Vatican Studios

This place is really cool, they have a lot of art of and several artists to choose from.
I was referred to Latisha by a good friend of mine. This review is so low because of the poor customer service. My husband and I got each others initials on our wedding fingers, we were really excited to do this. Our appointment went well and we had a good time hanging out with Latisha.
Before we got our tattoos done she told us the cost ($ 150 per ring finger) would include touch ups. Touch ups meaning plural, right? Well unfortunatley, my finger didn’t take so I emailed Latisha to set up a touch up and we tried again.
2^nd time — still did not take :(
When I emailed her about it this time she wanted to charge me an additional $ 150! There was no way I was going to pay $ 300 total for this little tattoo. She didn’t even try to work with me, and it was just very unprofessional. Regardless of your trade, if you work with people the customer should always come first unless they are taking advantage, and I was not.
I’m in no way saying she is not a good artist, however, I was truely dissapointed the way she handled my situation. I hope I can find someone to fix it soon.

The best tattoo studio on the west coast, arguably anywhere. I have been blessed with work by Alexis and Franco, but London and Zero are stone cold ink murderers. Don’t go anywhere else for a tat and back in the glory that is Vatican, more art gallery than tattoo shop, full of beautiful souls.

The guy with grey T-​shirt called their customer is Bitch. That’s how they treat their customer.

Five starts simply isn’t enough to say how happy I am with my tattoo and with the experience I had at Vatican Studios. I was referred to this studio by a friend who had some amazing artwork so I knew it would be great. I emailed the artist and her assistant Mandi responded immediately. She is AWESOME!!! I was able to send the artwork I wanted directly to her and she then gave it to the artist Latisha who by the way is amazing. It was such a collaborative environment from the start and both Mandi and Latisha were so open to any of my ideas and yet still guided me in the right direction so my tattoo would be perfect. I have three other experiences with different tattoo places and I have to say this is the most creative, professional, and exciting one so far. Latisha is a true artist and I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an excellent experience.

All that I have to say is WOW. Zero is truly an amazing artist. I had to put my 5 month old kitten down 2 weeks ago. This was a very emotional time as she died in a way that kind of traumatized me as a first time pet owner. All that I can say is when you call them they don’t answer the phone as if you are bothering them and they genuinely want to make you happy. They never give off the attitude as if you see bothering them by wanting to pay them to do something where other places have treated me that way. All that I can say is Zero really helped me heal this wound of the tragic pass of my kitten. Such a fun loving light spirit that wanted to talk about life and was interested in ours too. This is mine and my family’s go to spot and it does take 5 years to get into them. Such an incredible artist. EVERYONE GO TO ZERO!!!

My first piece done. Amazing work by Latisha Wood. Appt only but super cool compared to some dbags I spoke to at Gold Rush and Costa Mesa. Great listener of what you want. Great at helping to bring your concept to a full design. Magnificent at free handing exactly what you want. And does it all while making you laugh (tho I was the jokester) and making you comfortable the whole time. I searched and called for the best. I think I found the best. Latisha and everyone at Vatican Studios.

I recently was tattooed by Alexis Vaatete and I highly recommend him for a tattoo. He has a really good artistic eye and his work speaks for itself. Everyone I met there (Alexis, Ms. Wood, and London) were really nice and personable and the overall vibe of the place is perfect. The place was really clean (including the bathroom). Yes the hourly is more than most places but you get what you pay for.

Decided to finally get a tattoo after a few years. Definitely wanted to make sure my first tattoo to be of high quality since it’ll be on me for life. Did some massive research and well… this studio is just packed with fantastic artists. Wanted a kickass tattoo of Bruce Lee on my forearm. Zero was the artist I chose and he did a phenomenal job! The detail is on point and looks way better than I even imagined. Not to mention the awesome atmosphere; a very clean studio. Highly recommend this place, you’ll have no regrets.

Came in last night with my sister to get matching tattoos. Even though we wanted a very basic, simple design, we wanted the lines to be perfect so we went to Vatican knowing it would be a little pricier than most walk-​in shops. Definitely worth paying a little extra for a good shop! Picasso did a great job. Perfectly straight lines. He’s new to the area and super talented. I would recommend Vatican to anyone looking to get a high quality tattoo from a really cool studio!

I went here for my 4^th tattoo, and my only regret was not coming here for my first 3!
My artist, Picasso, did amazing work. I was instantly impressed with his own portfolio, both online and on his wall, and felt very confident to proceed. My tattoo looks amazing. The detail is great and am thoroughly impressed with how quick he was able to do it too.
As for the studio, it was very welcoming. Everyone was extremely friendly, making me feel very welcomed and right at home. The vibe of the place is pretty relaxing too with their comfortable waiting room.
Overall, I not only plan on coming back to this studio for my next tattoo, but will also seek out Picasso as the artist!

Let me tell you a little bit about this place before I tell you about my experience. This place is truly an art studio. When you walk in, you’re greeted respectfully at the front desk. You’ll then take a short walk to the gallery, which is beautiful. Someone will guide you to the artist best suited to do your work, give you pricing, and the availability of the artist.
Make no mistake, this place is not cheap, but the prices here are in no way unfair. For what you get, it is a bargain. World class talent resides here. If you want an artist that understands you, that has the talent to make your vision a reality, this is where you go.
Now let’s talk about my experience. My dog recently passed, and I was utterly devastated. For 1 week I had been eyeing the work of Mr Alexis Vaatete. The guy is brilliant. I had read that it would be extremely difficult to book him, and I didn’t even know if I could afford him. So I had decided to drive down to the studio to see if I could find a secondary artist.
I had talked to Josh, about wanting Alexis to do a piece for me but not knowing if I could wait for months to get it done. He told me that Alexis happened to have a cancellation right then, but happened to be coming by the studio just to hang out; and that he’d ask if Alexis would be open to doing a session for me.
Alexis happily agreed, and I was hesitant because I wasn’t sure if he needed some time to conceptualize what I wanted. I told him how important this tattoo would be to me and he said not to worry, when he’s done, I’d see my boy again.
I took him up on it, and he got started. It was awesome watching that guy work. He’s a true professional. He was crunched for time that day, and even stayed a half hour late for me. When he was done, and late going on about his own life, he had the same smile that he did when I walked in.
The tattoo he put on my arm was breathtaking. It looked just like my best friend. I wanted someone to capture my dog’s eyes and smile. I didn’t tell Alexis that, but at the end he said those were the things he was trying to capture. I was so happy, I asked Alexis to sign my tattoo so I could remember the person who gave me back a piece of what I had lost.
I know I paid for a service that day, but when I walked out I knew that someone had done an amazing kindness for me. My artist is at that studio, I guarantee that yours is as well.

I bailed out of 3 previous attempts to get a tattoo done in the last 10 years so when I finally got up the nerve to walk in the doors to this place, I was trembling. Yes, I’m a chicken. Went in on ⁸⁄₂₂ for my first tattoo ever and I loved it. I only chewed through two nails getting it done but I’m so glad I waited for this particular artist.
Latisha was great. She made me feel very relaxed and did her best to keep me distracted. I took in a sketch of what I wanted, she helped me pick a needle size and did a few placements. It was a relatively simple tattoo so the process took under an hour.
Thanks Latisha!

Great People and outstanding artist, real life, cartoon, portraits, animals, what ever you can think of these guys are the $H!t… I have never seen so much talent under one roof. Just look up the individuals, they are all award winning tattoo artist and hold up to that reputation.

I love this place. Huge! Artists are very very friendly. Great atmosphere. Got my ink done by Zero. Couldn’t ask for more. will come back soon

Well this place definitely lives up to it’s hype on Unilocal.I had recently done a search for a new tattoo shop close to me. With nothing but great reviews, I decided to give Vatican a try. From Josh, who coordinated the appointments and was the go between guy, to my tattoo artist, Zero, everything was as best as you could want it. Josh took a look at the lettering I wanted and immediately suggested Zero to do my work. It was a perfect pair up, not only did my work come out crisp, clean, and amazing, but the conversation was an absolute bonus. The atmosphere is definitely super friendly. I love sarcasm and wit, so I most assuredly felt at home and relaxed here :) yes pricing may be a bit more than some places, but here you pay for real artistic work. I couldn’t see anyone leaving this place unhappy.
I’ll be back for 3 more for sure! :)

Vatican Studios is top-​shelf. Check it out for yourself. It feels much more like a fine art gallery than it does a «tattoo parlor». Just got an amazing color tattoo from London Reese. I gave London a bunch of reference photos and asked him to design something that would fit my arm and blend in well with my other tattoos. He did both! The tattoo has healed perfectly and gets all kinds of amazing comments from everyone who sees it. Thanks London!

My wife wanted a tattoo of her dads name on her. We went to couple places and were not feeling the tattoo artist at all. Franco Vescovi recommended Zero for the piece. When we met him for the first time he was very nice and understood our vision for the tattoo. When we came back for our appointment he already had the piece sketched out and was ready for us. He was very nice and made my wife feel very comfortable being her first time. The piece turned out great, my wife was very happy with it. We recommend Zero and Vatican Studios for your next tattoo.

If you want a tattoo you’ll love the rest of your life, go see Latisha Wood at Vatican Studios. I would never classify Vatican Studios as a quote unquote «Tattoo Shop». Vatican Studios is an art gallery filled with world class tattoo artist. I had a bland cross on my arm that I got in AZ and Latisha turn that bland cross in to a amazing piece of art. I’m telling you everything that comes out of Vatican Studios could be on the cover of any tattoo magazine. If you care about getting an amazing tattoo you’ll have for the rest of your life make a smart choice and go to Latisha Wood at Vatican Studios.

Beautiful, professional shop. World-​class artists. Latisha Wood designed a (literally) award winning piece on my inner arm that I waited nearly ten years to pull the trigger on. She took the time and spent the energy to give me everything I wanted, including her own signature style on an exquisitely rendered Hindu goddess Durga.

The best artists reside here — amazing work at reasonable prices — So glad I found Alexis Vaatete — Check him out before you get your next piece — you won’t regret it!!!
Check him out on InstaGram, Twitter & FB!!!