Reviews of Blue Ox Tattoo (Tattoo Shop)

Lucky Crow Feather

Mikal is an amazing artist and fun to spend time with. I love the tattoo Mikal has helped me create. We are 2 sessions in and have a few more to go for this full arm tattoo. Very talented!

Tory Heller

I had a great experience with this shop and Sarah Carr as my artist. I visited while on vacation in PDX and I was lucky enough to snag some time with Sarah on fairly last minute notice. I love her style and flash and so I chose a scorpion she’d painted to put on my forearm. She’s had a couple rough reviews, and I was a little nervous, but I didn’t experience any of he issues people described. I’m fairly tattooed (half sleeve, both shoulders, and some odds and ends) and the piece she did on my forearm wasn’t wildly painful or heavy handed. Two weeks out it is healed, minor/minimal scabbing, and no fall out. Plus, a really rad piece that o flippin love. I’d definitely recommend the shop and Sarah.

Kimberly Feltner

Katie is amazing

Chelsie Falk

This place was fantastic! Traveling out of town and decided to stop here for my first tattoo and they did an awesome job! The vibe right when you walk in is so calm and just happy. Highly recommend this place!

Katie Osborne

Kati gave me my first tattoo. She did a great job and I absolutely love it! I would recommend this place to anyone and I will come back in the future.

Michael Newcomer

The best tattoo shop in the area, with an even more AMAZING team.

Lara Valachovic

Awesome place full of very talented people! Sarah is amazing!

Serena Mills

I got my tattoo done by Kati Green and she was amazing. She was very patient and helped me feel comfortable every step of the way. The shop is great... I highly recommend!!

Benjamin Cain

Could not be happier with my experience and work they have done. The people are truly saints! Thank you so much

Nick Klouda

Great little shop, super friendly staff and they squeezed me in for a same day spur of the moment tattoo!

Anna Gorley

It’s taken me a long time to write this review, about two months, actually. I’ve been very conflicted on how I feel but I can say now with complete certainty that I had one of my worst tattoo experiences while at this shop. Sarah Carr tattooed a black and grey umbrella with rain clouds onto my forearm on January 20th. This tattoo took an extremely long time to heal in comparison to the other tattoos that I have. Right off the bat I noticed that the pain was INTENSE, more painful than anything I’ve ever had done before. This tattoo should’ve been relatively easy for me, seeing as though it was in a pretty painless spot, (forearm). She brushed it off as, “you might be on your period so that’s why”. (I thought I was on my period at the time but turns out, I actually wasn’t. So that was a load of bullsh*t.) Within about a week I noticed something really weird happening that I had never had happen before with this tattoo. It was scabbing, and it was so insanely painful STILL, even like a week later. It was a stinging, burning pain. It hurt so bad and I was following her aftercare instructions to a T, so I should’ve been fine according to her. I was not. Now I have a tattoo with patchy lines and washed out areas where the ink fell out due to excessive scabbing and trauma caused by Sarah Carr. I also have scarring where the scabs were, and I’m very upset. To add insult to injury, (literally) I had emailed her before I talked to anyone else regarding this tattoo and she just said it was “normal” and it’s unusual that my other tattoos didn’t scab. I wasn’t really buying this, because good artists don’t brutalize their client’s skin so much that it causes deep scabbing in multiple areas. I decided to look a little deeper and I viewed her profile on the Blue Ox website and she’s actually really new to tattooing. (Only 3 years as of 2018.) This was also apparent in the time it took her to prepare her booth. (I swear it was like an hour, it took a ridiculous amount of time.) I also had my friend go before me and then she took like another hour to RE-SETUP her booth before she tattooed me. After it was almost done healing I went to my regular tattoo artist that I would honestly trust with my life, (his name’s Jason Stewart, he tattoos at Ritual Arts in Portland) and I talked to him pretty in depth about my entire experience and the condition of the tattoo. He said it wasn’t the worst thing he’s ever seen, but she definitely caused trauma to my skin and went way too hard on me. (Mind you this man has been tattooing since 2003 and this isn’t his first time seeing a poorly done tattoo.) Jason has also done a large piece on my thigh that is full color and blended out super smooth, which, (not surprisingly) never scabbed or had any issue healing. But, she’ll just say that it’s “normal to have scabbing” and that she doesn’t know why my other tattoos didn’t. Long story short, I’d rather pay someone else to fix the tattoo she did on my arm then have her ever come near me with a tattoo machine again. And after leaving this very poor and detailed review, I’m sure she’ll never want me back either, and I’m perfectly okay with that. (MAJOR APOLOGIES TO ANYONE THAT HAD TO READ ALL THIS! I know it’s a lot, but this is on my body forever and it’s probably my biggest tattoo disappointment yet.)

Marissa Schillaci-Kayton

Beautiful work from a number of artists with different styles.

Emily Hamilton

So welcoming and kind! Great energy. Also, my tattoo is beautiful.

Esther Berg

Everything about Blue Ox is marvelous! From the incredible staff, to the shop “dog,” to the epic, and on point, unicorn artwork collection...I was blown away! I’m no tattoo expert and only had one tiny tattoo that I got over a decade ago, so when I decided to get a more substantial piece I wanted to make sure I was in good hands. I did a fair amount of research and when I landed on Blue Ox I found Dylan Fram whose bio aligned with what I was searching for. I was able to get in with him quickly. He was easy going and calm, which was great because I was so nervous...He knew what I wanted and designed the most beautiful piece. I feel so blessed to have had Dylan as my tattoo artist and feel that everything fell into place as it should have. I even came back the next day to have Dylan fix my old tattoo that has become smooshed over time... he killedit, again! Thank you to the whole Blue Ox Tattoo crew for making my experience exceptional. I will be back! I do believe I’ve been bitten by the bug... and I love it!! Big ups!!!

Carmen Calvert

Dylan did a great job on my husbands first tattoo!

Nicole Gerritsen

I am gonna start with saying that Mikal is f#@$ing amazing. I could leave it at that but let me explain why he's so f#@$ing amazing. I moved to Portland a year ago from Alaska. I was itching for a new tattoo with an idea I've had for over two years. I have had two other tattoos done in Oregon but I needed someone else for this job. Gosh I wish I had found Mikal sooner, but it'll be okay! So I emailed Mikal a very straight forward email about my idea and how there was no room for "artist interpretation". I was slightly scared he wouldn't email me back but I needed to know that he understood my wants. Not just another body to put their personal art on. Mikal emailed me back and explained that he could do what I was asking and would love to work with me. A week later I came in for the consultation. He was straight forward with me and told me what would work and what wouldn't (I want my tattoo artist to be just like this). But with that he was sweet and totally friendly. I felt like I would be in good hands. I made the official appointment and saw him a month later. He allowed my husband to come back with me and talked with the both of us. He was understanding and made me feel at ease the whole appointment. He never did anything without asking, always checked in with me, and never made me feel bad for stating what I wanted. I've never had a better tattoo experience like I had with Mikal. We are working on a full arm tattoo and this was just the first session. I have my second session set up and I can not wait to go back. I know he will make this tattoo everything I dreamed it to me. It is 4 weeks later and it has healed perfectly. I fall more in love with it every day and can not wait to see the whole end product. Aside from Mikal, the shop is clean but welcoming. It's warm feeling but you can tell it's got medical grade items. The other people in the studio were nice and accommodating. I didn't feel like a fish out of water, which I normally do in tattoo shops. I am no stranger to tattoos (this being my 9th) but sometimes I feel judged for not fitting the "tattoo" profile, and here I didn't! Again, I can't wait to come back. I've already got my brother-in-law and mother wanting to come get their tattoos done with Mikal too!

Sarah Moran

1st time tattoo, they made me feel very comfortable and worked with me on a design I wanted. She made it look better than I ever imagined!

Melissa Heinemann

Loved it. Tattoo is amazing!

Melissa Berger

Clean, great artistry, excellent listening and collaboration on design.

Colin Salewski

I got my first tattoo (recently turned 18) done here by Kati and she did such a lovely job. I could not be happier with how it turned out; the linework and the colors are incredible. The shop itself has a welcoming environment and all the other artists there were very friendly to me during my visit. I would highly recommend this shop to anyone and would gladly get tattooed here again.

Andrew Ratzke

Kati was super rad and absolutely crushed my tattoo. Couldn’t recommend more!

Brandon Dominguez

Absolutely wonderful place with great tattoo artist and a very clean and well maintained environment!

Alex Bailey

This is my shop, and Mikal is my artist. This is a laid back environment, and all of the artist are super friendly and professional.

Nadia Busekrus

My sister and I got small line tattoos with Aaron and had a great experience. The shop has a very chill vibe and Aaron was super friendly and great. He had a light hand and our tattoos turned out really well.

H. Strong

Kati is an amazing artist. We corresponded via email, CA - OR for a couple of months, met, did my tattoos' and they were beyond perfect. Kati definitely puts her heart and soul into her work and it shows. I have NEVER received so many compliments on my body art before, she is a master at her craft. I am exclusively using her for any other art work I get on my body again. Plus, everyone else at the shop is so wonderful and kind, not to mention they offer the best lollipops to the waiting patrons : )

Christina Howell

Great experience all around. Jessica did an amazing job!! Beautiful, detailed work! She did just what I asked for and was able to quickly adjust to my suggestions and tweaks. She was very personable and easy to work with and I felt very comfortable with her. She was also very quick. Very pleased with my tattoo. I couldn't ask for more. The shop was very clean and cozy and had a good vibe to it. Love the unicorn bathroom! :) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Katie Weinberg

Jessica is so talented! We have been working together for over a year, and she has done a beautiful floral sleeve for me. This shop is super friendly and open to anyone who comes in looking for a tattoo.

Sarah Valeriano

Well-kept shop, welcoming environment, artistic vibes. Sarah Carr is pricey for her actual skill level. I found out she has little experience, a very heavy hand, and is very, very slow (charged by hour at that...) I have several tattoos and a full sleeve so I have a lot of experiences to compare. I have also been tattooed on the same part/other side of my body and that experience was considerably better pain wise, healing, and cost. If you can speed up and alter your technique you can take more clients and won’t need to charge a ton. I know good tattoos cost good money; I have paid more per hour and had no complaint. The tattoo piece itself was exactly what I wanted but I definitely don’t feel the need to go back. It’s not just about the art, it’s about the service. And please, if you are going to charge that much invest in a nice adhesive breathable tattoo bandage like Second Skin to offer your clients instead of paper towels, tape, and Saran Wrap. I haven’t had that kind of wrap-up in years and it didn’t heal very well, mostly having to do with her heavy, slow hand causing unusually large scabs. I follow excellent aftercare guidelines. Giving 3 stars because I don’t think entire shop deserves a bad rep, but this is still a warning about mentioned artist.

Carlos Windham

Mikal is my dude!

Lori Olson

Dylan's the bomb.

Gabriel Limon

Kati Green is such an amazing artist. I gave her the vague idea of "I want these trees in a 4-8 in negative space band" and she really ran with it. She is so sweet and sympathetic as well. I loved visiting her for a touch up and getting to hear about how her partner (wife?) and dog are doing. I recommend her for any thing minimalist or line-heavy.

John Corp

I was tattooed by Mikal Gilmore and he was amazing. The atmosphere is calm, fun and welcoming. The artists are skilled, personable and open to whatever you want done. I highly recommend this place for anyone wanting a solid tatttoo.

Yuliya Mandyuk

Jessica is the most amazing gal and an outstanding tattoo artist! No one does fine line better than her. She is a gem!

Michael Whipple

Great place! Welcoming staff, they are very informative and helpful. Their work is fast, and very good!

Robert Trevitts

Little on the spendy SIDE FOR what you want

Alexia Blake

Words can’t explain how pleased I am with how Kati captured the essence and personality of my sweet dog Tucker. She’s an amazing artist and I’m so happy with the result! Definitely recommend!

Max Putnam

Dylan Fram did such an amazing job with my tattoo. All I gave him was a terrible drawing and some pictures from the internet and turned it into something amazing. He free handed it on my arm too which was pretty cool. It literally turned out exactly how I had it imaged in my head like he could read my mind. Thank you so much!!!!- not sure how to add the picture to this post but I added it to the photos section

Felicia Gwyn

Lovely people, lovely bathroom, overall great experience. I spent about five hours with Jared Hunter and would absolutely recommend him, he was charming and I felt we communicated well about the tattoo. Although I was getting tattooed in an intimate area he made me feel comfortable with him. No privacy though, the artists do not have individual rooms. I often felt very exposed to the other customers in the shop.