I found Grateful Ink. Went into the studio to get a proper consultation (btw, great idea for any tattoo ideas!) and met Mike the owner. His gregarious personality and portfolio of beautiful brightly colored tattoos sold me. I am absolutely thrilled with this design and the healing was too easy. Please consider this your go to Nevada City tattoo location! read more

Grateful Ink Tattoo - After photo!!! - Tattoo Near Me - Nevada City, California

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I love this tattoo shop! It's in the super cute downtown of Nevada City. The owner and tattoo artist Michael is so incredibly kind and a great artist. Veronica and Daniel are the other two artists in the shop and they're amazing! They're all super cool peeps. *Note: It's a by-appointment-only shop so that means no walk-in tattoos. Gotta get in touch with them and set something up. read more

For the longest time I've been a fan of tattoos, but have always backed down from actually getting one. I don't what I expected as far as the pain level was concerned, but I think I had mentally worked it up to somewhere along the lines of the Spanish Inquisition tortures! I also have the social stigma from my generation still hanging around in the back of my sub-conscious, telling me that only tramps and low-lifes have tattoos. Well, call me a low-life tramp, because I finally got myself inked on Friday, July 6th. The artist, Veronica, who has the light touch, made my love for knitting an indelible image on my tender flesh! Big positive: it didn't really hurt that much. Now, for the next tattoo..... read more

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Had my first tattoo done here by Michael. Awesome experience, he took my idea and perfected it. He added a few touches to make it pop. Made the whole experience fantastic. If I decide on another I know who I'm going to. Thanks Michael read more

A couple years ago I got some ink from Veronica. I brought in my own design and she was nice enough to accommodate my schedule. Unfortunately she got annoyed with me when I was trying to find the right placement for my tattoo & I felt very intimidated by her. I wasn't happy with the placement but I agreed to it anyways because I didn't want to upset her. HUGE MISTAKE because now I hate the tattoo and am paying $2000 to have it removed. (Original cost was $100) Never EVER let a stuck up tattoo artist bully you. I would give them negative stars if I could. read more

I wanted to get a tattoo but i guess that im not cool enough for this shop. Only one customer was in the shop. Multiple employees n the shop looked at us as we came in but said nothing. We hung around for a while looking at the stuff in the shop thinking that one of the many employees standing around might eventually acknowledge us but no luck. The plan was to make an appointment to came back but also buy some stuff out the cases right then. No such luck. I left with all my money and will find a different shop to get my work done. read more

At first I wasn't going to consider this shop because it had no Yelp reviews and recently opened. However I decided to look up their Facebook page and I was really impressed with the work shown there. I felt confident they knew what they were doing so the next day I went in for my first tattoo. I'm so glad I picked this shop! Michael made me feel very welcome in his shop and Veronica took care of me from the beginning. I showed her my design and before long she was inking up my arm. She did such an amazing job, her work is very detailed and clean. She matched the colors of my image perfectly and drew a very detailed eye that matches my own. The whole time I felt comfortable and I loved looking at the art Michael has posted in his shop. I am so Grateful that I went to Grateful Ink! read more

LOVE this tattoo shop!!! Veronica, Daniel & Michael are so friendly and talented. They make you feel very comfortable and welcome.

This tattoo shop is awesome the atmosphere is amazing Michael the owner is a great artist my first tattoo experience and his team made it great I will definitely be going back for more ink soon thank you greatful ink !!! I can't say enough about this place mike free handed everything to give me a one of a kind piece of art love it read more

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Veronica is truly the best! No artist has ever made me as comfortable as she has and that's big deal for a socially awkward person like me.

My hubs and I celebrated our 40th anniversary in Nevada City and spontaneously decided to get ring finger tattoos...since it was spur of the moment, Daniel stayed late to accommodate us. We are so happy with the service and quality - his line work was perfect!!! The shop was clean too! Thank you so much! read more

I absolutely LOVE my tattoo by Mike, the owner!! Awesome guy, awesome stories, amazing artist, clean, gorgeous shop. I showed him a picture of what I wanted, but he put his own spin on it and made it way better than the pic. read more

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My friend and I got our first tattoos here! Veronica did mine and she was delightful and professional, and explained everything that was going to happen so I wouldn't be nervous. It's a small and dainty insect in grayscale with stippling and I love it so much. Her interpretation of the reference images into an initial sketch, stencil placement, line work, and attention to detail were outstanding. read more

Grateful Ink Tattoo - Tattoo Near Me - Nevada City, California

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I went to grateful ink for my first tattoo after seeing all the amazing work done there on their Facebook page. I ended up getting mine done by Daniel and he did an awesome job, his wife Veronica (who also tattoos there) is also awesome and they both made the whole experience perfect. I've definitely found the shop I'll be coming back to for my future tattoos. read more

Great place! Mike was absolutely awesome. It was my first tattoo so it was an easy one for him, but his other stuff was incredible. So whether you're a beginner or need an elaborate tattoo, Mike is great!! He also has very interesting stories for you about Nevada City. Very interesting. read more