Bobby came into Lighthouse Tattoo at the behest of his wife, Samantha, who has been working on a horror sleeve for the past few months. On leave from training with the Army, he was excited to get this version of the Heath Ledger Joker. You can probably see why! Feel free to compare our work and rates with any other shops in the Nashville area, we're confident you'll see why Lighthouse Tattoo is the best choice for you!
Photos of photos NOT done at Lighthouse Tattoo, and with good reason.
There has seemed to be an increase lately in the popularity of finger, hand, and even face tattoos and as fashionable as they look when first tattooed, that's as far as they go. We have some very particular requirements for us to tattoo your hands or face and that's for a few reasons that are not for our own benefit, only for the benefit of our clients.
But who has these style tattoos? Well, a lot of people in fact, especially celebrities, the people who many teens and young adults seem to look up to. Whenever a fad pops up among celebrities, you'll see the same rise in the general population, and lately that seems to be VERY visible tattoos. Unfortunate as it may be though, not all of us are celebrities, and while we are not here to tell anyone that this is a bad look or nobody should ever get a hand or face tattoo, we are here to remind you why you might not want it for yourself.
Now we all know that the face is the first thing everybody sees when they first meet you, so first impressions matter, especially at job interviews. Many employers these days are starting to relax on tattoos and piercing (Which is great!) But in almost every place of business you still need to be able to cover it up or be able to hide it in some fashion. That's where hand and face tattoos run into a bit of a wall, you can't hide those without gloves or make-up and many employers will turn you away purely over visible tattoos making job searching near impossible.
"What about just a little side of the finger tattoo? I can hide that, nobody will even notice it's there!" While that argument may be valid on some level, unfortunately finger tattoos don't hold up. "But this tattoo from Pinterest looks great!" While they look great when initially done, notice how you never see any healed photos on these tattoos, that's because they either look terrible or are completely gone by the time they heal. The sides of your finger, along with the palm, loose a heavy amount of skin cells on a daily basis seeing as they are our main mode of interacting with the world around us, this makes for very poor healing on tattoos. Most of the time with a finger tattoo you'll loose at least half, if not all, of the ink in the tattoo making it look unfinished, poorly done, or like you never had a tattoo there(see picture above for example).
Will we tattoo your hands or face? Maybe, if you meet the requirements. So what are the requirements? Well if you already have them done or are heavily (HEAVILY) covered your in luck, you are already aware of the stigma and issues you will run into so we will tattoo you. Are you filthy rich(or at least substantially wealthy) and can prove it? Well what are you waiting for get in here, you already got things figured out and we have no issue tattooing your whole forehead, or whatever else you're wanting. And if you are unfortunate enough to have a felony charge, you already are well aware of the struggles you face in finding meaningful employment, but on the plus side we will tattoo you.
So, are we saying you shouldn't get your hands or face tattooed or condemning those who do? No, we are just trying to inform you of why we here have such high requirements which isn't the usual thing for a lot of tattoo shops. We are purely just trying to look out for our clients best interests and not just here to make a quick buck off the misinformation or lack of detailed knowledge of tattooing that those who aren't tattoo artist themselves might know.
We understand that not everyone wants to break the bank with their next tattoo. Not everyone wants something that requires the highest skill levels in the business. Some folks want names and little stuff, simple things that don’t take up a lot of space. We understand that in these instances, paying the top-tier priced of some of our more experienced artists is prohibitive for many. So we have developed a tiered system to make getting smaller, less complicated tattoos less painful-ON YOUR BANK ACCOUNT!!!
At the top echelon we have realism artist Will Wood, who charges $160/hr and has a 5 hour session rate of $600 for repeat clients (1st-timers pay $800 for that first session, then they get the ‘buddy discount’). Will is the best we have and one of the very best tattooers around, but he still tries to keep the price of his work affordable.
Next we have Deuce and Dave, who each have 5-hr session rates of $400. These two are veteran artists with decades of experience doing tattoos between them. You can’t go wrong here folks, the value you get at those price points is startling!
Next we have Matt and Brady, younger artists with less than 5 years in the business apiece. Both capable, growing artists charge $300/ 5hrs, and we would argue a better value can’t be found anywhere!
We also have a couple of newbies who will tackle pieces for half-price, or $50 per hour, sometimes even less than our shop minimum. These artists have a limited skillset however, so the things they are allowed to tattoo are limited. With time we are sure they will grow and become wonderful artists along with the rest of the staff here at Lighthouse Tattoo.
This healed gladiator is the best photo we got, just as an afterthought, while getting ready to continue this client’s sleeve. We think it speaks for itself and we certainly hope you like it!
Deuce has been working on his black and grey and clearly it’s paying off! He just did this single session piece on a great client and we managed to get a decent photo of it for a change (Deuce is admittedly the worst photographer on the planet)! To schedule your next session with this veteran tattooer, visit Lighthouse Tattoo at 328 N. Cumberland st, a block off the historic Lebanon, TN square; fill out the set an appointment form on this website; or call us at 615-784-4500.
It happens like this sometimes: For some reason or another, we’ll end up doing several of the same tattoo, on completely unrelated clients, within a few weeks of each other. We’re not complaining, we absolutely love this image! The texture and intensity of the piece is enough to draw the viewer in a hold them for a while, which we love.
Matt Steele’s high contrast blackwork style has caught on with it’s impactful intensity. Stark and bold, like the tattoos of the Old School, Matt has something of an old soul about himself. If you like this style and want to know more, feel free to stop by and speak with Matt himself, between the hours of noon and 10pm, Wednesday through Sunday! You won’t be disappointed!
Next Saturday, March 19th, at 7pm, is our annual St. Patrick’s Day party. Everyone’s invited, just no children please.
Another Freddy portrait tattoo wonderfully performed by Will Wood. It’s amazing the amount of staying power some of these villains seem to have, playing on our fears seems to have a lasting effect. The great thing about this particular tattoo is the way Will managed to capture the expression on his face even with all of the added texture from the movie make-up he’s wearing. We think it’s awesome and we hope you’ll agree! Schedule your appointment with Will Wood today by calling 615 784-4500 between the hours of noon and 10pm.
Going along with our Johnny Depp kick, this Mad Hatter is definitely one of his more outrageous and memorable characters. This is an in-progress shot taken with a cell phone, so apologies for the quality, we just thought some of you might want to see it. Enjoy!
Johnny Depp’s portrayal of John Dillinger is a career highlight, if not the flashiest of his characters. This portrait was completed over two sessions for a total of just over 8 hours by resident realism artist Will Wood.
As with the Wu-Tang Clan, this tiger is nothing with which to fuck.
Matt Steele’s transition for apprentice tattooer to Journeyman artist is almost complete. Working with his mentor, Will Wood, the founding father of Lighthouse Tattoo, Matt has become a capable young artist. He has learned to work on more difficult areas of the body and turn out clean, bright work, as in this tiger hand tattoo. In just over a year and half of hard work (he’s been here longer, but the time since the government’s Covid shutdown has been the most meaningful), Matt has become a growing force at Lighthouse Tattoo. Call today to beat the rush and schedule your next appointment with this great young artist! 615 784-4500, between the hours of noon and 10pm, or fill out the appointment request form on this website, under the ‘Set and Appointment’ tab.
If you’ve been to the shop any time in the last three months you know Lighthouse Tattoo has been going through some serious changes. We added some new faces and the shop got a facelift of its own. We like it because it goes to show how much hard work we’ve been putting in and you MUST like it because we’ve gotten pretty busy here! In fact, we may have actually gotten a little too busy for comfort. Everybody’s got problems y’know?
Our realism artist, Will Wood, has gotten so busy his normal 3-month limit on booking has become woefully inadequate. Something had to be done. Will has now changed his schedule to allow for two sessions per day at a rate of $600 apiece. This is a discount from his usual $160 per hour rate, which fits better into our tiered pricing system, taking out the guesswork for his clients. First-timers and clients who wish to book time other than the 5-hour window of the offered session will still be charged at the $160 per hour rate.
This is a little funny: We hired a new shop manager some time ago and she took us to task on certain issues. The first thing she did was work to significantly increase our capacity to do walk-in tattoos, the second was to address people who try to abuse us for our deposit policy. The last thing she did was notice that Will only scheduled one tattoo per day, then left once he was done. He also had a tendency to offer discounts to his loyal customers (which all of them are, Will has a huge repeat clientele). She decided to try scheduling him the same as the other artists and build in the discount, because while many of his clients can sit for more than 5 hours due to Will’s famously light touch, it’s not usually more than a couple of extra hours and that meant Will wasn’t making as much as he could!
Will is old. He could go at any minute. He has five kids, all of which like to eat EVERY DAY. To get the most out of him before he dies, we decided to work the old workhorse a little more.
The results were dramatic. Repeat clients have been rescheduled with shorter wait times between sessions; The shorter sessions are less taxing to the client, who appreciate the loyalty discount; and Will’s calendar has opened up so he can start taking new clients again (because he’s technically doing twice as much work now, but don’t tell HIM that)!
It looks like there’s a new sheriff in town and we like the direction she’s taking things, we hope you do too!
A Hanya, or Hannya is a type of demon from Japanese folklore and this one is a real badass. Performed by Matt Steele and steeped in contrast, you wouldn’t want to run into this fella in a dark alley! Matt has availability starting at about two weeks out, so plan a little bit ahead and great artwork like this can be yours!
‘Come and get them!’
This awesome image of King Leonidas from the movie 300 conveys something many of us have come to feel, certainly as of late. It tells a tale of men, using reason and courage, fighting for what they knew to be right. Willing to die if need be, willing to kill if forced to. Turn on the news and you see that people the world over share the same sentiment and express it in different, sometimes unhealthy ways. Still, it’s obvious the idea of MOLON LABE is alive and well in the hearts of men these days. Let us use our powers of reason to make sure we’re fighting the good fight, just like King Leonidas here.
Arrows are all about moving forward and staying true. Tattoos of them have become popular for that very reason. Let’s face it, we all know that person in our lives that can’t just MOVE ON. The first step in triumphing over trauma is to get through it and move forward. So something terrible happened to you, we get it, life is hard. The more you hang on to that hurt though, the more it’s destined to hurt you. Learn. Grow. Live. Find a direction and move toward it. Get some distance on the past. So much to be learned from the image of the arrow.
Matt Steele is young but he’s no stranger to pain. A sentiment he shares with so many of his clients who are often marginalized because of their youth. It’s hard enough when you’re hurt, harder still when it seems like the whole world refuses to acknowledge it. Please know that even in your darkest hour, so many people in the world empathize with your pain, even if you don’t have access to them or it doesn’t feel like it. Move forward, live on. Life has so much more to offer than what the pain can take away.
It’s not hard to see we love horror tattoos at Lighthouse Tattoo and this slimy little fella shows that love affair has paid off! Want to partake in the macabre with us? schedule your appointment with Lighthouse Tattoo today and beat the tax refund season rush!
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (US: /ˈlʌvkræft/; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. Lovecraft is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos.[n 1]
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Lovecraft spent most of his life in New England. After his father's institutionalization in 1893, he lived affluently until his family's wealth dissipated after the death of his grandfather. Lovecraft then lived with his mother, in reduced financial security, until her institutionalization in 1919. He began to write essays for the United Amateur Press Association and, in 1913, Lovecraft wrote a critical letter to a pulp magazine that ultimately led to his involvement in pulp fiction. He became active in the speculative fiction community and was published in several pulp magazines. Lovecraft moved to New York, marrying Sonia Greene in 1924, and later became the center of a wider group of authors known as the "Lovecraft Circle". They introduced him to Weird Tales, which would become his most prominent publisher. Lovecraft's time in New York took a toll on his mental state and financial conditions. He returned to Providence in 1926 and produced some of his most popular works, including "The Call of Cthulhu", At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow over Innsmouth, and The Shadow Out of Time. He would remain active as a writer until his death from intestinal cancer at the age of 46.- Wikipedia.
Cthulhu is one of the ancient dark gods from the fabled horror author H.P. Lovecraft. Along with Dagon and stories like The Unnameable the image stirs visions of creatures constantly writhing somewhere in the ocean’s depths, as if struggling to maintain its current form. His tales are patient in their delivery, building suspense and allowing the reader to scare themselves, not unlike the style of today’s horror master Stephen King. Indeed, the influence of Lovecraft is indelibly marked in the work of many modern day horror writers. This particular visage is depicted in a nautical-themed sleeve containing several cover-ups. Dark and foreboding, it’s immediate impact can be felt even through the screen. Imagine it in person.
Lighthouse Tattoo is open seven days per week from noon to 10pm. Schedule an appointment by visiting the shop at 328 N. Cumberland St in Lebanon, TN, just a block off the Lebanon town square; calling us during business hours at 615 784-4500 (or leave us a message outside of business hours and we will call you back, please include your phone number in your message); fill out our ‘Set and Appointment’ from located one this website; or messaging us via Facebook. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Lighthouse Tattoo has heard your request to increase our walk-in tattoo availability and we have taken great pains to be able to serve you further! That being said, our experience tells us that some people will take the offer of a small, quick tattoo to mean that they can start their new sleeve or backpiece today. We call those people very bad names. Want to avoid being called a dirty word? Follow these easy instructions/criteria for your next walk-in:
Walk-ins aren’t necessarily Right-Nows. A Walk-In is a tattoo that can be done sometime that day, not immediately. If you want to get a tattoo that day, please be patient and we’ll do our very best to take care of you. That being said…
Walk-Ins are simple. Walk-In tattoos by their very nature cannot take up too much time. We’d recommend keeping all Walk-In business to tattoos that will take two hours or less. If you’re not sure how long your tattoo will take, we’ll tell you!
Be Nice. It’s a mantra we have here at Lighthouse Tattoo, if you want something, be nice. If you are not nice, you can count on us not being very nice either. You may get invited to leave, be banned from the shop, or catch a vicious ass whooping if you need one. Or you could just Be Nice and we’ll do our very best to take care of you. It’s certainly more likely to get you what you want than being an asshole.
Please do not call ahead. This may seem weird to some folks, but it is really a huge hassle and a waste of time for everyone. If you’re considering getting a Walk-In tattoo, just walk in. That’s the point. If you call and ask if we have time to do a Walk-In we will tell you yes no matter what. So just come on down!
With three new artists dedicated to this service, we hope to be able to fulfill your every Walk-In need!
It’s Christopher Walken, get it?
At Lighthouse Tattoo we pride ourselves on our customer service. Most of the time, we succeed in meeting the challenges presented to us by our clientele. We have two areas where we have failed to meet that challenge in the past though, and in 2022, we have made it our goal to improve our services further, in order to better serve you!
What are those to areas of insufficiency, you ask? The first is the most difficult challenge and one we will be seeking to rectify in the coming months; the second, and the reason for this post, is something we believe we have managed to solve already: Our availability to accept walk-in clients.
Anyone who’s been to Lighthouse Tattoo with any regularity, or spent any amount of time on this website should know the battle we’ve fought with people who call in a request for a walk-in tattoo. It just doesn’t work that way and so many people are ignorant to that fact that it has presented problems in the past. You see, our artists are good at what they do, as such, their schedules tend to be booked pretty solid, so our ability to serve walk-in clients has been extremely limited, leading to frustration from prospective clients and sometimes even negative reviews from the especially Karen-y types that can malign any business. Comma splices aside, we have added some new faces to the lineup in hopes of being able to deliver walk-in tattoo availability 7 days per week!
Crystal has been doing small tattoos and walk-ins on the weekends for about a year now. She is being joined by our newest apprentice, Hannah, and another artist by the name of Brady, who comes to Lighthouse Tattoo with 3 years of experience and an eagerness to learn. With the upcoming addition of two new apprentices, we believe we will be able to handle walk-in business seven days per week throughout the busy tax refund season rush and beyond!
Our first problem? That has to do with people throwing temper tantrums over losing their deposits after violating our deposit agreement. We will be handling that issue shortly, stay tuned to our Knucklehead of the Month section to see how!
We’d also like to take this time to thank all of those reasonable souls who wanted to get a tattoo as a walk-in, but when they couldn’t, they just scheduled an appointment like a normal person instead of behaving like a poorly trained child. Thank you!