Hercules

The story of Hercules slaying the Nemean Lion for his impenetrable skin is an ancient one. We can all appreciate the courage and strength it would take to face such an intimidating foe. But that’s kind of silly, right? The Nemean Lion isn’t real, and we’ve all faced more substantial foes in our own lives. The moral of this story? You should be proud of yourself for what you’ve been able to sustain and overcome. Don’t get down on the setbacks you’ve faced, so many people refer to a setback as a failure, but it’s not a failure if you simply don’t give up. Persevere. The mental fortitude to push forward when the outcome is uncertain, that’s the true strength of Hercules. And it’s the true strength of you.

Viking Portrait

Vikings are all the rage lately. Methinks it may be a response to the recent attacks on masculinity in this country and other parts of the world, but as an apolitical business, we certainly don’t take that stance officially, it’s just an observation. What do you think? We’ve done a lot of Spartan and Viking-themed tattoos over just the last couple of years and that trend is showing no signs of slowing down, maybe that’s a sign of pushback? Who knows, we just think this tattoo is totally rad.

Consistency in execution is of the utmost importance, especially in tattooing. If you have an artist that can do well but occasionally kicks out a stinker, then you really run the risk of getting that stinker. Don’t do that to yourself. Find someone with a portfolio of high-level and highly consistent work, and get what you want. It’s certainly better than saving a few bucks to fan the stink off that turd you just got for cheap!

Odin

These two photos were taken weeks apart to show the difference between the healed and fresh work. Tattoos are organic things, they grow and live with us as we wear them throughout our lives, knowing what the finished product will look like is very different from the fresh and edited versions so many artists are posting on their Instagram or other social media accounts. The debate of whether or not this is ethical has been overshadowed by the huge number of followers generated by these less-than-savory means. Our founder and owner, Will Wood, has shunned social media for reality, making him an outcast for his purist views on how this artform should be treated. Not everyone is in love with his ideals, but if you know Will, you know arguing won’t do any good.

Still, if this portrait of Odin, big as hell on a thigh, is to your liking, feel free to reach out and schedule your appointment with Will or another artist in our team by clicking the ‘set an appointment’ tab on this website and we’ll contact you directly. Thanks!

Shhh, it's supposed to be a surprise.

Real quick: We’re having a birthday party for Will Saturday, June 15th, starting at sundown. He’s been pretty distant lately (the dude’s as busy as a human can get, we think) and he doesn’t have social media, so we doubt he’ll even see this AND YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO TELL HIM!!! The party will be BYOB and is luau themed. so grab your best coconut bra fellas and let’s wish a happy 46th to our fearless leader.

For those interested in getting him something: Will has a real problem receiving gifts. We would strongly recommend a donation in his name to one of his favorite charities, starting with St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital; The NAACP Legal Defense Fund; the Innocence Project; The American Red Cross; or any local charity dedicated to alleviating food uncertainty for children in Middle Tennessee. For those of you contributing, we thank you.

Get What You Pay For

The Man said it, it must be true. Even in Sailor Jerry’s day people knew you had to pay for quality, but what we’d like to talk about today is a horrible trend we’ve noticed lately: Price gouging by people who are willing to take advantage of their client’s ignorance.

It’s happening all over the place, not just in the tattoo business. In everything from fuel and food to contractors and service industries we’re seeing businesses take advantage of the current news cycle about high inflation rates to increase prices and increase profits. Now, not to be stupid, we completely understand at times like this business will increase rates as costs increase, but to exploit the current state of the nation in order to disproportionately increase revenue; to bleed the very customers you claim to want to help dry, well, that just ain’t cool. To sum it up, it seems like in so many ways, you just don’t get what you paid for anymore.

Even memes are suffering from inflation. The first two tattoos in either of these internet memes are the same, but the quoted prices for them have doubled. Even the shitty ones. That’s the point.

We’ve seen far too many less-than-stellar tattooers out there charging well above their ability level by pushing glittery marketing campaigns and trash talking their contemporaries. Well, the proof as they say, is in the pudding. If you are going to drop hundreds of dollars on tattoo work, you want to at least make sure you're getting what you paid for. It’s too expensive and too permanent to end up with a finished tattoo that you’re not in love with.

Lighthouse Tattoo has artists with decades of experience and exemplary, award-winning portfolios of work to back up the prices we charge. We have years of positive customer service experiences and a large body of repeat clientele, coupled with hundreds of five-star reviews online. When you are trusting your body to an artist, don’t leave the end product up to chance, get what you paid for.

Not only do we have some of the best tattoo artists going, we also have a corps of young up-and-coming apprentices to address your small-and-simple tattoo needs at a discount. These young artists are still learning and will even go so far as to charge less than the usual shop minimum for tiny pieces. Don’t subject yourself to arbitrarily inflated prices because someone’s ego has gotten the better of them, do the research, dare to compare, and once you’ve made your decision, we are confident Lighthouse Tattoo will become your new tattoo home.

We know this post is likely to stir things up but it’s time to address a problem we’ve seen with the way some people are charging and how it doesn’t match up to the poor quality of work they are turning out. If we have to name names, we will. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. This industry needs to pivot if it is going to continue to grow and thrive and fleecing our client base isn’t a sustainable business model, contrary to the popular opinion of the ‘charge as much as you can get’ crowd. We will be happy to show side-by-side comparisons of their work and disclose what was charged for each piece. We guarantee it won’t go well for the other guys.

We stand by our work. We manage costs and budget to pass savings on to our clients. We treat people like they matter. And we love tattoos. This is Lighthouse Tattoo, you’re welcome here.

Pick yer Poison

Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe before she’s adopted the name) or the Bride of Frankenstein? Pick yer poison folks! Masterfully rendered by realism artist Will Wood, it’s pieces like these that truly boggle the mind, only to be outdone by seeing them in person (we’re just not very good photographers, what can we say? We send most of out time at other pursuits, namely tattoos like these). Schedule your appointment with will now, before his year is completely booked out!

We Strive for Perfection

At Lighthouse Tattoo we strive for perfection. It doesn’t exist, of course, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth obsessing over. To neglect every other aspect of one’s life, to its detriment, for the sake of pursuing one’s art. A more selfless and egotistical thing cannot be found. You have to be kind of crazy to put yourself through this. It shows on every tattoo artist worth their salt the world over. To serve on a platter to the grave a spine twisted by poor posture and eyes blinded by a lifetime of minute detail, all while sacrificing your sanity trying to deliver something life-changing, that is a high ideal.

We cannot stress how important this is: Tattoos are a dichotomy: they are immediately ridiculous and simultaneously one of the most meaningful things that can happen to us in our lives. To take possession of one’s own corpus by adorning it with art, when performed by a master of their craft, is nothing short of lifechanging. We will experience compliments on a well-executed tattoo’s beauty for years to come; pay homage to a hobby or lifestyle; even carry the memory of a lost loved one or commemorate the love of our lives in our flesh. For many, it is the only way we manage to reward ourselves when we are pressed so hard by life that it becomes almost unbearable. A respite for those who serve. Mothers and fathers, students and soldiers. Sometimes a tattoo can make it all seem worthwhile, for a while.

I don’t mean to wax poetic, I really don’t. But I’ve been asked by my editor to experiment and deviate from our usual rhetoric to something perhaps a bit more close to the truth of why we do this. How we feel about it; what makes us tick, so that you can know who you’re dealing with. In a world that seems so ready to convince you of some bullshit or another, we wanted you to hear it from us. Forgive me my love affair with tattoo, it’s the most important thing in my life, sometimes it’s the only thing that keeps me going, and I know that’s true for some of you too.

So indulge. Reward yourself with something a touch more meaningful after the Super Bowl. After all, tattoos are for life. Live it. We’ll be here waiting for you.

Speak No Evil?

Wow, this healed tattoo is intense. It’s affectionately named ‘Speak No Evil’ because we couldn’t think of a more fitting title. Visceral and remarkably detailed, with impeccable execution, this is the kind of stuff we really love to do. Click on the Set an Appointment tab to get in touch with one of our artists today!

Walkens Welcome!

Don’t you just love puns? At Lighthouse Tattoo we are always trying to find ways to better serve our clients and thing single biggest complaint we’ve heard is that we’re simply too busy to do walk-in tattoos. Well, we have finally managed to rectify that situation and we are happy to announce that EVERY DAY Lighthouse Tattoo will have a walk-in only artist available from open to close. What’s that look like? Well, a different artist each day won’t book any appointments in order to be able to serve those eager walk-in clients. Does this mean you can start your new sleeve today? Probably not. Your typical walk-in tattoo will take less than two hours to complete and doesn’t usually require any custom drawing time, so unless it’s small and ready to go, you’ll still want to schedule an appointment. But for the little stuff i.e. crosses, little hearts or flowers, or small lettering pieces, come on in! We’re here to serve you!

Now, in case you haven’t heard, if you want a walk-in tattoo, you will have to walk in to get it, please don’t call and ask, as everyone here is under strict instructions to tell everyone to come in! We will lie through our teeth to get you in the door because it’s quite impossible to tattoo anyone through the phone! So just come on up! We’re open from noon to 10pm and your tattoo must be able to be completed prior to the shop’s closing or you will need to schedule an appointment or pay extra, so don’t delay!

Cerberus

This terrible photo was taken of Cerberus, the guardian to the gates of Hades, perfromed by Will on his client’s bicep as part of a cover-up tattoo. It’s remarkable what can be done to get rid of those old regrets you might have gotten tattooed on yourself so long ago. Need a cover-up? Not sure what can be done or hor to proceed? Let Lighthouse Tattoo help you on your journey! Open daily from noon to 10pm, unless otherwise posted.

Heath Ledger Joker Portrait Tattoo

With a perfect blend of the comically unhinged and terrifingly, effectively violent, Heath Ledger’s rendition of the Joker has been touted as the greatest of all time. This small portrait is done as part of a cover up on a client’s wrist(!), making the execution all the more impressive. Still, in this photo the tattoo isn’t entirely complete, so we’ll be posting some healed photos of the finished piece once it’s done!

Horror-Themed Tattoos

Realism artist Will Wood has easily one of the most prolific horror-movie-themed portfolios around. These are a small sample of recent work performed here at Lighthouse Tattoo. Attention to detail; superior healing; solid, smooth values; and a light hand all compliment themselves to become the best tattoo experience you’re likely to have anywhere, ever. If you’re interested in the very best horror portraiture you can get, you simply have to include Lighthouse Tattoo in your research. Modesty is for suckers, get the best, it’s YOUR money, your body, and it’s forever.

Clown Face

Sad Clown face hand tattoo

Hand jobs are fun for everyone! We love ‘em and we’re sure you will too. We have certain criteria that needs to be met before going all the way, to insure the security of some of our younger or less experienced clientele from getting something they might really regret later. In order to get your hands/neck/face/or fingers tattooed at Lighthouse, you either have to 1. Have either of them done already. 2. Have a significant amount of your body tattooed, this means something like a full arm or leg sleeve or full backpiece. 3. Be a convicted felon or independently wealthy.

The reason we do this is in order to prevent people with less experience from getting something they’re likely to regret. One of the biggest problems for the tattoo business is that tattoo regret. Those parts of the body are called ‘job-stoppers’ for a reason: They tend to make it more difficult to secure gainful employment. If you already have it done, we’re not gonna hurt you by doing more; if you’re a convicted felon, jobs aren’t worried about your tattoo situation nearly as much as your arrest record; and if you’re independently wealthy you don’t need to work, so no harm, no foul. This is the same reason we won’t tattooed significant others’ names on someone unless they’re married, or tattoo hateful stuff like swastikas or gang-affiliated stuff. We also don’t do rebel flags even though some people swear they aren’t racist, because in time, they definitely will be.

We like tattoos and we appreciate that you do too, we just don’t want to tattoo something on someone that they’ll regret.

Odin Barbarian

Odin Barbarian tattoo

Will put this tattoo on Adam as part of a Norse mythology-themed sleeve. The history of vikings and their religion has a certain appeal to it, as evidenced by the amount of movies and television series’ we’ve been seeing about them lately. It’s fascinating stuff really and super fun to tattoo. If you’re interested in this style of tattooing, swing on by Lighthouse Tattoo and set up an appointment or click the ‘set an appointment’ tab on this website and fill out the form and we’ll contact you!

Michael Myers wet and dry

Michael Myers

Michael Myers tattoo wet.

It’s crazy the difference a slight change can make in a photo. The first image is dry, the second is wet. In a world of deeply edited tattoo photos on social media a consumer needs to be careful about believing what they see all the time. Be sure to check out an artist’s healed work as well before diving in with a large-scale appointment. That’s why we try to include healed images of our tattoos here frequently.

The Mouth of Sauron

Mouth of Sauron tattoo

We get it, you don’t read and you’ve been living under a rock of the last 20 years, so you have no idea what this Mouth of Sauron from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series is. Not problem, just move on. We post this photo to show the greys in this piece healed, the whites are fresh. Enjoy! Then go and get some culture you freak.

Hercules

Hercules wearing the Nemean Lion as a cloak

Greek Mythology is awesome. From the movie Wrath of the Titans, subsequent remakes and sequels, to the liberally told Frank Miller movie 300, we find ourselves engrossed in the provocative and often violent images they elicit. This piece was put on Devin by master tattooer Will Wood. If you like, give us a call and set something up with him!