Sure, this is long - PLEASE take the time to read it. You'll have a tattoo forever, so it's worth your five minutes to read this review in its entirety.
I have two tattoos of reasonable size and LOTS of color that make a pretty solid 1/4 sleeve on my right arm. The first one was done by a shop in the South HIlls that's pretty popular, but I was extremely displeased with the results of it. I felt like I'd been WAY overcharged by the South Hills shop (I was, $300+tip for a 3 hour tattoo that was extremely sub-par), and I had some mutual friends with Travis (owner/main tattoo artist), so I talked to him over a beer one evening about doing a touch-up of the tattoo. Judging from my friend's tattoos, I knew that the quality of Travis's work was second to none, and that he took his job and his art VERY seriously.
I was completely blown away when Travis was done doing a touch-up. Completely. He evened out crooked lines, added in color to make it look like it should ACTUALLY look (it's a tattoo of a stained glass window) with deeper, richer, truer colors, and simple made it look how I envisioned it in the first place. The cost of the touch up was extremely reasonable as well - I could tell that Travis just wanted to help out and make my cruddy tattoo look like a good tattoo. Mission accomplished.
I got my 2nd tattoo done this summer, entirely tattooed by Travis. I was VERY specific about the design, down to the minutest and most menial details. When Travis showed me the sketch that he had drawn of it (he actually drew TWO and let me choose what I liked from both of them, then spent time combining them - going the extra mile to please a customer is Travis's nature!), I was amazed that he genuinely took into account the minute, menial details that I had specified when talking over the tattoo to him.
I spent 5.5 hours in the chair, and Travis was very comfortable with letting me do my own thing - talk, be quiet, listen to music, watch a movie(his chair has an HDTV and DVD player right next to it, and he's got hundreds of DVD's to choose from to watch), whatever. He let me take breaks at my discretion, not his, and wasn't fussy or unreasonable about doing so. Extremely comfortable, relaxed, and CLEAN environment. His Blood-borne Pathogen and Disease papers are displayed (and up-to-date) RIGHT above his work station. He is perhaps the cleanest tattoo parlor in the city. My tattoo turned out looking absolutely AMAZING. Vibrant color (that didn't fade/bleed out), exactly how I had envisioned it. I am still, 4 months later, blown away by how good it looks.
I recommend ALL of my friends and family to Travis's shop for tattoo work. He is super personable, VERY reasonably priced, and just an all around great guy that wants nothing more than to see his customers happy - not to mention that his other artists are fantastic at what they do, too! Don't waste your money at anywhere in the Southside or elsewhere; I can assure you that they aren't as good ($2000 for a mediocre black-and-white 1/2 sleeve? Give me a break...), and anywhere else's staff, you're just another person walking through their door with open skin area and a checking account.
Go to Rogue Tattoo. Period. You won't regret it. read more