Custom tattoos
Your idea, drawn for your body
From a first fine-line piece to a full sleeve: every custom tattoo here is drawn for you, sized for where it lives and tattooed by an artist who loves that style.
Which booking do I need?
Four ways to get tattooed
Ready-made
Flash
A design from our flash wall at a set price, usually done in an hour or two.
- From $150
- No consultation needed
- Often available this week
Up to 2 hours
Small custom
A palm-sized piece drawn for you after a quick consultation.
- From $300
- Fine line, script, small blackwork
- One sitting
3 hours
Half day
For a forearm, calf or a sitting of a bigger project.
- $600
- Breaks whenever you need them
- Add an extra hour when you book
6 hours
Full day
Sleeves, back pieces and large cover-ups, from noon.
- $1,150
- Booked after a consultation
- Multi-session projects planned with your artist
Prices are a guide. Your artist confirms the price at your consultation, and that’s the price you pay. Owner Mara Quinn’s sessions are priced a little higher.
How we work
Careful before the needle, calm in the chair
Drawn for you
No tracing other people’s tattoos. Your artist draws your design and changes it until you love it.
Clinical hygiene
Single-use needles, barrier film on every surface, and tools sterilized in a monthly spore-tested autoclave.
Honest advice
If a design is too small to age well or a placement will blur, we say so, and suggest what will work.
Book online
Consultations & Touch-Ups
Every custom piece starts with a free, no-pressure talk with your artist about placement, size, style and budget. Touch-ups on our own work are free too.
Bring your ideas, references and the placement you have in mind. Your artist sketches options, gives you a quote and books your session. Free, with no obligation.
We look at the old tattoo in good light, talk about what can cover it or bring it back to life, and whether a few laser sessions first would help.
Free within six months for work done at Sigil, once the tattoo has fully healed. Book with the artist who did the piece.
Book online
Custom Tattoo Sessions
Your design, drawn for you after your consultation. Book a small piece, or a half or full day for larger work and the next sitting of a sleeve or back piece.
A palm-sized custom piece, drawn for you and tattooed in one sitting. Your quote from the consultation is the price you pay.
Three hours in the chair for a forearm, calf or a sitting of a larger project, with breaks whenever you need them.
A full day for sleeves, back pieces and large cover-ups, Tuesday to Saturday from noon. Bring snacks, a charger and comfy clothes that give access to the area.
Tattoo artists
Pick the artist whose style you love
Mara Quinn
Owner · Blackwork & Dotwork
Mara opened Sigil in 2016 after nine years in shops from Portland to New Orleans. Bold blackwork, ornamental dotwork and large-scale pieces that follow the body.
Theo Brandt
Neo-Traditional & Color
Theo draws saturated, hard-wearing color: animals, botanicals and portraits with a bold outline. He’s our go-to for cover-ups that need real color to hide the old work.
Ruben Castillo
Black & Grey Realism
Ruben grew up drawing in his dad’s barbershop on East Cesar Chavez. Smooth black and grey realism, portraits, religious and Chicano-style lettering, in single sessions or full sleeves.
Elias Ward
Fine Line & Script
Elias works with single needles and a light hand: delicate florals, micro-script and minimal line work that heals crisp. Most of his first-tattoo clients come back for a second.
Your first custom tattoo
What happens, step by step
1
Consult
Thirty free minutes with your artist: idea, references, placement, size and a quote.
2
Deposit
A deposit of $100 to $200, paid in the studio, holds your date and comes off the final price.
3
Design
Your artist draws the design and shows you before the day. Small changes on the day are always fine.
4
Tattoo & heal
Stencil, placement check, tattoo, wrap, aftercare. Free touch-up within six months if it needs one.
Cover-ups & reworks
Old tattoo you’ve outgrown?
A good cover-up is bigger and darker than the tattoo underneath, and that’s fine. We’ll tell you honestly what is possible, and whether a few laser sessions first would give you more choice.
- Free cover-up consultation, in good light
- Designs that use the old lines instead of fighting them
- Reworks that bring faded pieces back to life
Tattoo questions
Before you book
How much will my tattoo cost?
Our shop minimum is $150. Small custom pieces start at $300, half days are $600 and full days $1,150. Your artist gives you an exact quote at your consultation, and that is the price you pay, however long it takes.
Can you copy a tattoo I found online?
We won’t copy another artist’s custom work, but we love references. Bring the ones you like and we’ll draw something in the same spirit that is yours alone.
How far ahead are you booked?
Consultations are usually available within a week. Custom sessions are often booked two to six weeks out, and the online calendar shows the next two weeks. Your artist books later sittings for you at the consultation.
Does it hurt?
Some. Most people describe it as a hot scratch. Bony spots (ribs, feet, spine) hurt more than fleshy ones (outer arm, thigh, calf). Sleep well, eat beforehand and take breaks whenever you need.
Can I bring a friend?
One person is welcome to sit with you. The studio is calm and the stations are small, so we ask for no more than one guest.
Books are open
Let’s make something permanent
Custom work starts with a free consultation. Flash, touch-ups and piercings in the next two weeks can be booked online right now.