Artistic Element 2

I went to a tattoo shop a couple blocks east of this place where I showed the artist what I wanted. He immediately went on about how it was really small and it would be difficult with all the shading that had to be done. There were two people waiting to get tattoos done so I just left and found Artistic Element 2 and I’m so glad I did! I came in and was assigned to Mike Durst who took a look at what I wanted and was like «alright cool». I immediately knew I came to the right place. The tattoo (which was on my ankle) didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would because Mike has a good hand. He was nothing but kind and courteous and an amazing artist. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience, and I know I’ve found my tattoo artist!

Maki is the best !!! Finger tattoos are extremely difficult and she did a fabulous job on mine

Went into this shop based on a recommendation from a friend. Asked for a simple tattoo, was charged WAY more than I should have been, and it doesn’t even look good. I have really bad scarring from the artist being so heavy handed. Also everyone there was super loud and annoying like they were on drugs or something. I have seen other reviews on here which suggest the same thing. Wouldn’t recommend this place unless you want to get a messed up tattoo that looks like a «homie tat».

Got my first tattoo here tony did an incredible job he made it painless and so easy for me I’m DEFINITELY coming back for all my future tattoos he did my friend’s tattoo as well and she’s just as pleased with hers! Great place to go if you want a great work of art on your body

The artists’ here are amazing! They can pretty much tattoo anything from photorealism black and grey or color realism to the simple tattoos:) The artists’ are very humble and professional. Roman Abrgeo the owner is a world class tattoo artist featured in Tattoo Magazine and Best Ink:) I would definelty consider this studio for any tattoos.

I have gotten multiple tattoos here. Chon is a great artist! Very happy with the quality of my tattoos. Great atmosphere, art, and ambiance. This shop is clean and the staff is really great! I recommend all my friends and family to get tattooed here.

stopped by with friends (one of which got a tattoo here as well) and got my first tattoo! we walked in around midnight on a wednesday night and it was empty otherwise until later in the night. my artist was mike durst, who was one of two artists in tonight and welcomed us when we walked in the door. i wasn’t sure whether i was going to go through with my tattoo or not so my friend went first, and mike was very thorough and straightforward about getting his design right. you can really tell he knows his stuff & what makes a good tattoo. he also takes time to get his set-​up right, everything seemed very clean and he knew what he was doing.
during the actual tattoo, mike’s hand was very steady and his lines came out very clean. it was actually because i saw how great of a job he did on my friend’s tattoo that persuaded me (along with the encouragement of my two friends) to go through with mine as well. again, steady hand, clean lines, and gentle touch. because the tattoos i wanted were pretty small, they went by quickly and pain was minimal, and mike was very relaxed about the whole thing. he was also very accommodating — rearranged the placing of my left wrist tattoo four times until we got it right! i was definitely impressed and reassured by that. now theyre bandaged up, we were told how to care for them, and i paid the minimum $ 80 and tipped $ 20! mike does free touch ups, so my friend will probably go back once theyre healed. really great.

Please read my review before considering getting tattooed here. I wish I had never stepped foot in this place. Walked in to get my neck tattooed whe I was shopping on melrose avenue. The artists at the shop had books of work and I looked at them. All the work was beautiful and I was so excited to get tattooed. When I sat down with the artist to talk about my tattoo he was extremely pushy. He wanted to show me what HE wanted to put on my body and what style HE wanted to do. We found a design that I liked and he said he liked it as well, just wanted to make it more his own. It took him over an hour to trace a simple sailor jerry style traditional design. When he was finally done he started to tattoo me and was SO SLOW that I ended up wanting to cry halfway through the tattoo. He was shaking incredibly and I didn’t know what was up. Another artist at the shop kept sniffling and was yakked out of his mind, buzzed on ether coke or meth. (The owner has since denied the use of drugs at this shop but I have messages on my phone where he is admitting to his artist struggling with drugs but it «doesn’t effect his tattooing») He kept coming over and screaming while I was getting tattooed and made me extremely uncomfortable.
I have my entire body covered from head to toe in tattoos, including the other side of my neck, and I have never sat through a more uncomfortable experience. The tattoo artist made me hang my head off the side of the table so I could «stretch my neck out» while I tattooed and was literally crushing my neck and choking me while tattooing. I had to tap out after 3 hours (which I’ve never had to do before).
I just wanted to go home and get out of there asap. i had him wrap my tattoo and left. When I got home I took off the plastic and really looked at my tattoo. What was supposed to be a traditionally colored heart with a sword through it now looked like a 3^rd graders artwork with horrible colors, completely crooked lines, and leaves coming out the side of it that look like little nubs.
I made the artist refund me the full price of the tattoo and sent him a photo of his work and told him how disappointed I was. He knew he had fucked up after seeing a photo.
I am now going to have to spend more time and money fixing this up. Don’t waste your time, body space or hard earned money going here. HORRIBLE.

Got my first tattoo from Chon & he is awesome!
My bf & I did a walk-​in an hour or so before closing, & although he was tired, he tatted us & actually made an effort to make it look nice!
Rick, the owner, is pretty chill & he gave us cool discounts & many ideas as to what my bf & I should get.
Definitely recommending & going back in the near future!

I trusted Unilocal and went for the first time to Artistic Element to get my 5^th tattoo today. The lady on the front desk wasn’t very welcoming… But then Mike came talk to me about what I had in mind and he was very nice! It was just a small name on my ankle so I didn’t even need to make an appointment. Mike was very professional and did a great job! He even fixed a little line from other tattoo I have :) I’m very pleased with the job and will definetely go back for more!

Mike Durst did an amazing job on my owl tattoo today! Thanks for taking me as a walk-​in. He really knows what he is doing. He’s gentle with the machines, so the pain was minimal. His color ideas and application were better than I had imagined. He has a very steady hand & his lines are right on. He is truly a very good tattoo artist. I will be coming back to get more tattoos from Mike in the near future!

On November 8^th, I stopped in to purchase a $ 500.00 gift card. The guy that was working the front desk was high as a kite. Very rude and the lady working with him was just as nasty. I was there at 12:30pm. I decided to go to the tattoo place down the street located on the 2^nd floor in the 7200 block. The service was amazing. I have sent 3 friends to get tattoo’s at this place already this week.

This shop’s crowning achievement is DAVE HATTON — one of the finest tattoo artists in So Cal. His skill with original illustration AND color is unequalled. You’ll be lucky to get an appointment, but give it a shot. I’m proud to wear his ink always.

After extensively going through Unilocal reviews of tattoo shops from Venice to Hesperia, I decided to give Artistic Element 2 a visit without an appointment and arrived right before 12 pm when they opened.
I met artist Mike Durst (not to be confused with Mike Cole) at the door — he got there early too and was waiting for the person with the keys to show up. I bombarded him with questions and had a very good impression of him because he seemed really serious and dedicated to his work. Plus the super colorful neck and head tattoos he had made me think he would understand my desire to have something really colorful done.
I didn’t expect to have work done right then and there, but I had a good feeling so I went and trusted Mike (and Chon) with it. I brought in pictures of tattoos by Sasha Unisex I really liked and Mike was able to tattoo a colorful sparrow with some changes we agreed on. The shop was super clean, everything was set up meticulously, and Mike has some crazy equipment that made the whole thing really quick and painless.
Also, thanks to Karen and Chon for the welcoming hospitality.
They take credit cards and prefer cash tips.

Clean shop, nice people, great Mexican restaurant right next door so people getting 3−4-or-6 hour tattoos great place to stop by for a break.

Got my 2^nd tattoo last night at this place and they were awesome! Ray was my artist. He was patient and awesome!
If I decide on a third I will definitely go back here!
The whole staff was great!
Thank you

It was my first tattoo and I chose the place more for the environment and location, not their skill level or reputation. There was music, art, tvs and not just the buzzing of fluorescent lights and intimidation.
I hardly trusted the guy inking me up but it was a text tattoo and I had a font in mind already.
It didn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would.

After a flawless experienced getting pierced by Stephan who treated my simply navel ring like an intricate surgery, I approached Artist Element 2 to see if they knew any tattoo artist that specialized in permanent makeup and could re-​touch my fading purple (not intentionally!) eyebrows.
My face IS my career.
I admit it– I am a beauty snob, a perfectionist, and for good reason… I was not interested in having my makeup tattooed on by someone who would even be a single pixel off from perfection, and I did not want someone with their own ideas of a properly structured eyebrow to wind up with some weird shape. I really wanted someone who would take their time, consult me every step of the way, and truly make me feel comfortable giving my feedback: Dave was all those things, and even more of a perfectionist of my eyebrows than ME!
Why someone would feel more comfortable having their eyebrows permanently done by someone in the back of a nail or hair salon who isn’t formally trained in tattooing or interested in their feedback is beyond me. A good tattoo artist is a real artist, and typically has a much better grasp over facial structure and makeup art than a lot of beauticians. Don’t get it twisted– permanent makeup IS a tattoo. It may be done with a different type of pigment, or done using a manual hand method, but depositing pigment in your skin is depositing pigment in your skin. Don’t you want an artist who is a licensed expert on permanent pigment implantation to do the work?
Dave was meticulous in making sure my eyebrows were absolutely symmetrical, and beyond that, truly was concerned with what would flatter my eyes and face the best. He would take frequent breaks in the process and ask me to stand up, walk to the mirror and evaluate what I though. When I gave my feedback, he was 100% accepting and responsive– there was no sentiment of disagreement or defensiveness at all, but he was happy to educate me on what direction he thought we should go.
He does not do the individual hair stroke method, because as anyone who has had it for more than 2 years knows, it will start to blur and ultimately need to be corrected or turned into a solid color. He does beautiful gradients and fading instead, which lasts and looks much, much better.
Aside from my eyebrows looking PERFECT, the other bonus of Dave’s expert hands was that there was 0 pain involved, and he was extremely quick. I was there maybe 20 minutes total, even with all my feedback, signing paper work, and payment. I even had him add a tiny bit of pigment to my lips and it was super flawless and the exact color I wanted.
Best of all, his cost was reasonable and because he is an expert tattoo artist, he gladly will retouch my brows for life! You will NOT get that from a cosmetologist with a tattoo gun.
Aside from his permanent makeup work, I am certain I will have Dave do all my tattoos now as well. I am confident that he would do a beautiful job with any type of permanent makeup, and if you have your doubts he is happy to consult with you.
Friendly, knowledgable staff, 0 tattoo snobbery, SUPER clean, super friendly, and a team of artists and piercers who are exceptionally talented!

Good place to get some ink an piercings !
The guys at the shop are real cool!
five thumbs up!

I’ve recently went in to get a tattoo by Peter (@petertatooist on instagram). He is amazing and has done previous artwork on my bf and I completely trusted his vision. I went in with the idea of a skeleton on my hand, and came out with a very vibrant detailed piece, I couldn’t have imagined on my own.
Pete is a very skilled, passionate artist that has great vision and executes well. I’ve gotten many compliments on my tattoo and have had people ask for Pete’s referral based on the work they see.