We Have Moved!
Cardinal Tattoo has relocated to 328 North Cumberland street, one block off the Lebanon, TN square, at the corner of N. Cumberland and High Street. We hope to see you there!
Cardinal Tattoo has relocated to 328 North Cumberland street, one block off the Lebanon, TN square, at the corner of N. Cumberland and High Street. We hope to see you there!
Only people who have seen death can see a Thestral. In the Harry Potter books, only Harry and Luna can see these creatures. While they look fearsome, they are actually quite gentle. Funny how looks can be deceiving sometimes. Ever had someone judge you because of the way you look? It happens all the time. We at Cardinal Tattoo believe the Thestral is just J.K. Rowling’s way of reminding us to be noble when faced with judgemental jerks.
This is the result of some 6 plus hours of work that Will did on fellow tattooer Buck Wayne. This was performed during the now-legendary heat of the Pit Row Tattoo Expo. We enjoyed our time in the infield of the Atlanta Motor Speedway and are proud of our accomplishments there, including this visceral, detailed piece. Are you a fan of the Walking Dead? Zombieland? Bill Murray? Come on in to Cardinal Tattoo and let us realize that fandom in permanent art! Simply visit the shop at 110 North Water Avenue or call 615 527-7102. Long distance inquiries can reach us by sending an email to info@cardinaltattoo.com We look forward to seeing you soon!
Who doesn’t love Bob Ross? He’s the frickin’ Mr. Rogers of the art community! Whether you watched him growing up as a kid to learn something, to chill, or just because you were too high to find the remote, it didn’t matter to Bob, he was just glad to be there for you. Perhaps will said it best: ‘We used to skip school to go smoke weed and would watch him and Beavis and Butthead for half the day.’ We’re not saying Will gleaned all his talent from watching Bob Ross while stoned when he should have been learning Algebra, but it did kind of work out for him, sooo…
This tattoo was done on our young apprentice Matt, who use to watch Bob Ross with his dad when he was just a little guy. The fondness we share with the storytellers and shows of our youth is a lifelong bond. We’ll miss you Bob, but we’ll never forget you! Dig those happy little trees!
Cardinal Tattoo will not have a piercer on staff Saturday, September 28th. We will resume our regular schedule for piercing on Sunday, September 29th from 5:00-8:00 pm.
Chest tattoos are rapidly becoming one of the most popular tattoo ideas. A well designed tattoo on the chest can be very attractive to both men and women and can be a teaser when wearing a button down or v-neck shirt. They signify confidence and inner strength and can be easily seen or covered.
For men, the chest is an ideal canvas for larger tattoos - it’s easy to picture pirate ships, birds of prey, religious symbols or other intricate designs adorning that area of the body. It is also not unusual to find powerful symbols of strength, pride, loyalty, courage, and masculinity tattooed in this location.
For women, it is not uncommon for a chest piece to be more moderate in size and, because it is an area close to the heart, have emotional meaning attached. Chest tattoos can be used to accentuate a woman’s cleavage and can be ornate or simple in design. Sternum tattoos are gaining popularity as are underboob tattoos (tattoos inked on the ribcage directly under the breast),which are a stunning way to feature a woman’s natural curves and accentuate her femininity.
Chest tattoos can be daring, original, and have significant meaning - allowing men and women to really ink any type of artwork they want. Here at Cardinal Tattoo, we will work with you to create the perfect design that represents your personality as well as the meaning behind the tattoo. OR, maybe you just want a kickass piece on your chest. That’s cool, too. Not every tattoo has to have meaning and our artists can help you come up with a design that you will wear with pride. We know how to tattoo a showstopper- and we have the awards to prove it. Give us a call today to set up your next appointment!!
Cardinal Tattoo will not have a piercer on staff this Saturday, September 28th. We will resume with our regular piercing schedule Sunday, September 29th from 5:00 - 8:00 pm.
After our recently posted survey about piercing hours and costs, we have learned a few things.
Our clients are some of the most reasonable and loyal in the industry
Some people, who are not even our clients, feel like they should be able to dictate how we do business
When we began offering piercing at Cardinal Tattoo it was as a simple courtesy to our customers. We wished to provide safe and affordable piercing to our tattoo clients and their families. We kept prices ridiculously low, in fact, the shop has never made money on piercings, we merely paid the piercing fee to the piercer and the rest went to cover costs. All of our piercers are either tattoo apprentices or want to become apprentices and this was a way to make them some money and take some of the workload off our more experienced artists. It has the added benefit of introducing our newer staff and allows them to improve their customer service skills. However, due to the increase in our popularity, it has become more difficult to sustain the capability to offer timely walk-in piercings all day long. We experimented with offering piercings for three hours a day and all day on Saturday for a couple of months now and we have asked you, the customer, to weigh in. The results of that experiment are as follows:
Effective October 1st, Cardinal Tattoo will be doubling the cost of all piercings except for dermal anchors which will remain at $40 apiece. -The reason for this is it has become obvious to us that some people are willing to complain about anything and we’d rather not listen to it unless we’re getting paid to. It’s no fun going to work just to listen to a bunch of people who want something for nothing bellyache about how long it’s taking, or the wait times, or the fact that we ask you to make appointments, or that you need ID, or you have to prove you’re a minor child’s parent or legal guardian. Just wait, it gets better.
We have also become aware that some people who patron Cardinal Tattoo for piercing are not our loyal customers. These people have been sent by our competitors and have exhibited bad behavior or poor treatment of our staff. This will not be tolerated. Our services are for people who value what we have to offer and for those who offer us loyalty in return for our faithful service. For us, tattooing isn’t just about dollars and cents, we put a bit of our heart and soul into every tattoo we do and if you don’t understand that, we don’t want to be friends.
Thus, anyone who has been tattooed at Cardinal Tattoo in the last three months can come by during the month of October and pick up your %50 piercing membership card! This personalized membership card entitles the customer to an unlimited number of piercings (except dermal anchors, which are not going up in price) at half price for 90 days. This offer will also be extended to the minor children of our tattoo customers. Anyone who spends more than $100 on a tattoo will receive one of the cards, which will be good for 90 days, from now on. We’re not trying to raise the price on our existing clients…
Simply put: We’re trying to weed out the refuse. Cheap piercing at Cardinal Tattoo is for our loyal tattoo family only. If you want to get tattooed somewhere else and get pierced here, or if you just want the convenience of getting pierced close to home, you’re just going to have to pay for it.
Some of you aren’t going to understand this.
Offering a discount to our tattoo clientele only makes sense, it’s the very purpose behind our offering piercing in the first place. With the piercing membership card, we can continue to reward loyal customers. By raising our price for others, it will allow us to continue to offer affordable, convenient piercing to the greater Gallatin area. Otherwise, it’s simply not worth it to continue to offer piercing. We hope you understand, but if you don’t, you’re part of the problem and we don’t care.
To our loving family of dedicated tattoo and piercing clients: We love you and thank you for your support while we make the changes we need to be able to better serve you. We have some very big things in the works for Cardinal Tattoo and we can’t wait to include you in all the fun!
To the people who have a problem with it, go fuck yourselves.
“Welcome my friends, welcome to my chocolate factory” - well, more like welcome to Cardinal Tattoo! This stunning black and grey Willy Wonka portrait was done by Will. So if you are looking to get anything like this, grab your gobstoppers and swing by!!
We get it all the time, “Man that’s really dark, I dunno…” from someone who doesn’t tattoo (or who doesn’t tattoo well). The diagnosis: fresh black and grey blues!
No worries, we at Cardinal Tattoo are here to help! You see, when the skin is tattooed there is an inflammatory response that results in some minor swelling and a darkening of the skin due purely to irritation. This darkening will continue to build for approximately 20 minutes during the tattoo process before it begins to subside, this is of course a general rule, everyone’s a little different. Also, certain parts of the body can darken, or take on a more reddish hue in people with lighter skin tones, more than others. Calves tend to get darker that arms for instance, especially after the person stands.
Once the client goes home, the real detail of the piece won’t be discernible for several days, until the upper layer of skin flakes off and the finished tattoo is revealed underneath. During the tattoo process, the upper (non-permanent) layer of skin is damaged and will flake off similar to a sunburn usually within a week of getting the tattoo. This layer of skin has absorbed pigment as well, so the tattoo must be applied darker than how we want it to be in order to allow for this lightening during the exfoliation process.
Refer to the example here: The fresh tattoo is really dark, some of the details are harder to make out and may blend together a bit. Once compared to the healed version below, we can see the difference in the hair, eyes, and the overall exposure of the piece. It exhibits a good amount of detail and contrast, the eyes look alive and the tattoo has a lifelike quality that you want from a portrait. It is smooth and without healing defects, performed in a single five-and-a-half hour session by our resident realism artist Will. At the time of this photo, roughly four weeks into the healing process, the tattoo has already ‘greyed out’ nicely, taking on the look it will have for years to come!
Thank you for taking the time to read this and understand the art and craft of professional tattooing with us at cardinaltattoo.com
#tattoo #tattoogallatin #howtotakecareoftattoos #tattoohealingprocess #qualitytattoo
Cheers! On August 1st, Cardinal Tattoo celebrated our 5th year doing business in Gallatin, TN. We would like to thank everyone who has helped and supported us, some of you can’t even comprehend how much you did to keep us motivated and working hard to be the best we can (especially our haters, we love you guys too!) Here’s to the future of Cardinal Tattoo and to all those who wish us well! Cheers!
If you’re feeling that summertime sadness then maybe its time to get that tattoo you’ve been thinking about getting. We are sure Lana would support it!
With all of the rave about the new release of “Stranger Things 3”, we thought it was time to share this gem!! While you’re eating your Eggos and drooling over the Demogorgons and Shadow Monsters, maybe check out our website, cardinaltattoo.com or call us at (615)527-7102 to set up your next appointment!! We are sure we could make it bitchin’!!
We are changing our piercing times to 5PM to 8PM Sunday through Friday and noon to 10PM on Saturdays. You can call the shop at (615)527-7102 to set up an appointment over the phone. We will still accept walk-ins during that time but all appointments will come first.
(click on the image to fit it to your screen) This is the outcome of a five hour session, the poor guy couldn't take anymore! Our next session will fill out the details in this realistic piece. As always, we'll keep you posted on our WIPs (Works-In-Progress). Stay tuned to Cardinaltattoo.com for more updates!
Ever done something you wish you hadn't? It seemed like a good idea at the time but later you realized it might not have been the best decision? Yeah, us too. That's life. But it doesn't have to be that way with tattoos. At Cardinal Tattoo we pride ourselves on a service we call 'pumping the brakes'. You've been in a relationship for three months and want your significant other's name tattooed? Pump the brakes. You don't think he did it so you really want a portrait of Bill Cosby? Pump the Brakes. You want a tattoo because it'll be funny? Pump the brakes. Tattoos are permanent and while they're great fun, without a little foresight you could end up with something that you really hate down the road and we don't want that.
Tattoo regret is the single most damaging thing to the tattoo industry as a whole. At Cardinal Tattoo we'll tell you if we think what you're getting is a bad idea and sometimes we'll simply refuse to do it. No Swastikas, ever. No gang tattoos. Don't ask us to tattoo your boyfriend or girlfriend's name on you, we won't do it. If you want your hands, neck, or face tattooed and you don't already have one of those areas done or are otherwise covered in tattoos, forget it. We're not the kind of people who will take your money and do whatever you ask.
At Cardinal Tattoo we answer two questions before we start any tattoo: Does this person know what they're asking for? An example of this would be the old guy who doesn't know that the rainbow tattoo he just asked for is a gay pride symbol. Or the black guy who wants the Thor tattoo that's actually a white supremacist icon. We have to make sure people know what they're asking for before they get it. Question #2: Will getting this tattoo cause the person undue harm? Some people hate tattoos and they give tattooed people as much flak as they can get away with. It's harder to get certain jobs with tattoos that can't be easily covered with clothing. These are widely understood concepts and it's accepted that these things come with the 'being tattooed' territory. What some people don't know is that getting that rebel flag tattoo will brand you as a racist, even it you're not. That getting you're lover's name tattooed on you is a big no-no, especially if you're not married (if you have to go through a divorce, a tattoo is the least of your worries), or that Creed is a terrible band and no one should ever get their logo tattooed on themselves, ever. We're not being snobby, we're just looking out for our people. We want all of the work that comes out of Cardinal Tattoo to be loved, for life.
R.I.P. David Bowie.
Alright folks, it’s about that time; Spider-Man: Far From Home is hitting theaters Tuesday and that means it is time to throw out some tattoos that will make your web spin !!! All six of these tattoos were done by Will up at Cardinal Tattoo.
Since opening, Cardinal Tattoo has had a 'no hate' policy with regard to the tattoo work that we provide. No Swastikas or hate speech, no gang tattoos, we won't even do your girl or boyfriend's name, it's just not a good idea.
The Confederate battle flag means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. While we recognize that not everyone who flies the flag is a racist we also see the writing on the wall. White supremacists have used this symbol since it's inception and the numbers of those who would defend its meaning now are in steep decline. The meanings of symbols change and out of a sense of responsibility to our younger customers who may not fully understand yet the impact of their decisions, but to those who are professed white supremacists, let us be very clear: Cardinal Tattoo will not do Confederate Battle Flag tattoos.
We do not support hate speech, and this flag has become that. Failure to admit when the meaning of a symbol has changed is folly. If this upsets you we ask that you reconsider your position on the matter and that if your mind isn't changed that you go somewhere else.
With love, Cardinal Tattoo.