INKSTONE Book a consult
Est. 2014 — Lower East Side, New York Four chairs · One guest · No televisions

Inkstone

Permanent work for particular people

A four-chair basement shop on Orchard Street that does one thing at the highest level available: tattoos that still read as intentional in thirty years. Bold lines, honest counsel about what your skin will and won't hold, and the patience to tell you no. We turn down work every week. That's the service.

HoursTue–Sat 12–20 · Sun walk-ins
Shop minimum$180
Address97 Orchard St, Basement
On the wallFlash Sheet №7 — 6 of 8 open
Walk-ins every Sunday 12–18 Cash takes 10% off 18+ with photo ID, no exceptions Flash Sheet №7 on the wall now July guest: Inés Duarte — Lisbon No names of people you're still dating
Drawn in-house — one per customer, then retired

Flash Sheet №7

Eight one-offs for summer 2026. Each design is tattooed exactly once, then crossed off the wall — the sheet is the edition.

Hover or tap any piece to see its stencil — the transfer we'd press to your skin.

01
Third-Eye Dagger
9×16 cm · $340ST.01
02
Patience
12×12 cm · $380ST.01
03Claimed 06.19
Ma Rose
8×9 cm · $260ST.04
04
Homeward Swallow
10×7 cm · $280ST.02
05
Death's-Head Moth
11×10 cm · $360ST.02
06
Providence
8×8 cm · $300ST.03
07Claimed 06.27
Drop the Anchor
9×13 cm · $320ST.04
08
Lucky Cherries
6×6 cm · $220ST.04
Prices include the piece, the placement consult and one free touch-up inside 90 days. Claimed pieces stay on the wall, crossed out. Out of respect.
The chairs — numbered since the day we opened

The Stations

Every artist owns a numbered station and everything that leaves it. Book the person, not the shop.

  1. Vera Okafor

    American traditional. Bold will hold — daggers, panthers and roses your grandkids will still be able to read. Drew Sheet №7's dagger and snake.

    $220/hrCustom min $180
    Books open 08.01
  2. Danny "Two Crows" Reyes

    Fine-line black & grey, single needle. Portraits of the living only — he says the dead deserve a painter, not a deadline.

    $250/hr3-hr session min
    Waitlist only
  3. Mika Sørensen

    Japanese bodywork by project — sleeves, backs, gap sessions to finish what another shop abandoned. Expect a two-hour consult before any needle.

    $2,400/dayProjects only
    Books close 07.15
  4. Paulie Gennaro

    Script, flash and your first tattoo. Twenty-two years in, still the calmest hands in the room and the person we trust with the nervous ones.

    Shop min $180Flash as marked
    Sundays · no list
  5. Guest Chair — Inés Duarte

    July 9–27, from Toca Tinta, Lisbon. Ornamental blackwork: collars, sternum pieces, hand-ruled geometry. Flash only, $300 flat, email the shop.

    $300 flatFlash only
    07.09 – 07.27
From email to healed skin

How it
goes

Five steps, no mystery. Most custom pieces run one consult, one deposit and one sitting. Sleeves and backs are a relationship — plan on months, not weekends.

  1. The consult

    Free, twenty minutes, Thursdays 14–18 or by email. Bring references, bring the placement you actually want, and bring the truth about your pain tolerance — ribs are a different conversation than a forearm.

  2. The deposit

    $150 holds your date and comes off the final price. Reschedule free twice with 48 hours' notice; the third time it becomes a donation to the drawing fund. No-shows start over.

  3. The stencil

    Drawn to your body the day of, pressed on, checked in the long mirror. One full redraw is free and offered without attitude. If it isn't right, it doesn't go on you — that rule has no exceptions.

  4. The chair

    Sessions cap at six hours with breaks every ninety minutes. Eat a real meal first, skip the aspirin and the hangover. Headphones are fine; a supportive friend is fine; an audience is not.

  5. The healing

    Sealed under Saniderm for four days, printed aftercare card in your pocket, and a free touch-up inside 90 days. After that, the tattoo is yours to look after — sunscreen is the whole secret.

House rules — posted at the door since 2014

If it won't read at ten feet in ten years, we redraw it.

Rule 01

No numbing cream

It swells the skin and blurs the line, and the line is the whole job. If the pain is the dealbreaker, pick a smaller piece — we'll help you scale it honestly.

Rule 02

No current partners' names

Mothers, yes. Children, yes. Dogs, always. The person you met in March — come back when it's been a decade and we'll do it in our best script, free hand, no judgment.

Rule 03

No copying custom work

Screenshots of another artist's custom tattoo get a polite no and a counter-offer: we'll draw you something in the same spirit that belongs to you alone.

Rule 04

Yes, it hurts

That's the receipt. Anyone selling you a painless tattoo is selling you a faint one. We'll pace the session, hold the line and get you through it — that part we promise.

The basement on Orchard

Find us

Ring the bell marked with the triangle. If the red light over the door is on, a session is in progress — give it a minute.

Hours

MonClosed — machines rest
Tue12:00 – 20:00
Wed12:00 – 20:00
Thu12:00 – 20:00 · consults 14–18
Fri12:00 – 20:00
Sat12:00 – 20:00
Sun12:00 – 18:00 walk-ins

Closed Dec 24 – Jan 2. The needles take a holiday too.

Rates

Shop minimum$180
Hourly (ST.01–02)$220 – $250
Day rate (ST.03)$2,400
Flash Sheet №7$220 – $380
Deposit$150, applied
Touch-up ≤ 90 daysFree

Cash takes 10% off. Tips go whole to your artist.

The door

97 Orchard St, Basement New York, NY 10002
F to Delancey · J/M/Z to Essex
Between Broome & Delancey

Reach us

We answer email Tue–Fri. The phone rings in the shop — if we're tattooing, we're not picking up.