Well for my birthday we decided to hit London and visit a friend and generally kick back and relax.
My wife wanted to do some shopping and I used this as an excuse to hit Camden Town.

Yes I know the place is a tourist trap 😉

However it is a friendly tourist trap and plenty of tattoo studios.

I hit around 8 which were on the main branch of Camden Town Market or within a few mins walk either end of it. I am sure there are plenty more but I was chatting with many of the artists and ran out of time.

The first thing that hit me is that many of the studios are actually at the back of many ‘souvenir’ shops either upstairs or in the basement so be prepared to push your way through some aggressive selling vendors!

I had a good look at all the ones on the main stretch and i will be blunt many were simply tourist/stag/hen type places.

None of them were dirty and all had either disposable grips n needles or an autoclave but many admitted that they were just really flash artists. By this I mean that they openly stated that they would prefer to do 10 stars (quick jobs) at £50 min than longer or custom pieces.

I am not saying that they would turn down your work but lets face it when you have a wealth of choice you want to look at solid artwork over the I will do it hear because it is £20 cheaper.

I picked out the top 3 that I would recommend (just my opinion) at least checking out;

Needle FX 218 Camden High Street NW1 8QR

http://www.myspace.com/bartattoo

When I first saw the place I thought well prob just another tourist studio based at the back of a shop.

I am so glad I was proven wrong! (Do not let the small studio space put you off)

This guy is a fantastic free-hand artist and he also did some very nice cover-up work.

I would suggest this artist if you were looking for something a little surreal or oil on canvas style of tattooing. Although he can handle all types of ink.

He was very attentive and friendly and seemed an all round nice guy to chat ink with.

The next was just off the corner opposite the side of the market and is a stand alone studio called :

Nemesis Tattoo 3 Buck Street NW1 8NJ

Unfortunately their myspace site does not show their tattoos (mostly piercings) but the portfolio’s showed some solid work with their ink.

The studio was clean and the staff were approachable but not very chatty.

I would suggest checking this studio out for surrealist, butterfly, dark art.

Finally if I was to get some ink done one of my first port of calls would be:

Evil From The Needle (you have to enter and go upstairs through a souvenir shop)
282 Camden High Street NW1 8QS
http://www.myspace.com/evilfromtheneedlelondon

They have excellent studio facilities and a number of classic artists working there. The receptionist was cheerful and helpful and even let me take a good nosey around one of the work areas and checked out the autoclave etc.

I had a great time and hope this helps anybody who fancies a tattoo in that region.

Take Care
Matthew