Think Tank Tattoo

I had an appointment that I could not make do to weather in the mountains, and so I called to cancel a few hours before. I had already been in twice, once to meet with the artist and discuss what I wanted and paid my $ 100 deposit. They told me that my deposit was forfeited when I cancelled my appointment with less than 48 hours notice, their policy. When I told them it was unprofessional to make me pay another $ 100 deposit to rebook my appointment, the response was that I «was unprofessional for canceling my appointment». I can’t control the weather.
It speaks a lot about a business that would rather take $ 100 without doing any work than make $ 400-​$ 500 for my business. As well as to be disrespectful to me about canceling an appointment that I had no control over.
I can’t comment on the quality of their work since I’ll be finding a different place to go.

I have a full back piece of (blackwork, complex, sorta tribal) by Scottie DeVille at Th’Ink Tank and I couldn’t be more pleased.
It was my second ink ever, and because I learned the hard way from my first piece by a crap artist, I shopped long and hard, interviewed hundreds of inked friends and acquaintances, and read a lot of reviews of local tattoo artists in magazines and online before selecting Scottie.
(I had originally picked out Jeff Kopp at the same shop — in fact, I think he’s one of the owners — but after discussing my project with him and Scottie, looking at the styles the two of them prefer to work in and have the most experience with; and admittedly, taking into account that Scottie would become available long before Jeff, I went with Scottie for that piece. I would happily get inked by anyone in their shop, however.)
Scottie’s personality and demeanor were professional and friendly, and his enthusiasm for the artwork when I showed it to him — the way his face lit up — proved then and there that I’d picked the right artist. That and the fact that he had a several month waiting period to get into his chair seemed like pretty good signs.
His depth control is very good, his lines clean, sharp, and confident, and his shading is beautifully smooth. Aside from tatooing technique, he’s a damned good artist in his own right, and can create custom designs for you in several styles if you don’t have your own art ready to go.
Knowing that this was my first big piece, and taking into account my self-​professed limits as a «pain wimp», Scottie helped me stay relaxed though all the long sessions, and has a great chairside manner.
The shop itself is attractive, comfortable, clean, and I personally love the stylish décor. The walls are not covered with flash, and when you ask to see a portfolio of their work, they actually show you pictures of their healed or freshly-​finished work, not more flash designs. They are professional, organized, and they hold themselves to high standards.
Recommended without reservation!

After three tats done by the incredible Alisha Rice, I think it’s time I spoke up.
What do I love about Th’ink Tank? Everything. Let’s see if I can narrow it down a bit:
1) Their shop is incredibly clean and very spacious. It’s not overcrowded like many other places who just churn out walk-​ins all day.
2) Alisha works there! Check her out on instagram: @alisharice
3) The staff is incredibly professional and friendly.
4) The prices are juuuuusst right!
5) It is located conveniently on Broadway and there is always plenty of parking (most meters are an hour so don’t forget to fill up your meter!)
All that I listed above is what keeps me coming back to this place. If you are serious about getting a tattoo this is the place to get it.
My advice to people who are new to tattoos or have only a few:
1) Know what you want.
2) Keep it simple to keep the price down. Either way you need to pay your artist for their work. This isn’t something you can throw away when you’re over it. This IS art.
3) Treat the shop and people in there with respect and you’ll get exactly that back.

It’s my third piece with Scottie, and I’ve gotten to the point where I just give him the themes and ideas and he takes over. Couldn’t be happier. One of their artists did some off quality work on my wife, Scottie dove right in to clean it up.
This shop is immaculate, great atmosphere, and will be my #1 recommendation.

Think Tank is a professional tattoo studio with amazing artists, two of which have collectively put 60 plus hours of work on me. The shop always retains solid talent, and there is not a single artist I would not consider for future work. I think what makes it appeal most to me is the versatility in styles, no matter what you are thinking of there is probably an artist in the shop for you. You want some nature work? No problem. Maybe Japanese style? There is an artist for that. A full back piece? A little banger on the arm? Celtic knot work? A pentagram on your FACE? Check, check, and so on, you get the idea.
A tattoo is a different experience for everyone, and there are as many opinions about the process as there are people. In my case, I find the most value in an artist that can take some of your ideas and work with you to create a design that you are both happy with. It’s not just the artist’s skill with a liner, it’s their creativity and style that I connect with first. If you want some flash from the wall, a design copied verbatim from the internet, or some simple lettering then no problem, any tattoo shop can do that Think Tank included. What separates a top tier establishment is a shop where you find experienced and talented artists you really connect and are comfortable with. Think Tank has been that kind of place for me.

Came here today with my homie to get a bday tattoo. Awesome guys working there but kinda upset about the end payment results. One of the employees said it would be a hundred total for both of our (very small) skull tattoos. However after everything was said and done and we were leaving the shop they chased us down and made us pay a total of 200 for both of the tiny tattoos. Besides that, it was a good shop. But we left with a bad taste in our mouth.

Not impressed. I had an anchor tattooed on my wrist. It is completely uneven and there is a huge chunk of black missing. The tattoo isn’t that big, but I’m shocked that something this simple got screwed up. The only way to fix it now is to make it bigger, which I do not want. What really sucks is this is a tattoo that I look at every day, and all I see is how uneven it is. Customer service at the front desk was good, but I’d rather the reverse was true and I had a good tattoo. This place is not up to all the hype around it.

This tattoo shop is amazing, great atmosphere, awesome staff, clean facility. I have gotten all my tattoos by Fish (no longer there), couldn’t have picked a better artist. I have seen Rosy’s work as well, great work! Highly recommended!!!

Tyler was awesome! I just got my 2^nd tattoo (and my first in 15 years!) and he made me feel totally comfortable. He let me know what he was doing before he did it. I love my new tattoo and would recommend him to all my friends!

I stopped in to price a tat i have been thinking about. Basically a very small text. I didn’t get very far. The snarky too-​cool-​for-​school receptionist’s second sentence was that the minimum price for a tattoo is $ 100. I assumed she was smart enough for a sense of humor when I said it meant the tattoo was going to be huge. She then proceeded to inform me that anything less was not really worth the time of their artists and that there were other shops would do small jobs for less but that meant less quality, and that if I knew anything about tattoos I should appreciate their standards or seek the work of another less qualified shop. I mentioned that my other tattoos were far more reasonably priced and that she was right, I would indeed be seeking the work of another shop. She turned her back on me and walked away in a huff. Not even worth one star.

Th’ink Tank is the best shop I have found in the area and I love Fish’s work. Fish was nice enough to squeeze me into his busy schedule since I will be going out of town soon. I love what he drew and he did the entire session for me in one sitting when it probably should have taken two. It was really fun, he is extremely nice and has a lot of upbeat energy. I felt like he really took the time to listen to my idea, draw something nice and made sure it was perfect. I’m so happy with my tattoo.
I really liked Fish’s style and interest in spiritual tattoos but looking though the portfolios of the different artists, I thought they were all excellent.

Very Clean Shop. Nice and personable. Previous work displayed thru out. Customer service and prices are reasonable on par with other shops.
Totally Professional Atmosphere.

Although the artists in this shop are undeniably talented, and though the shop has a reputation as the «best in Denver,» my experience there was extremely unprofessional and unacceptable. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE.
I had been coveting a tattoo from a specific artist at Th’ink Tank for years, having been blown away by his portfolio and after seeing a beautiful piece that he had done on a friend. However, as the process unfolded, I really wish that I had listened to my gut feeling.
The artist seemed disinterested and bored during my consultation. At one point he even rolled his eyes after having asked me how large I wanted the tattoos and I gave him a rough estimate in inches.
When I arrived for my tattoos, he had drawn up something with elements I had specifically mentioned that I wanted to avoid. When I politely asked if two small modifications could be made to the drawing and later tried to confirm the color scheme, he barely acknowledged that he’d heard me and was reluctant to change a thing without discussing any reasoning. After placing the stencils and realizing that I was hoping for the tattoos to be a little larger, he stomped off to resize them, was gone for about half an hour leaving me partially clothed and with nowhere to sit/​stand privately in the shop, and didn’t bother to ask how I felt about the new size. As I read in a previous review, he seemed very irritated when I wanted to spend more than 30 seconds eyeballing the stencils in the mirror.
During the tattoo, the artist asked if he could change up the color scheme from what we had discussed. Since the tattoos were based on some artwork I’d had at my wedding and deeply personal, I politely declined and tried to explain why. When the tattoos were finished and I got up to check them out in the mirror, I almost cried. I was completely SHOCKED to see that the artist had TOTALLY DISREGARDED what I’d said and gone ahead and replaced a very large portion of the tattoo that we’d planned on being shades of blue with black and yellow instead. Needless to say after all of that anticipation/​excitement, pain, and money, I was thoroughly crushed.
Luckily, I have since found a fantastic artist who was willing to rework the tattoos, so this story has had a happy ending. I really am extremely appalled at my experience at Th’ink Tank however, and shocked by the lack of professionalism, ethical consideration, and basic empathy that was shown to me. Though these artists all have awesome skills, what good does it do you when you end up getting something very different than what you’d wanted? When it’s carved into your skin, you have every right to be happy with your tattoo, and so I would STRONGLY recommend looking at other shops.

I’d heard really good things ’bout this place, so I decided to stop by and get some ideas/​drawings hashed out. They were very nice and had me sit down almost immediately with an artist. BUT, when I told the artist the design I wanted (a tree on my ankle, with the roots reaching down to my foot), he flat out said that they ‘don’t do trees because trees never look good’.
Say WHAT?
I was a bit shocked, a bit hurt, and mostly confounded. I’ve seen lots of awesome tree tattoos, and the fact that this dude wasn’t even willing to try really pissed me off. He basically said that anyone who would do a tree tattoo and promise that it would look good would be stealing my money.
So I give these folks one star, because they didn’t give me a chance. I understand being selective in choosing customers and designs so as to maintain a quality reputation, but this just felt downright pretentious. So boo to you, Th’ink Tank. I’ll take my business elsewhere.

Fish at Th’ink Tank Tattoo is fantastic. I’ll give him five stars any day and recommend him to anyone from first-​time tattoos to pros. I scoured the books and photos online (this was before Unilocal was a thing) and was impressed by his tats and other types of art. I gave him the basic idea of what I wanted and some colors and the pieces he created are beautiful — I always get complements. The tats look great five+ years later.
The shop is clean but not the most comfortable one I’ve been in. Some people are less friendly than others but nothing so bad that I wouldn’t go back. What can I say, it has that real tattoo parlor feel and there’s good people watching.

After kicking around an idea for two years I finally decided to get my work done by Adam Rosenthal. He’s talented and a great guy. Since pictures say more than words, I uploaded photos of my ink.

I called the shop back in January to set up an appointment for this month. I’m coming into town this weekend for a very special event and wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate it. When I called, Jessie told me to email them the design I want and they would get back to me asap with a quote. I emailed it and received a confirmation and was told that the person they had in mind to do my tattoo was out of the shop but they would get back to me in a couple of days. No one got back to me. I tried calling a couple weeks later and they said they didn’t know what I was referring to, so I sent another email. Now that my trip is in just a few days, it looks like I’m not going to get the tattoo that I wanted so badly. I don’t just go anywhere for something permanent like that, and I was trusting the reviews so this was pretty much the place I was counting on.
I figured contacting the shop nearly 5 months in advance and checking in again twice would pretty much assure me an appointment (or, at the very least the courtesy of some sort of explanation as to why they couldn’t/wouldn’t do the tattoo). Customer service? Sorely lacking.

For my frist tattoo I wanted to do my homework. So who do I go to? My mother, she got both of her tattoos done by Jef Kopp. So in my searches, I found him at Th’ink Tank… however he books a year out and specializes in portraits, which isn’t what I was necessarily looking for.
So, after a little struggle booking an appointment since I live out of town and had to plan while I was going to be in town, I finally got an appointment with Sam. Prior to my trip I had sent an «email consultation» over so when I got into town for my real consultation Sam already had an idea of what I was looking for. We went over some ideas, and he told me some possible problems with my original plan… like some of the lettering closing up over time, and other problems thatI could eventually run into. So we went back and forth little discussing what I was looking for and we decided on a general direction.
A few days later I went in for my tattoo, and was super nervous. Sam did a great job not making me feel awkward and keeping me calm. He did an AMAZING job, and gave me exactly what I never knew I wanted. His lettering, and flower work were killer and it looks amazing, I get compliments on it all the time now. For my next one, I’ll definitely be going back to Sam, even if it includes the extra cost of some airfare to Denver.
For custom work, it’s not cheap (what do I know, this is my first and it’s not like I really shopped around) … but is price really an object for a piece of art that’s with you forever? … not a good idea to go cheap in that area folks. Sam’s worth every penny.

Fish is where it is at! I read the mixed reviews and can see where some are coming from but also can only base my reviews on the experiences I have had. I have had 4 of my 5 tats from Fish and will continue to go to him for his skill, style and overall awesomeness. It is a bit intimidating to walk in the shop but I have only had positive interactions with the staff I have directly dealt with.
Fish understands that each tattoo is personal and holds meaning and he honors that. He is patient and understanding and goes at a pace that is comfortable for you. His work is clean and well done.
The shop is clean too and they are very particular about prepping between appointments. I am a bit of a germaphobe and they have allayed my fears.
Jeff Kopp is a nice guy — I went to the old shop he worked at — where I got my first tattoo after a cliched breakup. He was kind and even helped me put my bike together as it was shipped to me in parts — (that is another story)!
The other shining star I have dealt with is Sam — he tattooed 2 friends of mine who were honoring the loss of a loved one and he was incredibly sweet to them — and he is talented.
All of my tats are on my back so not many folks even know I have them — until now… I got each tattoo to mark a significant time in my life and I am comfortable getting them done by folks who not only care about their art but about the customer as well. Pricing is high but you get what you pay for and it is more than ink –it is an experience.

I just got my first ink in over a decade at Th’ink Tank, and I’m really happy I chose this shop. It came highly recommended, and I can understand that. I didn’t come in with a definite concept, and the artist, Sam, guided me to a sweet design that worked perfectly.
I’d only had a couple of very small characters on my shoulders in the past, so this was the first time I had to sit for a session that lasted more than 10 minutes. Sam worked on me for about 90, and it was a totally cool experience. He was super-​professional, very friendly and chill. The other shop staff were very friendly too. The shop is extremely clean and .
Yes, you have to make an appointment and come back in a few weeks (or more). Yes, you have to leave a deposit. Yes, the prices are higher than the average, but that’s because the quality is much higher than the average.
If that’s not your style, take your business to some shop where you can walk in and take your chances with whoever’s there. That’s not to say Denver doesn’t have a lot of great shops; to my understanding, it certainly does. However, Th’ink Tank does things a little differently. As long as I’m in Denver, I’ll be coming back here for my ink.