Cairns City Tattoo 26 Shields Street, Cairns City, Queensland 4870

"A RIP-OFF AND AVERAGE WORK!!! Yes..."Cheap work isn't good and good work isn't cheap" but $150 for 24mins for something simple and badly executed is a bit of a joke!!!! Went in on 21st Aug to get a small line drawing of 2 little palm trees surrounded by a sun outline on my wrist. On booking I showed the artist my reference and we sized it up and decided around 3cm would be suitable and doable. I was also quoted a price of $100. Studios I've been to in Sydney have been $120-$130 so was happy with Cairns City's rate. I had Pan as my artist on the day. I explained the size that I wanted and that I wanted the lines to be delicate as to not overwhelm an existing piece further up my inner forearm. He insisted that I would need to go larger (5cm) so detail could be seen. I was a little confused by this as it is a very simple line drawing with not much detail. He put on the stencil and I asked again if we could go smaller, again he strongly insisted it needed to be that size. I agreed with his suggestion as he is the professional and when I've had suggestions on size and placement from other artists they have been good suggestions to take. Unfortunately on this occasion it wasn't! I asked due to the up sizing could he please make sure the lines are delicate. When he went to work I could tell he was being quite heavy handed and the results definitely reflect this. The lines are chunky and quite uneven, the circle of the sun isn't evenly round and some lines in the base have blobs at their meeting points. The only said detail I can see are some tiny little spikes on the palm fronds which I did say at the beginning I wasn't too concerned if they weren't too obvious due to the size I was wanting and have come up blurry anyway. On completion he requested $150. I checked the time and had been in the studio for a total of 24mins, this included the artwork and set-up time. I questioned the charge and showed other work covering my entire foot with full colour that only cost me $170 for 1hr15mins. The fairy in the pic although 10yrs old also only cost me $150 for just over 1hr. Clearly little consideration was taken on my complaint hence part reason for this review. Pan may be better with larger, heavier pieces but if you're after something small I'd suggest looking at other artists. I've already arranged for my previous artist in Sydney to fill the piece with colour in an attempt to soften the appearance of heavy lines and other uneven detail. If you're looking for ink in Cairns I'd strongly suggest going elsewhere!"

"Excellent experience! Was on holiday from the USA and wanted to add to my ink in the great country of Australia and it was very easy to make an appointment and send my idea online, and the staff was very professional and accommodating. Prices were very reasonable . Would highly recommend!"

"I cannot recommend this studio highly enough. I have had the pleasure a few times as a customer and could never fault the establishment, environment or the artists. I recently had another piece of artwork completed by Craig and I would be remiss to not offer credit where credit is due. I was able to be scheduled in far quicker than expected, Craig made sure I was content with my design, even though I only had a relatively rough design in my head. True professionals give the best advice and my completed piece far exceeded my expectations. To say that I'm pleased with my new piece of art is a massive understatement. Thanks to everyone at CCT"

"My husband and I had a couple of tattoos done by Peng which we are very happy with. We went back the next day to see if one of my other tattoos (not from Cairns City Tattoo) could be touched up…..Nate fixed that already existing tattoo and enhanced it fantastically. Brilliant & professional service by both guys and others in the shop were friendly too…. We both highly recommend this place. 10/10."