Bolder Ink

Preface: This is a review of a single experience with a single artist, everyone else seemed nice. This would have been my fourth tattoo by a fourth artist.
We put the normal $ 100 cash deposit down on a Thursday evening after showing the artist what I wanted and he agreed to an appointment on Saturday morning. When we arrived on on time, 10:30 am (before the store usually opens), PeeWee was there and let us in. He asked to see the drawing again and told us to hang tight for a bit. An hour and a half passed while he drew up a sketch.
When he was ready to begin, at 12:00, he decided that the stencil didn’t work (and it REALLY didn’t) he went back to the drawing board. I went to ask him what he was thinking with the redraw he told me that it had to be larger in order to get the details in. I informed him of the size I was comfortable with and he told me I should trust him. We disagreed about half of an inch. He told me, «Well, if here is ok, then here should be fine.» I literally thought he was joking.
I decided that he wasn’t the artist for me and informed him it wasn’t going to work. To which he responded, «Don’t be like that, surely you know we should compromise.» I thanked him for his time and walked out.
PeeWee might be a great artist if you want to work on a creation with him but if you know what you want, I’d recommend making a different choice. And as a reminder, the difference an half an inch, is vaginal and anal.

Excellent experience with tattoo artist Brian and customer service manager CJ. I highly recommend this establishment for top quality tats.

Fantastic business, fantastic experience.
Needed a coverup, Mr. Joel Long worked a magical full sleeve. Beautiful tattoo. Very much admire and recommend his amazing artfulness, personality and humor. Also, his painted artwork brilliantly shines!
Meeting the staff throughout my sessions, everyone, yes, everyone seemed very talented, passionate, super gracious, and professional.
Make an appointment, go here.
Priceless, Bolder Ink!

I am so impressed with Bolder Ink. All of the people I met were very kind and courteous. Mijo did a wonderful job covering up an old tattoo for me — he turned a sugar skull into a fantastic cabin scene. He even put up with me without any complaints when I completely changed directions after the initial design. The level of skill at Bolder Ink is superior, I cannot praise these guys enough!

My husband and I have been getting tattooed at Bolder Ink since 1998 and we keep coming back for more! Lance Talon is an incredibly talented artist who never ceases to amaze us. I’m almost finished with one sleeve and already have appointments set up for the other. When our daughter gets tattooed, this is where we’ll take her! CJ, the studio manager, is a ray of sunshine — enthusiastic and sweet. We highly recommend Bolder Ink to anyone who wants a great experience and an amazing tattoo!

I’ve been in a lot of tattoo shops… some, when you walk in, you don’t get that warm, fuzzy feeling, or a feeling of confidence in the shop and the people around you. The complete opposite is what I felt walking into Bolder Ink. Everyone I encountered was very nice and welcoming. They even had me laughing no less than 10 minutes after I arrived. I got that warm, fuzzy feeling immediately. I knew they knew what they were doing. Aaron was the artist that did my tattoo. Not only did he do an amazing job, but he was up front with me about everything. I came in with a certain idea of how I wanted my tattoo placed. After catching on as to what he was saying, I thought «no I don’t want the wording to look upside down to everyone but me. So we discussed other ways to do the tattoo (which he was very patient and helpful with). I have a beautiful, perfect tattoo thanks to Aaron. I definitely recommend Bolder Ink and Aaron, but I know any artist there would do an amazing job!

7 years ago, I began a career as a Professional Body Piercer. I spent the several of those first years working as a Piercer out of a Tattoo shops. I start with this to observe that I am fully aware of the nature of Tattoo Studios and the environment these business have. In September I relocated to Boulder and began the search for an Artist to continue work on Tattoo projects I had in mind. Out of all of the different places I have been tattooed at across the country, I have never had such an incredible experience as I did at Bolder Ink.
Please keep in mind that the multitude of times I have been tattooed have been by friends who I worked with day in and day out, and still nothing compares to how my first tattoo went with the Bolder Ink crew.
I cannot recommend this Studio and the Artists working here enough. If you are considering any work, this should be the place to get it done.
As a Practitioner of Body Art, this is the only place I would send people to get tattooed.

My friend and I were visiting Boulder and decided to get tattoos. We found this place in The Best of Boulder magazine and we had a great experience. Great service, and friendly artists. We love how our tattoos turned out.– was the best experience we could have hoped for!

Pee wee did a cover up for me last week and I absolutely love it. He really listened to me and designed something completely unique that was exactly what I wanted. I highly recommend him for a one of a kind tattoo.

I wish I could rate this zero stars. I really do. I hope people read this review before going– if personalities matter to you. CJ Shay is from what I can tell, one chill dude. Great guy I’m sure. However, he was not in the shop when my sister and I stopped by this past Saturday for an appointment we scheduled with PeeWee. I do not know who it was that greeted us but they must not care about first impressions. My sister and I were coming from Georgetown (about an hour ten drive) and wanted to be on time, ended up being about an hour forty-​five early. We went up to check the shop and discuss what we could do in the mean time, possibly just chill, talk and check out the art. An hour forty-​five doesn’t have to be a drag, and if it’s boring –my choice right? Well the guy who greets us was very rude and patronizing, as if my sister and I were five and couldn’t tell time. He informed us we were really early and that PeeWee wasn’t even in, and will probably be late. I asked if he’d even bother to make it to our appointment time and instead of a «Yes» or «probably not» he gives a snarky «well he won’t be early I know that.» Feeling annoyed and unwelcome my sister and I decide to leave. When we’re nearly out the door he remarks «Oh well you’re certainly welcome to just sit here if you want… but…» he trailed off as we left and took our expensive projects to Blue Rose Tattoo & Piercing (they’re art is so much better anyhow) at 1325 Broadway Unit 218 Boulder, CO.

Great place, amazing artists. I can personally recommend PeeWee but you really can’t go wrong. This place is the real deal, I’ll be back.

I got my first ever tattoo and it was an awesome experience. First off, I walked in and they made me an appointment for the same day. Secondly they talked me down because I was insanely nervous. And thirdly the work was beautifully done. I would highly recommend Bolder Ink to anyone and everyone.

Really an awesome experience. Lance somehow was able to intuit our personalities and GET the tattoo just right to fit us perfectly. I was not too gung ho on tattoos and was going through with it to appease my daughter but I LOVE it. Very cool experience and CJ was fun, sweet, and between the two of them we had a really awesome experience. Need I say more???

Just an overall wonderful experience. Came in with one of my girlfriends to get matching pine tree tattoos. C.J. Was extremely helpful and so much fun to chat with during the tattoos. He also went and got us Starbucks and ordered us food from the restaurant down stairs. So rad. Brian was the artist for both of us and was just a super guy. He is such a great artist and we both felt extremely comfortable trusting him with our tattoos. Brian did a fabulous job and we were both very happy with the outcome. Not to mention he is absolutely hilarious and had stories forever. Lots of laughs. Highly recommend this spot and Brian.

This shop is wonderful! I went in with specific demands and was sent to Brian who is now the only person I want to go to. I have been to several tattoo parlors before this and most times it is an in and out (and dissatisfying) experience. In this case, Brian sat with me and made sure I was getting what I wanted. He was incredibly kind and patient; he even offered me a drink or a snack while I was getting tattooed.
The atmosphere is warm, friendly, and everyone is nice and playful. It is pricey, but I found that the extra money resulted in not only the best tattoo I’ve gotten, but the best experience I’ve had as well. Worth it.

Soo. I came here to get a simple tattoo, some writing on my ribs.
I went in for an initial consultation, met with an artist, who to be quite frank treated me like I didn’t know what I was talking about and shut down a lot of my ideas. Nevertheless I put down a $ 60 deposit for him to draw up some designs and came back 4 days later. He did nothing I asked of him, got my quote totally wrong, and drew me some picture that we never talked about. His artistic skills were mediocre and I left feeling disappointed. Definitely will keep searching for a better tattoo parlor.

This summer I took a trip to Colorado and decided that I wanted to get a tattoo while I was there. My sister had gotten her first tattoo a couple years back at Bolder Ink (which is an awesome piece btw), and so I looked into it and found out that it had a reputation for being one of the best studios in Colorado. I wasn’t able to have an actual consultation since I was only going to be in Colorado for a week and was pressed on time, but I called them a few times in the week leading up to my appointment and they were really helpful. When I walked in on the day of, I was impressed from the beginning. The environment was really chill and a lot more comfortable than what I was expecting.
The guys there were really fun to be around. Pee Wee was my artist, and while he was sketching his design on me, he explained that this place wasn’t like what’d you’d see on LA Ink with super bad ass, intimidating artists, but instead that this was a dorky place. The conversations that were going on in the room while Pee Wee was working honestly were really dorky but also really hilarious. They kept me pretty entertained during my two hours of pain. It was also really cool that everyone in the studio would kind of just walk in and out of each room to talk to each other and take a look at what the different artists were working on. One member of the staff that really stood out was CJ because he came in like every half hour to check in and see how I was doing, which was really thoughtful.
The only thing that was kind of weird was that I found out that Pee Wee only accepted cash around halfway through my appointment, which kind of caught me off guard because the front window had all the different credit card logos stuck on. Everything ended up fine because I was able to quickly go to an ATM and come back to pay him, but I thought that it should have been made clear to me before he started working on the tattoo.
Overall, I absolutely loved the experience, I absolutely love my tattoo, and I would definitely go back here for another tattoo in the future if I end up visiting Colorado again.

First off, any of these negative posts about this place being «mean» goes misunderstood. I never got any vibes of feeling uncomfortable, of any sort. The staff at Boulder Ink was nothing but sweethearts. I have been in many other shops before that were filled with complete douches, this definitely was not one of them. Upon my first consultation, the front man, (CJ) greeted me with a warm welcoming. He then directed me to the artist who could handle my «style» best, Brian. Brian was an awesome guy from the start, made sure he understood what I wanted, and then made the appointment.
The actual tattoo experience was superior. Brian made sure I was comfortable with the positions I was being placed in while he went to work. He kept a friendly conversation going the whole time. Mid way through, CJ came in and even asked me if I would like anything from Starbucks, or Jamba Juice. Assholes, right? (sarcasm) The piece came out perfect, I couldn’t be anymore happier with how it came out, simply amazing! Anyways, the whole experience was great, and I will definitely be back for many more works. Thanks again guys!

I mean, this place is pretty much infamous for being filled with guys who are negative and mean. My tattoo there, specifically, is beautiful, sure. But it was an emotionally violent experience. My artist told my friend who had accompanied me that he wanted to throw her down the stairs and film it. I can’t remember if this was before or after he spewed off 4 – 5 racist remarks about Asian people at the Farmer’s Market. All of this happening, of course, while the man has a needle in my wrist. Also– I’m generalizing to the shop in general because his fellow artist buddies laughed along. I thought maybe it was just me, but I have now spoken to multiple other people who have had negative experiences with customer service, but decent tattoos. So, depends what memory you want of the permanent body art.

I have been getting inked for the last 15 years by Lance Talon at Bolder Ink and have nothing bad to say about the employees or the shop. I believe it says a lot in many industries when you have the same group of artists working together year after year. They all have a great camaraderie among themselves and it is fun. I think many people view this as cockiness, but you just have to realize that these guys have been working together for so long and have created their own language and way of interacting. You may not get it, but you don’t have to. They still put you at ease and make you feel comfortable. They also collaborate and are willing to give up commission on a tattoo job and recommend someone else in the shop who understands the style and idea of the proposed tattoo. They want to make sure you are provided the best result, it is a reflection of them too! They are also willing to be honest with the clientele and let them know if a tattoo idea will work or not. Lance and I sat for about an hour debating a tattoo I wanted to get and what was eventually decided on by both of us, has been something I have never thought once that I regretted getting. They may even send you off if they don’t agree with the size or concept, they don’t want to put anything on someone that is ultimately not going to look 100% how they and you would expect it to and if they are not conformable doing the work, they won’t. It is not being cocky or rude, it is being honest and making sure you as the customer get what you are expecting, just maybe at a different shop.
I have more work to be done starting this spring and am excited to get back into the shop and see the guys. Hands down, I consider Bolder Ink to be the best tattoo shop in Boulder County. I get a lot of compliments on my tattoos, which also says something about the quality of work. Looking forward to my next session. Thanks as always Lance!

I’ve had two tattoos done at Bolder Ink, both by Pee Wee. One was a black and white image, another was script. Pee Wee is a fantastic artist, and I appreciate that he tells me, with no BS, what he believes will work and what won’t for each piece. He is an artist in a true sense – he has strong opinions about how art should be created, viewed, and experienced. Sometimes this may come off as brusque or rude to others, but I personally appreciated his insight.
For one of my tattoos there, my brother had his tattoo done at Bolder Ink as well (a sibling bonding thing for us). He is still, years later, very happy with the artwork and the coloring.
I have had tattoos done at other places as well (The Chameleon, now out of business, in Longmont, and Scarred for Life in Boulder). In both cases, I was pleased with the professionalism of the staff and artists I worked with – however, I have not found another tattoo studio that has matched Bolder Ink for artistry.
Bolder Ink is also sanitary and affordable. Sometimes the staff/​artists may be a little curt or surly (I have heard that they are not as friendly with males as with females), but they are true artists who care about their art. When I get inked again in the future, Bolder Ink is where I’m headed!

My updated review:
Friendly staff, and I’ve seen Dave for my latest tattoo (and complimentary touch-​up, of course). He’s talented, hot looking ;), and an interesting individual… into MANY things and fun to talk to! (If you can talk w/​out moving. hehe)
It’s been many years and I still go here for my ink. Six (6) tats, sometime to be seven (7). Dave and I have talked about what… just need the money… which means a J.O.B. ARGH!!!
P. S. See my pic posted of my latest ink… the guardian angel.

Joel is quirky, but a great artist with good taste in music, too. I hear he’s the best for traditional Japanese art, and his work is displayed all over the studio.
Mijo finished up my half sleeve, which he started with his original deisgn to complete an old tattoo design, and re-​did the original old, faded part, making it look brand new again.
The studio is cool, clean, and the new, quiet color/​shading tattoo machines are amazing — I could barely even feel it.
Thanks!
Picture added.