Sunset Tattoo welcomes Spanish artist Miguel!

Sunset Tattoo are honoured to announce we’ll be having a new guest artist joining us in April.

M13tattoo, otherwise known as Miguel, is a Spanish artist who has been tattooing for almost 3 decades.

Miguel is a well-travelled man, and has been on the road tattooing thousands of people since 1996!

His travels have seen him in dozens of countries, but now he’s here in New Zealand and we’re lucky enough to have him at Sunset.

Miguel’s Script Style

Miguel is an expert in script tattoos, and is top of his field with Chicago Style.

The script style of tattoo lettering is designed to imitate polished handwriting in a cursive style.

Tattoo script is often delicate and can be difficult to produce for an artists who isn’t especially experienced.

Much like calligraphy, tattooing script takes a lot of practice and a fluidity that doesn’t always come natural.

This is where Miguel’s 30 years of practice come in handy.

The Great Auckland Flash Party

Miguel happens to be here at the same time we’re having our second Great Auckland Flash Party!

On Friday 7th and Saturday 8th of April, we’ll be taking walk-in’s from the street. You can walk in, pick a tattoo off the wall, and we’ll do it at a reduced price.

Or book ahead with your favourite artist. Some of these guys are booked months ahead or live in different cities so it’s a great opportunity to get an affordable one-off tattoo.

Every time we do this it gets more fun, bigger, and better. Get in quick or miss out!

You can check out Miguel’s work here, or hit him up on Instagram and Facebook.

The Great Auckland Flash Party 2017

The Great Auckland Flash Party is back for another year!

Last year was such a roaring success, we’ve made this year even bigger and better. This year we are absolutely stoked with our amazing line-up of some of the best traditional tattoo artists and leading innovators in the NZ tattoo scene.

How does it work?

Same as last year - We bring together some of New Zealand’s best Tattoo artists for two days of tattoo madness.

Each artist will put a variety of fresh new line drawings up in the shop over the coming weeks, with special one-time only, lower than usual pricing!

You can walk in on the day, pick a design, and get it done, or pre-book with your chosen artist by emailing olwen@sunsettattoo.co.nz.

Who’s going to be there?

We have some of the very best tattoo artists ready and willing to give you a design you’ll love for ever. Sunset’s own resident artists Fabian Bidart and Tom McMillan will of course be there, along with our new colleague  Capilli Tupou from Ten Tigers Tattoo.

This year we’re turning it up to eleven, with guest artists like the amazing Matt Jordan (@mattjordantattoo), Sam Carter, Rohan Skilton (@deathorglory666tattoo) and James McKenna (@j__mckenna) to name but a few.

Shut up and take my money!

Tattoos will range from around $100-$300. Some of these artists are booked months ahead or live in different cities so it’s a great opportunity to get an affordable one off tattoo from one of your favourite artists.

Every time we do this it gets more fun, bigger, and better. Get in quick or miss out!

All artist are taking limited bookings each morning. Contact the studio if you would like to secure a time! 

Tattoo supplies: For tattoo artists, by tattoo artists

After years of working in the tattoo industry, we got sick of having to pay the middle man for all our supplies. That’s why we’ve started selling our own, cutting out the ‘businessman’ in the middle, and bringing high-quality tattoo supplies to the studios right here in New Zealand at reduced cost.

We are excited to announce our new range of tattoo supplies and aftercare products. Our new sister site, Tattoo Station is now up and running, bringing you unbelievable deals on high-quality tattoo products and equipment.

BOTAN PREMIUM NEEDLES

Botan Premium Tattoo Needles are the best possible quality tattoo needles available in New Zealand today. Developed by us right here at Sunset Tattoo, these incredible tattoo needles give the absolute best result no matter what style you are working in.

PREMIUM CUSTOM DISPOSABLE TUBES

We have been running our tattoo studio completely with disposable tubes for the past few years, and during those years we have tested every disposable tattoo tube on the market that we could find. Many tubes lacked proper ink flow, felt bad to use, or would fall apart easily. After years of testing, we have found the best possible tubes, with the best ink flow and the sturdiest construction. They are simple, but they do the job better, making colours brighter, with amazing ink flow.

PROTAT TATTOO AFTERCARE CREAM

At Sunset, we suggest Protat Aftercare Cream. Protat are the world’s first tattoo aftercare company. By using chemists from their development team and overseas they are constantly researching new ingredients, with natural products receiving special attention.

Each Protat product has been precisely formulated with highly experienced members of the tattoo and piercing profession. New developments by Protat can only benefit the industry and enhance respect for body art practitioners everywhere. Protat Premium After Care cream has been designed to be the primary product in the Protat range. It utilises the technology of the Soothing After Care Cream with the added ingredients.

This new range of products is for tattoo artists, by tattoo artists. We know the difference between quality tattoo equipment and the cheap, nasty stuff, and we make sure you don’t get the latter.

Why a cheap tattoo can turn out to be the most expensive

Ok, we get it. Everyone loves a bargain. And there’s certainly nothing like finding a gem in an op-shop now and again. Living in a consumerist society, we’re trained to find the cheapest price for things, and the less we pay, the better off we are.

But tattoos are different.

Never choose a tattoo on price

If you’re seriously considering a tattoo, then put the price out of your mind. If price is your main concern, then you’re not serious about it.

Figure out what kind of tattoo you want first, where it’s going to go and how big you want it. Then find a respectable, experienced tattoo artist.

Talk with them about your ideas, and what you want as a finished product. Think about what you want ten years from now.

Now ask about the price.

If it’s outside of your budget, either explain that to the artist and figure something else out, or simply wait until you’ve saved up enough.

Sometimes the cost is more than financial

If you make the mistake of going cheap, then you may regret it for the rest of your life.

Let’s just say you’ve gone to see a tattoo artist, explained what you wanted, and they have quoted you something that’s a couple hundred more bucks than you were expecting. The smart thing to do is to save up and come back another day.

The dumb thing to do is go to someone who’ll do it cheaper.

People who tend to do tattoos ‘cheaper’ are usually not only less skilled than professional tattoo artists, but a lot more dangerous.

There will always be someone who’s bought a tattoo gun off Trade Me and thinks they know what they’re doing. Without the proper training in Health &Safety, or their premises meeting hygiene standards, a tattoo from someone like this is just asking for trouble.

Even forgetting about the risk of disease such as Hepatitis from previously used needles, there’s a very real threat of your tattoo becoming infected.

Not to mention the fact it’ll probably look completely shit.

Remember, good tattoos aren’t cheap, and cheap tattoos aren’t good.

Sunset welcomes Capilli Tupou and Ten Tigers Tattoo!

Sunset Tattoo is stoked to announce that the world famous Capilli Tupou will be working with us from now on.

Capilli has been working in New Zealand and all over the world for the past decade and will be running his own brand new studio from inside the Sunset Tattoo building!

Ten Tigers Tattoo

Welcome Ten Tigers Tattoo! Over the next year Capilli will be hosting plenty of amazing international guests, right here in Cross Street. Ten Tigers guarantees a clean environment, friendly atmosphere and quality workmanship. 

Capilli Tupou is an artist specialising in old school traditional style tattooing. As a New Zealander of Maori (Te Rarawa) and American Samoan heritage, Capilli brings his own unique Polynesian slant to the style.

Seeking a career change where he could use his creative abilities, Capilli began tattooing in 2008 and found himself a place with Two Hands Tattoo.

In 2011, Capilli took up an opportunity to join Sacred Tattoo , before returning to Two Hands Tattoo in late 2015.

A renowned and respected tattoo artist

Capilli’s work has been admired both within New Zealand and abroad, allowing him to work at some of the best studios around the world.

It is our genuine pleasure to welcome him to Sunset, and we look forward to seeing some of his amazing work in the coming months.

If you would like to make a booking with Capilli, you can contact him by clicking here. Or if you’d like to make a booking here at Sunset, you can contact us by clicking here.

We are happy to help with any questions you might have. If you are after a custom tattoo, please send us a description of what you are looking to get done, and we can pair you with the right artist. From there we can book you in for a free consultation. 

If you already have an existing image that you would like to get tattooed, just send it through to us and we should be able to quote it for you.