Tattooist in Canberra?

“All the tattoo parlours in Canberra are “looked after” by the Rebels biker gang. They take a cut in profit and decide who can and cant open a tattoo shop in ACT, QBN. Plus they demand get free tattoo’s from ALL of the parlors”

Puzzlepunk, how do you know this? Anyway, I have been tattooed once by the girl at Lyneham and twice by May at Freestyle. I would never go back to Lyneham, as the tattoo faded after about six months. I would highly recommend May, as she fixed the crap one up and designed a custom for my shoulder blade. Everytime I go in there, they are welcoming and friendly. Give Freestyle a go….

All the tattoo parlours in Canberra are “looked after” by the Rebels biker gang. They take a cut in profit and decide who can and cant open a tattoo shop in ACT, QBN. Plus they demand get free tattoo’s from ALL of the parlors.

DO NOT get your tattoo here, unless you don’t mind supporting criminals and extortionists.

There are some nice joints in St Kilda in Melbourne Voodoo I think it s called. All the award wining parlors are in Melbourne or Sydney it seems.

Trix’s comment about Freestyle struck a minor chord with me – they’re a professional outfit that do great work, but when it came to a relatively simple piece I just got the feeling that it was well beneath them. “Cooler than thou”, so to speak. Key thing is if it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.

I was extremely happy with my tattoo I had done at Tattoo Power Lyneham.

Chris at Lyneham. He did my first one maybe around eight years ago now and I always go back to him even when they are years apart. Had my most recent one done in March.

Freestyle? Is that the one in the City?? I’ve heard some real horror stories about that place.
The Lyneham one is kind of a luck and chance tattoo if you aren’t willing to wait in line a couple months for Chris.
My Brother went there and one of the girls made the design for the wrongarm and with her own “touches”
when he went in she said “I’ve made it for your left arm but you’ll be fine with that won’t you?”
Don’t go somewhere where they couldn’t care less about what you want and more about your money.

I got my first at Forever Art in fyshwick.
Biro was a true aussie legend.
Laid back but reliable. The kind of atmosphere you want when getting your first tat which can be extremely daunting.

Heard a Lot of good things about Queanbeyan too but haven’t yet experinced it for myself

i’ve had friends get work done at Freestyle and they’ve all been happy with the work.

wow you want to get a tattoo, so you can be like every 18 – 24 year old girl out there, who regrets it in 5 years.

Tattoo extreme seem to do good work, but if you want to stay healthy, maybe not the place for you.
I have heard awesome things about Freestyle, but I had mine done by Tattoo Power in Lyneham.
It was a custom design that they were able to tweak a little to make it even more amazing.

No matter what you decide, always ask to look at their other work. Some artists are great at portraits, some do exceptional Black and White. You need to find the artist that specialises in your type of tat.

Don’t do it you’ll regret it later

I’d recommend making the trip to Sydney – have had a few tatts done in Canberra and a few in Sydney at Mischief Moon in Darlinghurst and the quality is better by far.

I heard most of the ACT tattooists are associated with bikies. Go elsewhere.

+1 for freestyle, the tattooists I have dealt with there are always polite and have done excellent work om me and other people I know who have gone there.
At the end of the day you should shop around. Someone may have had a great experience at one place and someone else a horrible one. Go in to several tattoo places and have a chat to the tattoists. You will soon find the right one for you.

Had my first three in queanbeyan, fourth in tuggeranong, and fifth and sixth at freestyle. After going to freestyle I wouldn’t go elsewhere- ever again. Big difference in the tatt quality and service plus there’s private rooms. I can say from personal experience that both may and luke do exceptional work and Rush is supposed to be amazing too.

Freestyle do do nice work, but can’t be much arsed about customer service. Being told that drawing a few rings around a forearm is difficult and “boring” (ok, granted maybe the latter, but it’s a quick job) doesn’t really make me want to bother going back for the full backpiece I had planned. I mean, I’ve got several rings tattooed around various extremities one way or another, and no-one in kiwiland or Hawaii had any problem with them. Oh well, maybe it’s good to know your limitations.

Also, can people note whether the place is owned by a “motorcycle club”? I make a point of avoiding those (no problem if gang guys frequent a place from time to time).

If its Tattoo Xtreme see Matt he has done my Koi sleeve and its incredible.

And seen very nice work from Freestyle I’m yet to visit.

If you want something done well, you’ll be willing to go to a little extra time and effort.

This means waiting a while to get in to see the best tattoists in Australia that reside outside of Canberra – Sydney’s a short drive.

Josh – tatudharma.com
Les – artintimidatinglife.com

Or you could get a lovely Coi fish design traced onto you somewhere in the Canberra region.

I make the trip to Free Spirit in Batemans Bay, always happy

I have found Freestyle on Northbourne to be a good place to go. Friendly staff, private and hygenic tattooing areas.

I always recommend Tattoo Xtreme out in Queanbeyan.

I also had my tatt done there and it was good work. I also do hear very good things about Freestyle Tattoo in Civic.

I always recommend Tattoo Xtreme out in Queanbeyan. I, my housemate, and a few friends have had work done by them and we’ve always been happy with the quality. We’ve gone to them with custom designs, and with ideas that they’ve designed around. They did exceptionally in both cases.