Any ideas on where to find the best tattoo artist in Taipei?
Not that I know any here in Taipei, but Tattoos are something really personal. The technique can be good, but it’s the style that has to appeal to you. I have a friend who is all about the tribal and maori kind of tattoos, I know another guy who likes them the japanese style, and I know a girl who tattoed her back with a H.R. Giger piece. All of them are different, and the technique was good in the three cases, but the style wasn’t. My friend with the tribals likes HR Giger’s work, but he wouldn’t get a tattoo with one of those drawings, for example.
And each tattoo artist has his own specialty. A incredibly skilled traditional japanese tattoo artist might not be able to use a modern needle to copy a photo, but might be able to draw a kickass dragon and copy Hokusai’s engravings in your back using just a filed bamboo stick.
Think about what you want, in what style, if you want someone copying a drawing or photo, or you want something original on you (that you won’t regret later). They some people might be able to help you.
My advice would be find the artist you like then travel to them to get the work done. Don’t pick someone local for convenience. Many artists travel, so you might get lucky and they can work on you at a convention, if the piece isn’t too big.
I personally waited for a couple of years for the artist I like to have a free slot. Then I got the work done. Shame is that now I’m in Taiwan I can’t get more work as they are based in London, plus my employer said no more tattoos. I was basically just about at the acceptable limit as I stood. Though I would like to sneak in one more session to finish off my sleeve if I ever go back to London.
What kind of tattoo did you want?
I know it’s not in Taipei, but I’ve been following the work of a guy in Kaohsiung (on facebook).
I am planning to make an appointment and go there to get my second (big, serious) one done by him (my first one was a simple, traditional tattoo, done by an artist in Yap)
[quote=“imsilly”]My advice would be find the artist you like then travel to them to get the work done. Don’t pick someone local for convenience. Many artists travel, so you might get lucky and they can work on you at a convention, if the piece isn’t too big.
I personally waited for a couple of years for the artist I like to have a free slot. Then I got the work done. Shame is that now I’m in Taiwan I can’t get more work as they are based in London, plus my employer said no more tattoos. I was basically just about at the acceptable limit as I stood. Though I would like to sneak in one more session to finish off my sleeve if I ever go back to London.
What kind of tattoo did you want?[/quote]
I was thinking about getting a tattoo on my shoulder or upper arm.
[quote=“John”]I know it’s not in Taipei, but I’ve been following the work of a guy in Kaohsiung (on facebook).
I am planning to make an appointment and go there to get my second (big, serious) one done by him (my first one was a simple, traditional tattoo, done by an artist in Yap)[/quote]
Thanks John. Kaohsiung might be too far for me.
Myself and my wife both got two tattoos each from this guy http://mastertattoo.com.tw/main.html His name is DaoMao and he’s pretty good. He’s in Ximen in some tiny little shop all on his own in a little shopping mall. The waiting list is a few months though, unless it’s something small. He did a Chinese stamp style tattoo for both of us and he did it pretty much free hand. We wanted it a certain way and he got it totally right. The one on my back was a design I did myself and he just copied my drawing. When I say copied I mean he got a pen and just drew it on. He doesn’t use ink paper to copy designs. My wife’s other tattoo was my signature, I just signed my name and he went ahead and did his work over it, but he spent about 15mins trying to make sure she really wanted the tattoo. While we were there a guy knocked on the door with a picture of a crucifix he wanted done, DaoMao asks him “Are you a christian?” The guy says no, so he tells him to get lost. 
Anyway we were pretty happy with him.
[quote=“irishmoe”]Myself and my wife both got two tattoos each from this guy http://mastertattoo.com.tw/main.html His name is DaoMao and he’s pretty good. He’s in Ximen in some tiny little shop all on his own in a little shopping mall. The waiting list is a few months though, unless it’s something small. He did a Chinese stamp style tattoo for both of us and he did it pretty much free hand. We wanted it a certain way and he got it totally right. The one on my back was a design I did myself and he just copied my drawing. When I say copied I mean he got a pen and just drew it on. He doesn’t use ink paper to copy designs. My wife’s other tattoo was my signature, I just signed my name and he went ahead and did his work over it, but he spent about 15mins trying to make sure she really wanted the tattoo. While we were there a guy knocked on the door with a picture of a crucifix he wanted done, DaoMao asks him “Are you a christian?” The guy says no, so he tells him to get lost.
Anyway we were pretty happy with him. [/quote]
Thanks for this suggestion. I think I’ll stop by his shop one of these days to check it out.