300 guides

Who it is for

The same design reads differently depending on who wears it and where.

Placement

Where it sits drives visibility, pain, healing and how it ages.

Subjects & symbols

What the design depicts, and what it has traditionally meant.

Before and after

Choosing, aftercare, cover-ups, and finding the right artist.

Piercing

Placements, healing and jewellery, beyond tattooing.

Culture

Tattoos in public life.

Tattoo Artists in Los Angeles Worth Knowing (Checked 2026)

Reviewed & updated First published 7 designs

This page follows artists rather than shops, which means it dates faster than a list of addresses: tattooers move, go private, or stop taking new clients entirely. It was written in 2013 and has been checked in September 2026.

Two things worth knowing about booking at this level in Los Angeles. The best artists here are frequently appointment only, by email, with books that open in short windows rather than continuously. And several of them work from private studios whose addresses are not published - you get it when you are booked, not before.

Tattoo artists in la design, idea 1

Bryan Burk - Dark Horse Tattoo

4644 Hollywood Blvd, Los Feliz. Noon to 8pm, seven days.

Burk opened Dark Horse in 2010 with Adam Warmerdam and it is still running, with Aaron Garcia, Martina Major and Candi Kinyobi resident. Appointments encouraged, walk-ins when time allows.

Tattoo artists in la design, idea 2

Private studios

A meaningful share of the best tattooing in Los Angeles happens in rooms with no sign on the door. That is a real shift since this page was written, and it changes how you approach it: you find the artist through their own channels, you email, and you are given the address when the appointment is confirmed.

If someone's work is why you want the tattoo, follow them and watch for a books-open announcement. Cold emails to an artist with a closed book generally go unanswered, and that is not rudeness - the volume is genuinely unmanageable.

Tattoo artists in la design, idea 3

Eddy Deutsche

Still tattooing, and one of the significant figures in American traditional and Japanese work. He is now based largely in Nashville, works in Los Angeles at Three Kings, and guests regularly at Aloha Tattoo in Hawaii. Bookings through his own site rather than through a shop.

The practical point: if you want to be tattooed by him in Los Angeles, watch for when he is in town rather than turning up somewhere.

Tattoo artists in la design, idea 4

Christopher Conn Askew

Working as SekretCity International, from a private studio in Los Feliz. Contact is by email through his own channels; there is no shop to walk into.

His work sits somewhere between tattooing and illustration and is unlike anyone else's, which is the reason to seek him out specifically rather than looking for a style.

Tattoo artists in la design, idea 5

Jiro - Onizuka Tattoo

1017 1/4 W 190th St, Gardena, in the South Bay.

Tattooing since 1993 and running Onizuka since 2005, working alongside Hori Taka and Hori Chuy. Traditional Japanese work, done properly, which is a different proposition from Japanese-influenced work.

Worth being clear about what that means: traditional Japanese tattooing follows composition rules about how a design sits on the body and what pairs with what. An artist working in the tradition will guide the design rather than reproduce a picture, and the result ages far better than most things on skin.

Tattoo artists in la design, idea 6

Marco Cerretelli - The Honorable Society

8424 Santa Monica Blvd, Unit B, West Hollywood. 10am to 10pm, seven days.

Cerretelli opened The Honorable Society in 2009 and it is still going, with one of the widest style ranges in the city across its roster. Largely appointment based, same-day by text when possible, walk-ins accepted.

Tattoo artists in la design, idea 7

Checking before you travel

Artists move more often than shops do, and a page like this is out of date the moment someone changes studio. Before making a journey:

  • Check the artist's own account rather than a directory. Directories lag by years; Instagram lags by hours.
  • Confirm the address in writing when you book. Several of these people work privately and the address is not public.
  • Ask about the deposit and the reschedule policy at the same time.

And the check that applies wherever you go in California: practitioners must register with the county health department and renew bloodborne pathogen training annually, and the facility must be registered too. In Los Angeles that is LA County Public Health.

Details change. Confirm before travelling.