Blackbird Tattoo

HaHa «Sam» I mean Jesse, another of your fake reviews got filtered. What is that 14?
You guys are ubber lame. When you close this location like the Portland one, perhaps you can open up in BFE!

Portland, OR location closed

Jesse has done two (soon to be four) of my tattoos, and I couldn’t be more satisfied. I honestly believe that I have some the nicest tattoos I’ve ever seen on my body. That’s worth so much. In addition to being incredibly talented, Jesse is professional and personable.
The new Vancouver, WA location isn’t difficult to find, and is certainly worth the trip across the river.
I can’t recommend this place enough.

Last year I took my boyfriend to Blackbird to do a complex cover-​up tattoo. Jesse created an amazing custom design and executed it with amazing color and detail. His line quality and attention to detail are truly perfection. He’s gracious and patient, and a true professional.
I was impressed enough to go back to him for color and a touchup of my own tattoo, and it looks great. I fully intend to return to Jesse at Blackbird for future work, he’s a magnificently talented artist and tattoo professional.

I’ve gotten 3 tattoo’s from Blackbird and I’m not done yet! Best tattoo parlor in Portland! I have two medium sized tattoo’s on my left arm, both done by Jesse Carr.
After going to Jesse it would be almost impossible to go to anyone else. He is super awesome, great listener and has a really soft touch for a tattoo artist. He was able to take something i had been thinking about for almost 9 years and turn it to life on my body. It was something i knew i was going to have to go to someone special for as i rarely see the Sumi style of Japanese tattoo’s done really well. When he told me that was something he was super excited to do, and a style that he really likes i was really happy! True talent and i am forever grateful :)
I rarely go a day without getting a complement on one of my tattoo’s. THANK YOU!!!

Now I like this place even less because they will lie to try to cover their own ass. Sad…
One could take my review as offensive, or accept that he screwed up and move on. Or just respect that I like to communicate with absolute clarity and really don’t like to feel like I’m walking on eggshells around someone’s feelings. I shouldn’t have to when it’s concerning a piece that’s to be placed on my body. That’s really what this comes down to. He got offended and quit. I wish I could say why, but he stormed off. It is what it is. To straight up LIE about the instances leading up to him storming off does not make anything better. Not cool.
A tattoo artist has been recommended to me though who is comfortable answering my questions, making adjustments to the artwork, is polite, professional, and over all a really cool person. So despite how annoying this situation has been, it is for the best.

I’ve gotten 2 tattoos here at Blackbird Tattoo. They are clean, friendly and understanding. I have canceled before when i wasn’t sure about getting another tattoo and they were cool with that and said come back when i wanted… I love my 2 pieces that i do have. Jesse did both of them. They were my ideas, but it was Jesse’s artistic talent that made what i envisioned possible. Soon i will be getting another one and would love Jesse to do it.

I came to Blackbird for my first tattoo, a quote on my left rib area. Even though I wanted simple black script, I knew I wanted to go to a reputable shop with good artists. I was recommended Blackbird and when I checked out their website and shop I was impressed by their custom only tattoo philosophy, their clean shop, and the portfolios of all the artists. I looked at each artists work and thought, «well If they can do such beautiful work, surely they’ll do great letter work.» I also had planned to get it in, according to everyone I talked to, a very painful place. I chose to go to a seasoned artist so that if I didn’t handle tattooing well, they would hopefully be gentle and supportive.
I called up and asked to schedule a consultation and Spike answered. He was very friendly and patient with me as I told him what I wanted. I was impressed with their high level of customer service to even a rookie, like myself. I met Spike one time and he was very friendly. We scheduled the tattoo appointment for later that week!
My tattoo experience was great. Spike was very nice and answered all my questions (I was curious!). He put up screens around the station since I’d have to bare a lot of my back for the tattoo. He was very light handed and took about an hour to do my small amount of lettering. My tattoo healed up perfectly and he did amazing with the lettering! I am an artist myself, so I am very particular when it comes to artwork.
All in all, thumbs up to this place!

Good people, sweet art, fair price, need i say more.

I just want to give immense thanks to Trevor (not Travis). I gave him a very simple idea and he turned it into a master piece. He took something I envisioned in my head, and made it 100X then I even pictured.
Thank you!
Andre
I will high recommend this artist — and this shop to all my friends.

I got 2 tattoos at blackbird and 1 at a predecessor, temple tattoo. All 3 experiences were amazing, clean, professional, and left me with beautiful work. Sadly my man Peter is largely bowing out of the tattoo world but I trust the other artists there enough that when I need some more ink, I will probably go back. And if Peter wasn’t leaving, I wouldn’t think to go anywhere else.

My tattoo was something special to me. Real special. I thought about getting a tattoo for a year, and then I thought about what I wanted for a year. It was very symbolic to me personally, as I suppose tattoos are to many people. Still, when I finally settled on an image, I found myself with one doozy of a piece I wanted to get done. Look up Escher’s Snakes. Yup. THat. Only I wanted it personalized, and I wanted it done right. I wanted to get the best artist I could get, and I wanted an artist who’s work I respected.
I did a lot of searching and I ended up at Black Bird Tattoo. Specifically with the work of Jesse Car.
I went and talked to him about the tattoo. He was able to explain the basic limits of a tattoo design to me so that I could alter the Escher drawing to (a) be more reasonable as a tattoo and (b) personalize it. Once I got my basic concept down he was able to take the idea and flesh it out, fully realizing the work and making me one VERY happy customer. His work is impeccable, and I tell anyone who I know who is interested in a tattoo to go to him.
The shop was very clean. The working areas were kept spotless and sanitary. They made sure that I could see the ink poured fresh from the bottle, the fresh needles etc.
They also were nice and avoided the use of the word needle, since I have a phobia. I know it was hard for Jesse, but he did a very good job of it.

Blackbird is a custom tattoo studio featuring awesome artists with over 30 years combined experience! They take special care to keep things clean and sterile, unlike some shops. Most of my work has been done here and I plan on continuing that trend until I run out of room! I have recommended many friends to the shop and everyone has been thrilled with their art.
EDIT ¹⁰⁄₃₀: Currently the shop rate is $ 120 per hour with a $ 60 minimum (tip not included), an extremely reasonable price for the high quality work that they do here.

get ready cause i’m gonna start ranting.
blackbird tattoo is the most AWESOME tattoo shop i have ever experienced. i have been looking for my next tattoo artist for at least 10 years. i have searched new york, los angeles and san francisco and couldn’t find any one who was right for me.
then i moved to portland and every time i drove by blackbird it called out to me. i came in to find a group of exceptionally talented artists. and their humility speaks loudly of their abilities. there is no ego or attitude in this shop. and like the other reviewer mentioned it is spotless, every inch of it.
i chose ren sakuri because he does beautiful asian art and he works in miniature. he worked with me to design a pheonix and i couldn’t be any more satisfied. his design is creative and tasteful, his lines are flawless and details are exact. i’ve gotten so many compliments from strangers on his tattoo. and ren is one of the nicest people i’ve ever met. as soon as the rest of the world gets a clue about him i’m never going to be able to book him.
i’ve met with many other talented artists but i have to say the quality of ren’s work far exceeds anything i’ve ever seen. and to find someone so gifted and so nice at the same time isn’t so easy to come by in the tattoo business.
if you want a tattoo that you will be wild about every time you look at go to blackbird and talk to ren.

In a town where you can throw a (small) rock (lets say pebble ’cause I don’t want people to think I am trying to stone anyone) and hit a talented tattoo artist, it is a difficult task to find the ‘right one’.
My wife purchased me a gift certificate for Blackbird Tattoo and more specifically, for work to be done by Jesse.
I’m really extremely hung up on who will ink me and was super nervous at first. I consulted my friends (some of them work for other tattoo shops in town) and time and time again Jesse was highly regarded.
I set-​up a consultation appointment and brought the materials in for the tattoo. I immediately liked Jesse, as he not only seemed like an old friend, but was personable, professional, and really into the design that I had in mind.
It took a while to make the tattoo sessions happen (my fault) but I am absolutely smitten with his work.
I received so many compliments (because of his talent) last night at work that I am eager to have our second session get here soon!
I look forward to having more work done by Jesse and am happily referring him to my friends.
As far as the shop is concerned:
— the location is awesome
— the shop is immaculately clean
— the restroom was cleaner than my own bathroom at home
— the rest of the staff is a delight
— they had the history channel on their big TV with sound muted and closed captions on… I enjoyed learning about mastodons during my session.

Excellent artists. My first experience here was with Travis. I was really impressed. He did a nice detailed sugar skull on my forearm in less than an hour. I love it. I’ll keep returning to Travis for more work.
Very clean, professional and relaxed.
Like Kari J. mentioned I’d like to collect tattoos from all the artists at Blackbird.

Blackbird Tattoo is a great shop.
It’s clean, comfortable and relaxed. The artists are friendly, easy going and professional. The clientele is diverse.
I believe the process of getting a tattoo to be just as important as the final product. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Blackbird and highly recommend them.

Ren has been working on my cousin, and my other cousin, and my other cousin, and probably a couple more cousins for years now. And so I wanted in on the action.
Emailed him an idea of what I wanted and when he drew it up it was wayyyyy better then I could of have imagined. I mean how do you think of this stuff! Makes you wonder whats going on in that man’s head.
On top of that he has a light touch, for you first timers or those who skurd of pain, is friendly, enjoys his work, AND when he told me what I owed, my jaw dropped. No way you can get better for the price.
BTW I got small piece on my forearm and now I am going to have him sleeve me up.
Ren see you soon!

My mom and I got our first tattoo’s at Blackbird a few weeks ago. After a lot of research on other studios in Portland, I finally chose Jesse as my artist.
I took art print-​outs to my consult appointment and left a $ 10 deposit. for the drawings he worked up. We had to wait about 2 weeks for an appointment, but I had a difficult schedule to work with – you may be able to get in sooner than that. My tattoo was $ 150, which I thought was very reasonable.
Cool, clean studio with great art and music. Talented, nice people and it’s over on 30^th/​Killingsworth, so you can get some great grub when you’re done. They have portfolio’s of their work for you to look at, but you won’t find any flash art here — they are much more creative than that!
Jesse was nice to work with and he is a fabulous artist! I highly recommend Blackbird!

On a recent trip to Portland, I got a great tattoo from Lucky at Blackbird Tattoo. The folks at Optic Nerve recommended them. It was clean, professional, reasonably priced, and painless. Can’t hope for much more than that! Thanks for the showpiece!