If you’re on the look-out for a new look, or you’ve got a sleeve that you’ve been meaning to finish for a few years, then there’s no need to travel 50 miles to find that cool artist you’ve been following on Instagram. No matter what style of tattoo you prefer, there is someone and somewhere for you right here in Brum. Here is just a small taste of some of the tattoo studios you can find around Birmingham.
Vivid Ink
Vivid Ink is well known by English tattoo lovers as the biggest tattoo chain in the country, but did you know that it started life as a single studio in Birmingham? In 2011, the flagship store was opened and has since only gotten bigger and better. 4 of its 13 studios can be found in Brum – the first in the city centre, and others in Sutton Coldfield, Moseley, and on the Hagley Road. The original has over 10 artists, as well as piercing staff, who specialise in all sorts of styles, with the predominate ones being realism, anime-inspired, and fineline. And if you change your mind down the road, they offer laser removal too.
4 Smallbrook Queensway, Birmingham B5 4EN
House of Thieves
Located in the Custard Factory, House of Thieves is an absolute gem that suits its surroundings perfectly. With Digbeth being the home of all things trendy and independent in the city, it is exactly where this studio belongs. If you think “tattoo shop”, this is what you see – artwork covering the dark walls, wooden floors, and a chesterfield sofa. It’s run by a great bunch of tattoo artist who all have outstanding talents which can be seen on their Instagram page linked above. I certainly recommend this place, since I got my favourite tattoo from Rob himself!
Unit 14 Gibb St, Deritend, Birmingham B9 4AA
Dark Horse Collective
Is this a tattoo studio or an art gallery? Well, both. Dark Horse Collective is an international tattoo studio with tattoo-inspired gallery art adorning the walls. The aesthetic seem quite new-age spacey, but the people make it warm and friendly. You can expect to find a lot of artists that focus on black and grey work, especially realism and traditional, but the owner, Rich, is all about that bright colour surrealism, and portraits so realistic that they look like photographs!
1st Floor, 31-33 Boldmere Rd, Boldmere, Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield B73 5UY
Painted Lady Tattoo Parlour
Painted Lady Tattoo Parlour has one of the most beautiful studios you can find, inside and out. It set up shop in a Victorian building in 2008, and has done justice to the location ever since. If you know Birmingham, as you know tattoos, you know Painted Lady. The atmosphere is welcoming and inclusive, and the artists are more than happy to discuss your custom tattoo ideas. They cover many styles, including fineline, cartoon, and neotraditional, and all are done to the highest quality.
1 Station Rd, Birmingham B31 3TE
Seven Foxes Tattoo
Imagine a hipster boho café, but with protective wrap on the tables and the noise of tattoo machines instead of coffee machines, and you’ve got Seven Foxes Tattoo. Much like Painted Lady, they are based in a Victorian building, and they’ve added to the aesthetic with plants and Edison bulbs galore. The artists’ specialise in florals, watercolours, and mandala dotwork (as well as the classic realism portraits and traditional Japanese styles). It’s super relaxed and casual, so it’s definitely a great pick for the more nervous sitters.
3 Kingsfield Rd, King’s Heath, Birmingham B14 7JN
Gung Ho! Tattoo
A small one, but a good one! With only 3 resident artists, you would be forgiven for thinking that Gung Ho! is a newer shop, but they have been tattooing people since 2007. The reason for this small team is that they have spent that time focusing on quality over quantity. Owner Rich has been tattooing since 1993, and the rest of the team also have great experience and knowledge, so you know it’s going to be good. This is the place to come for Japanese and Polynesian inspired styles (not too common in this city) as well as traditional blackwork and portraits.
5 Woodbridge Rd, Birmingham B13 8EH
Black Axe Tattoo
One of the coolest things about custom tattoos is that no matter what your demented mind can conjure up, there will be someone willing and able to put your idea to flesh. Black Axe Tattoo has those people. The artists are all proud “arty weirdos” and are more than happy to realise whatever it is you can envision. They focus on neotraditional, colour fineline, and realism tattoos, but they always put their own spin on it. Manager and resident artist Joe is the perfect example of this attitude, having inked everything from colourful dinosaurs to a frog frying an egg while riding on the back of a beetle. Yeah, they won’t judge you.
465a Brook Ln, Billesley, Birmingham B13 0BT
Birmingham Ink
Finally, it’s the city’s (self-proclaimed) finest tattoo studio, Birmingham Ink. This studio offer basically every style imaginable – tradition, realism, watercolour, ornamental, botanic, fineline, mandala, etc. – they have established themselves among some of the most beloved studios around. They also offer piercings and laser removal, as well as being happy to help with a cover up (since the laser is more painful than the needle!). The gallery on their website shows off some of the amazing work they have done, and you should defiantly check it out if you’re considering getting a tattoo here.
