Custom tattoos
for people who
know what they want.
Twelve years on Alberta. Four resident artists. Zero flash-only appointments. We do custom work — your idea, refined; your vision, executed; your skin, respected.
A tattoo is a twenty-year object. We work like the next twenty years are watching.
Pick by name. Pick by hand.
Every Ironwood artist works only on their own portfolio — what they're best at, and only that. We'll route you to the right hand on the consult, or you can pick from the room.
- Fine Line
- Single Needle
- Script
"Small, deliberate, almost invisible. The work is in the restraint."
- Blackwork
- Ornamental
- Sleeve
"Pure black, deep saturation, big surfaces. I do one piece per session, one session per day."
- Geometric
- Sacred
- Mandala
"Mandalas, sacred geometry, dotwork. Books a year out — back open in spring 2026."
- Illustrative
- Narrative
- Cover-up
"I draw scenes — multi-figure compositions, full backs, half sleeves. We talk for an hour before I sketch."
Six recent sessions, each one one-of-one.
Every Ironwood piece is custom — drawn for one skin only. The shots below are from the last quarter: what's been in the chair, whose hands were on the machine, what the room looked like at hour four.
Four steps. Six to ten weeks.
No same-day work. No flash-only sessions. Every Ironwood piece is custom, drawn by the artist for your skin, on your timeline — not theirs.
The brief.
Submit a written brief through the consult form — references, placement, scale, and your timeline. We respond within five business days.
The consult.
Sixty minutes in the studio. Sizing, refinement, placement test — and a deposit if we're moving forward.
The drawing.
Three to five weeks while your artist sketches. One round of revisions before session day; you see the final the morning of.
The session.
Two to eight hours, depending on scale. We block the booth for the day — no double-booking, no rushing, no music you didn't approve.
Six things we don't bend on.
Most clients learn these on the consult. We're listing them up front so we can spend the chair time talking about your piece, not our policies.
No flash-only.
We do not run flash days. Every piece is consulted and drawn for the person, even when the design started as a flash sheet.
No walk-ins.
Consults by appointment only. Our door is locked between sessions — we open for the artist and the client, no one else.
Deposits required.
$200 at consult, applied to your final session. Non‑refundable. Cannot be transferred to another artist or person. 72‑hour reschedule notice required — under that, the deposit is forfeit.
No finger / hand tattoos.
Aging is unkind to those locations and we'd rather you look back in twenty years and like the work. Wrist and forearm are fine.
No cover-up as session 1.
Cover-ups are a two-session minimum, with a four-week heal in between. Hana and Marek lead all cover-up consults.
Aftercare included.
Every session ends with a sealed care kit, written instructions, and a 30-day text-line for any healing questions. Use it.
Words from the booth.
"Sloane drew the piece five times before we sat down. The result is the most precise tattoo I own — and I have eleven."
"Marek booked me ten weeks out, drew for three of those, and finished a half-sleeve in eight hours. Pure black still looks black after eighteen months."
"Hana told me the piece I came in for wouldn't age well, and proposed something better. Glad I listened. Six years and the lines are still sharp."
Twelve years on Alberta.
Ironwood opened in 2014 in a 1,200-square-foot space on Northeast Alberta. The original idea — and the only idea — was to build a custom-only studio where the artist sets the schedule, the client gets the consult, and the work is built to outlast both of them.
Twelve years later we have four resident artists, four booths, and zero flash-only days. No second location. No conventions. No guest spots. Just four hands, on Alberta, working slow.
Ready to start the brief?
Submit a written brief through the consult form. We respond within five business days. Most consults are scheduled six to eight weeks out — but we'll match you to the right artist, on the right timeline.
Send an inquiryExample mockup — not a real studio. Artist names, photos, reviews, and stats on this page are illustrative. We change identifying details on real client work to protect their privacy. This is what Yeti can build for a tattoo studio in seven days.