News

PROFESSIONAL TATTOO ARTIST WANTED

Here we grow again!

TATTOO ARTIST WANTED

1. 5+ years verified studio experience 
2. VA license (or able to get one)
3. Fixed Schedule: Sat-Tues noon-8:15pm
4. Great earning potential 
5. Private booth with private hand washing station (furnished or not)
6. Guest spot to try things out
7. Test tattoo Req'd on your own canvas
8. NO ONE TRICK PONIES OR EGOMANIACS
9. Must behave respectfully to the patron wanting simple designs or complex ones
10. Immediate position
11. No drugs or alcohol at work
12. Long term sought: great schools, lots to do outside here, 45 miles from DC, 7th wealthiest county in the US
13. Must be able to draw on the fly and keep up with steady demand
14. Portfolio required
15. Apply in person
16. As a studio when we're off work we enjoy Rennaissance faires, obstacle races, and breweries.
17. We are located at 395 Garrisonville Rd., Ste. 103, Stafford, VA 22554

HIRING

We are hiring TWO smiling faces for customer service positions to join the Dark Horse team.

Both jobs are part time: one position is permanent and is between two and four days a week; the other position is seasonal/temporary (September until Jan 1) and runs two days a week. 

Both are hourly positions and are between 11:45am and 8:45pm.  Both require comfort with advanced software systems, general c/s, cleaning, cashiering and tasks as assigned.

PLEASE APPLY IN PERSON. NO TELEPHONE CALLS, EMAILS OR SOCIAL MEDIA INQUIRIES.

Now Serving Tattoo Enthusiasts

We have changed our focus recently to tattooing and retail body jewelry sales only. We will no longer offer ANY new body piercing, adjustment, installation or trouble shooting. We have decided to focus exclusively on tattooing and retail sales.

2017 New Changes

Hello!

Our 2017 outlook is as follows:

• We are open Wednesday to Sunday noon to eight (except for major holidays or severe weather)
• We have two full time Artists  but no piercer.
• Our receptionist handles scheduling, consultations, appointments, rescheduling and all things related to getting an estimate for a tattoo in person only please.

We hope to see you soon.

Holiday Hours

Please note our holiday hours below...

10-31-16 Closed

11-23-16 Closing at 5pm

11-24-16 Closed

11-25-16 Closed

12-24-16 Closing at 5pm

12-25-16 Closed

12-26-16 Closed

12-31-16 Closing at 5pm

1-1-17 Closed

New Stuff

So new stuff is afoot!

We have a new logo featured on new outdoors stickers.

A rocking new website should launch sometime in July.

Other goodness is also on its way.

PEACE

The Dark Horsemen 

Holiday Hours

Christmas Eve: 4:30 close

Christmas: closed

Boxing Day: closed

New Years Eve: 4:30 close

New Years Day: closed

DHT wishes you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. From our family to yours, enjoy the season.

Thanksgiving Week

We will be closed Thanksgiving and Black Friday. We appreciate your support.

Have a great holiday.

DHT DARK HORSEMEN 

Behold The Reaper

Please be advised our own Electric Steve is about to go under the blade so if you need piercings, adjustments, installation of jewelry the time is nigh. After the 18th of October, he'll be out for a undetermined amount of time. Come forth, piercing enthusiasts!

We are sorry for any inconvenience.

The Darkhorsemen 

Renaissance Faire

Please join us at the Maryland Renaissance Fair 9-20-15. We'll be in costume at the front gates at high noon. Join the Dark Horsemen for a day of anachronistic fun.

Beautiful August

DHT has been participating in the board game nights at Applebee's. If you swing by, you might win a prize from us.

New shirts are in both men's and women's sizes. We have long sleeves and short sleeves in women's and long sleeves in men's. Get 'me while they last.

Electric Steve will be taking a leave of absence in October to January due to health reasons. No piercing can be done during that time. Please get your piercings, adjustments and jewelry NOW.

Best Wishes,

The Dark Horsemen

Pricing

Does It Always Comes Down to Price?

People's first question when it comes to getting a tattoo is, "How much is it going to cost?" 

This IS an important question because everyone has a budget but it isn't the most important question to ask.

After all, a cheap price doesn't mean you're getting a great deal if you got poor quality work, an unclean shop, a bad attitude or an unprofessional experience.

If you like our artwork, that is what should matter the most. You will not know what our price is until you talk to us. Please give us a chance. Ask around. Look at our work.

We're established and respected for a reason. We want to be your tattoo studio so check out our quality, cleanliness and customer service. 

Our shop minimum is $60.
Our hourly rate for complex or large scale work is $150 per hour.

Sometimes we charge by the piece.

Sometimes we charge by the hour.

We will try to work within your budget.

We can not give accurate estimates by email or telephone ESPECIALLY if there is no design for us to view.

To eliminate confusion and give you the most ACCURATE price estimate we need to know:

1. EXACTLY what you want tattooed and how you want it to look. 

It's not helpful to ask a price on a "medium sized tattoo with average detail" any more than calling a restaurant asking the price of a medium sized lunch with average ingredients. Do you want color? All black? Grey shaded? Do want realistic work, new school, old school, illustrative, watercolor, ect? SEEING your design is the only way we can help you out.

2. EXACTLY how big (or small) you want it in inches tall and wide. 
Get a ruler and measure what you want. Your idea of medium is different than any other person's. Also please note, the more detail in your design the larger it must be tattooed. Even if you want the Mona Lisa on your big toe doesn't mean it's possible to tattoo it at that size and have it last through time.

3. EXACTLY where you want the tattoo.
Body placement effects the cost because it effects the time and difficulty required to do the work. A script name on the ribs will always cost more than on the calf because it is more difficult and time consuming to work on ribs, hips, stomachs, etc. Also certain placements effect how art must be drawn, so for example the art is differently drawn for the inside of the right ankle than the outside of the right ankle. 

ONLY YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR SKIN IS WORTH TO YOU! 

If you only care about getting the lowest price, we wish you luck with that. We think the real issue is that not all tattoo artists are created equal in terms of the quality of the art or the time they put into the piece. Given our studio does one cover up of poor work nearly every day you can imagine the number of unskilled people out there.
We want to give you a beautiful, professional tattoo but just like everyone else we have to cover our bills. A tattoo's cost covers more than just the artist's skill. It includes rent, utilities, credit card processing fees, insurance, receptionist costs, photo copies, needles, ink, bandages, ink caps, rinse cups, disinfectants, disposable barriers, stencils, razors, paper work, custodial cleaning, furniture, equipment and on and on and on.

If YOU wouldn't be enthusiastic about taking a steep pay cut for what you do for a living, you'd have to wonder why anyone would even ask yet we have people regularly demand free products and services from us. You can imagine how you'd feel if your boss asked the same of you. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. We hope it helps explain the differences in pricing.
The Dark Horsemen 


 

July Fun

July is turning out to be a great month. We're busy churning out beautiful tattoos and piercings. We are pleased to be staring two full back pieces, a full sleeve and some other very large body sets.

We have our eye on the company's seventh anniversary in October. Any ideas on how to celebrate? Let us know!

Phoenix Digital media is promoting us during game nights. If you stop by for a glow in the dark Jenga game you might also win a goodie from us. Check out Phoenix Digital Media on Facebook for more details.

See you soon!

The Dark Horsemen

Hello World

July 4th the shop will be closed in honor of Independence Day. July 5th we'll have reduced hours of 2pm to 8pm.

We'll be at RFK stadium taking in the Foo Fighters.

Koi Fish

Koi fish are actually Chinese in origin and koi means " carp". Koi were introduced to Japan and today are a modern pricy hobby with some rare colors and patterns costing thousands of Yen. 

Koi tattoos can can also make wonderful cover up tattoos. They have excellent visual impact and interesting body positions. Lots of pop and drama can go into a koi fish tattoo.

Indeed the koi fish is very popular in Asia as show pieces of wealth. Some businessmen house koi in private aquarium facilities to hide the expense from their wives who traditionally determine all family financial expenditures.

In art the koi are pictured with certain floral elements to represent the season. Maple leaves indicate fall and cherry blossoms indicate spring. The fish come in most colors including black, yellow, red, orange, blue, white and calico varieties. 

Koi fish are also associated with dragons. Legend has it one in several thousand fish will ascend to the sky as a dragon when they swim past a certain point in a particular river named after dragons.

Some loosely based meanings of koi fish in art include courage, loyalty and being a samurai warrior. The are generally considered lucky and to have the power to absorb negativity. For this reason goldfish are often kept in office cubicles as pets of workers.

Cat loves doing koi fish tattoos and dragon-koi tattoos. From the realistic to the cartoony, from grey tones, to realistic colors to candy land color bombs, we like working on these interesting, adaptable fish.

Mother's Day

As a reminder, DHT will be closed May 10th, Mother's Day. Please plan accordingly.

Thanks!

The Darkhorsemen

Spring-a-Ling

We at Dark Horse Tattoos have been enjoying the tremendous loyalty and respect of our clients. This month alone we received as gifts from our clientelle: Dark Horse Wine (Red & white), Dark Horse Beer, German chocolate, venison, plants and even furniture. We are blessed! Thank you Lorraine, Jennifer & Gabe, Steve K., Kathy and Larry.

Have you been in the market for a new piercing or jewelry? Remember, summer is around the corner and high end manufacturers are gearing up with amazing new offerings. Whisper in Electric Steve's ear if you want to get something shiny and precious.

We love cover ups here at Dark Horse! We want to fix your bad tattoo but you have to swing by with an idea of what you might prefer and we'll see what we can do! Just a heads up, you can't get an appointment for a cover up without visiting us first.

Respectfully,

The Dark Horsemen

Spring

Here at Dark Horse Tattoos in beautiful Stafford, Virginia, we have been enjoying some wonderful new projects. Thank you for your patronage! 

If you you have been thinking of a new tattoo or body piercing, we invite you to check out our tattoo studio located next to 2BTan, the 610 Car Wash, Vinny's Pizza, and Sherwin Williams.

Price Shopping

Please understand tattoo pricing is best done IN PERSON.

• Please bring PRINT OUTS of what you want. A teeny picture on your cell phone isn't helpful.

• We can't "guess" how much a tattoo is based on a verbal or written descriptions. We need to either see a single picture or collection of reference photos.

• We need to know WHERE on your body you want it, how big (tall and wide) in inches, whether you want color or shading and every detail about how you want it to look.

• We only draw custom art AFTER you put down a nonrefundable $50 deposit.

• Please understand our minimum cost is $60 for a tattoo.

2015

I'm pleased to welcome the New Year at DHT. We had such a wonderful 2014 and are looking forward to a wonderful new life at our new studio location (395 Garrisonville Rd., Unit 103, Stafford, VA 22554).

Holiday Hours

Thanksgiving Day -Closed

Black Friday -Closed

Christmas Eve -Closed

Christmas -Closed

New Year's Eve -Closing at 5:30pm

New Year's Day -Closed

We will hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season! Be aware we do not open during severe inclement weather so if the roads are bad, give a call before you drive!

The Dark Horsemen Read More

Comedy

Next we checked out comedian Ralphie May at the Richmond Funny Bone. He put on a great show and we had a ball. While at the show we met two of InkMaster's Season 2 contestants: new school expert Jessie Smith of Loose Screw and Lalo Yunda.

It was fun!

Catch ya soon!

The Dark Horsemen Read More

Autumn Awesomeness