Draw for the body
A design that looks perfect flat is half the job. We map it to your muscle, your movement and your proportions before it ever touches skin.
Est. 2014 · SE Portland
A clean room, four artists, and a long view.
Blackthorn has been in the same brick building on SE Ash since 2014. The equipment has changed, the artists have grown, and the standard hasn't moved.
Our Story
Started with one chair and a strict rule.
Mara Vance opened Blackthorn after eight years of walk-in shops where the clock mattered more than the drawing. The rule she built the studio on was simple: if the piece isn't right for the body in front of you, say so — even if it costs the booking.
Twelve years later there are four chairs, a six-week wait list and roughly five thousand healed pieces walking around Portland. We've never run a discount and we never will. What we do instead is spend the extra hour on placement, paperwork and the drawing, because that hour is the difference between a tattoo and a regret.
We're appointment-only Monday to Thursday so the studio stays quiet for booked clients, and we keep Fridays open for flash and walk-ins.
2014
Opened on SE Ash
4
Chairs, no rotation
5,000+
Healed pieces
4.9★
412 Google reviews
What We Stand On
Four rules we don't bend.
Never rush the chair
We book session time generously and stop when the line needs stopping. If a piece needs two sessions, we'll say so at the quote, not halfway through.
Hygiene is not a feature
Single-use everything that touches skin, autoclave for everything that doesn't, and a station rebuilt in front of you. It's the baseline, not a selling point.
Tell the truth
Wrong artist, wrong size, unrealistic cover-up — you'll hear it from us before you spend money. We'd rather lose a booking than tattoo something we can't stand behind.
Health & Safety
Cleaner than your dentist's office.
Oregon-licensed artists, current bloodborne-pathogen certification, and a station setup you can watch happen. Here's exactly what's in place for every appointment.
Single-use needles & cartridges
Opened from sterile packaging in front of you, then disposed of in a sealed sharps container.
Autoclave-sterilised hardware
Machine parts, grips and tubes run through a monitored autoclave with spore-test logging.
Barrier film on every surface
Clients' chairs, machine cables, bottles and screens are wrapped, then stripped and replaced between appointments.
Medical-grade aftercare kit
You leave with second-skin bandage, a fragrance-free wash sample, balm and a printed healing guide.
The Space
Four private stations, one brick room.
Aftercare
Your half of the job starts now.
A tattoo is an open wound for the first few days, and most problems we see in touch-up appointments come from over-cleaning, under-drying or picking. Follow this and you'll heal clean.
Red flags: spreading redness after day 3, heat, pus, or a fever. Contact us and your doctor — don't wait it out.
01
Leave the bandage alone
Keep the second-skin film on for 3–5 days. It's waterproof — shower normally, just don't soak it. If fluid builds up, that's normal.
02
Wash gently, twice a day
Warm water and a fragrance-free, antibacterial-free soap. Use clean fingertips only — no cloths, no loofahs, no scrubbing.
03
Pat dry, then balm thin
Blot with a clean paper towel and air-dry for ten minutes. A rice-grain amount of tattoo balm, worked in thinly — thick layers smother the skin.
04
Expect the peel
Days 4–10 the skin flakes and itches. Do not scratch, pick or peel it early — pulling flakes takes ink with it and causes patchy healing.
05
Avoid water, sun and gym
No pools, hot tubs, lakes or baths for two weeks. No direct sun for a month — after that, SPF 50 on the piece forever. Skip heavy sweating for the first week.
06
Check in at two weeks
Send us a photo at the two-week mark. If anything needs adjusting, that's when we book your free touch-up — and we'd rather see it than not.
Come see the room before you commit.
Consultations are free and you're welcome to look at the stations, the autoclave logs and the artists' books before you book a single hour.
