Lark Street Tattoo — Local services in City of Albany

I received a tattoo here yesterday. At first, I was optimistic I had spoken to the receptionist who was very friendly and answered every questions I had. Upon entering the shop I noticed it was clean so that was a plus again, the receptionist was very nice and if not for her I would have been hesitant. Fast forward the design I had sent to the receptionist didn’t go into correlation of the placement, size etc into what I wanted to cover up which I understood after talking with the artist. My problem was that the artist did not introduce himself say hello or anything which I thought didn’t make this a friendly experience at all when you go to an artist you want to get a warm welcome and friendly vibe but I just didn’t get that. And instead of making suggestions and asking me what I wanted to do and taking his time I felt very rushed and felt like he was in it for the money. We came on an agreement with a rose to match my other tattoo which I thought would be good. He then proceeded to outline/sketch my tattoo on my body with a sharpie marker. I’m no tattoo expert but once your opening the skin isn’t that dangerous to get the toxic ink from the sharpie into your blood stream??! I thought my overall experience would be more welcoming and friendly from the artist and I thought he would take his time to sketch on a piece of paper instead of outlining with a sharpie on my body for 30 seconds and spend more time on creating the design instead of rushing. You can tell that he didn’t shade throughly rushed through the whole process and could care less about my tattoo. Very disappointed in the customer service and I’m hoping the sharpie going into my blood stream won’t cause any problems. Shouldn’t that be a health violation? (This is something I’m going to look into for myself with my doctor.) I wish I wasn’t filled with so many emotions I should have went in with. a clear head because if I was thinking clearly I would have noticed these red flags. If your looking for an impressionable friendly experience and an artist who will take there time and not draw with a sharpie on your body and spend 5 minutes to tattoo on your body, then I suggest you go...

We were in Albany from out of town , I booked the appointment with the $60 deposit …..after sending pictures of the basics of what we wanted, discussing the artist adding their own touch as well as the most important aspects of the sketch. We arrived …. Yes 14 min late - however I did call . This tattoo was for my son . His firsthe is moving to Albany for college and basketball ) Well we walked in and walked out in a total of 8 min. The artist Jason seemed to have a chip on his shoulder from the start even (* please note he was getting things ready when we got there) , again I understand we were late and if that would have been an issue I would have compensated time had that been asked . Instead my son was showed a sketch ( if that’s what you call it ) that may or may not have been pulled from the local kindergarten library. I wanted to ask him if this was something he would let his child get , but was cut off my him reminding me that it was 7:00pm again yes we were late , however this is a tattoo if the time of the arrival was the real issue SAY THAT. The original appointment was made for 7pm . They close at 8 . I was surprised they said they would get it done by 8, so was thinking they just booked the last appointment at 7 and took their time . Apparently not the case . I was really baffled at that point , his attitude, the coloring page he was willing to tattoo on my son , and the things that came out of his mouth . I told him to keep my $60 and we left . I would never even want to try to rebook the appointment. I’ll eat my $60, however I won’t let the nastiness of what I experienced not...

These folks at Lark Tattoo are awesome! A good friend sent me to Kyle, one of the artists at Lark. I knew what I wanted for my 2nd and 3rd tattoos and Kyle took the time to make sure the designs and placements worked for me. His easygoing confidence (not egotistical) gave me trust in his work and showed his commitment to working WITH someone, not just ON them. The place is clean and you can tell they’re serious about keeping a hygienic shop. Cristina and Sabra are keeping the place running smoothly and are easy to work with too!

My art: One is a straightforward, 2 inch, on the wrist. The larger one is 5-6 colors, about 3-4 inches round on my outside calf and it totally smashed my expectations.

Kyle’s design and finished work for the larger one just blew my mind. I might be a novice, but I’ve seen a lot in this world, and I have to say Kyle’s art and inking ability are A++. Lark Tattoo and Kyle rock, so whether your a rookie or you’ve been getting inked for years, this is the shop and the artist who will do it right; I can’t imagine you’d be disappointed. My next ideas pin-balling around my noggin and I can’t wait to see what he can do with them. All that, plus Kyle’s a real cool dude, too. Thank you Kyle and...