Tattoos are an important part of everyone’s life. Everyone sees their tattoo differently and desires a high-quality result. So, the most important thing in this case is to select the right design and a professional tattoo artist who will assist you in putting all of your ideas into action.
The city of San Antonio is the second most popular city in the state of Texas, after Houston. It has a lot of tattoo studios and artists, but you need to be sure of their professionalism. Therefore, we have prepared for you a list of the best tattoo artists in San Antonio and the top 5 tattoo studios that are famous for their work and service.
Best Tattoo Artists In San Antonio
Let’s take a look at the 10+ best tattoo artists in San Antonio based on our research. Scroll down to see their portfolios and get ready to book an appointment.
Mattia Bretti — Best in Black & Grey Realism
Danny Smith has been tattooing since 1992. During this time he has tried many styles, as you can see from his portfolio, but is now working and developing further in the cover-up, watercolor, black & grey, and color styles. With over 30 years of tattoo machine experience, he has won many tattoo awards and continues to delight his clients with beautiful works.
Samantha Menchaca — The Best Portrait Tattoo Artist In San Antonio
Samantha Menchaca began painting as a child before she began writing. Her mother inspired her love of painting, and she became involved in the tattoo industry thanks to her cosmetology teacher, who was a tattoo artist (mostly performing permanent makeup) and advised Samantha to learn something new.
Samantha has been creating tattoos in the neo-traditional style for six years now, and she especially enjoys working with portraits. She considers it an honor to create a portrait of someone you care about and wish to preserve the memory alive for a long time.
Eddie Ayala — The Best in Custom Lettering Tattoos
Eddie Ayala has been a tattoo artist for almost seven years. His style is influenced by traditional Japanese tattooing, however, he currently mostly focuses on custom lettering and black & grey styles. Apart from tattoos, Eddie enjoys enormous canvas paintings and graffiti art. According to his words, he simply adores all forms of art.
Augie Stakes — The Best Black and Gray Tattoo Artist in San Antonio
Augie Stacks is a tattoo artist who specializes in black and grey realism and color realism, among other things. All thanks to the fact that he’s been perfecting his skills in the art since he was a kid. It started with observing and drawing people on paper, and then, around 2004, he began working as an apprentice at a tattoo studio. Apprenticing with other artists and starting his career as a tattoo artist, Augie quickly learned everything he needed to know about working in the industry.
Now, with so much experience, he’s doing incredible sketches, and he will be especially pleased if you have large-scale ideas that he can do in black & grey or color styles.
Veks Rene Martinez — The Most Versatile Tattoo Artist
Veks Renee Martinez has been tattooing for more than ten years. His portfolio is truly impressive due to the wide variety of his works, which includes traditional style, black & grey, lettering, blackwork tattoos, and others.
Veks can also paint your sneakers and show you a collection of his cool stickers and paintings in addition to body art. He is one of those people who live and breathe art. Currently, he is open four days a week, so make an appointment with him in advance.
Rooster Robinson — The Most Impressive Realistic Works
Rooster Robinson has been in the tattoo world for almost three decades and in that time has mastered the realism style to perfection. You can find both Coloured and Black & Grey tattoos in his portfolio. He is a master of his craft and the best realistic tattoo artist in San Antonio. We can claim this because, for example, if you are a woman after a , Rooster will bring back the beauty of your breasts with the help of ink and a tattoo machine (he does realistic nipples after they have been removed after surgery). In his spare time from tattooing, he paints, draws, and designs photo shoots as a body painter.
Gary Graves — The Maestro of Color Realism
Gary Graves is not only a tattoo artist, but also the owner of a tattoo studio. He has been in the industry for over three decades and during that time he has learned to listen to clients, pay attention to detail, and create tattoos that his clients have described to him. Visitors comment that his place is very clean and cozy, and his uncompromising attitude and professionalism keep them coming back for more tattoos. The portfolio mostly features tattoos in color and realistic styles, and they are simply stunning.
Travis Wilkerson — The Most Expressive Watercolor Works
Travis Wilkerson was born in Richmond, Virginia, but has lived in Texas for the past seven years. He has always liked art, and it has brought him happiness throughout his entire life. He plays the drums and has been professionally tattooing since 2018. “Tattoos,” Travis claims, “are another form of self-expression, and not just because society says so or thinks it’s cool.” His work is as colorful as he is, and he is proficient in watercolor, colored realism, and abstract styles.
Jason M Jensen — The Most Diverse Tattoo Designs
Jason M Jensen was born in 1980 in California and relocated to San Antonio in 2006. He attended Cal State Stanislaus and received a Bachelor’s degree in Art, which he is now applying to the field of tattooing. He began tattooing in 2004 and has since developed a specialty in a few techniques. He enjoys working in color, black & grey, dark themes, fantasy themes, comic art, anime, and realism.
Jason grew up in the 80s and loves everything about his childhood, from Transformers to He-Man and Predator to Godzilla. Jason wants to provide a tattoo experience that is safe, comfortable, and personalized, and each client deserves and receives his 110% attention.
Sonia Maria Mendez-Anderson — The Best Flower Tattoo Artist
Sonia Anderson’s career in the tattoo industry began when she was 18 years old. Drawn to the world of tattooing by her father, a tattoo artist, Sonia began working in his tattoo studio. She had intended to use this chance to support her college education, but her thoughts altered during the next three years.
Sonia has honed her abilities, maintained a varied portfolio, and developed a devoted clientele since 1997. She has been painting in watercolor, black & grey, and covering up old tattoos with lovely flowers for almost 25 years, and you can consider her as the best flower tattoo artist in San Antonio. Little fact: she’s been working side-by-side with our next artist all this time.
Steve Owen — The Best Artist in Japanese Style
Steve Owen specializes in black & grey, portrait styles, but he’s known as the best Japanese tattoo artist in San Antonio. He opened his studio in 1997 and has been running the business and honing his skills with ink and needles ever since.
He has always had a passion for art and drawing, but it all started in 1990 when he gave a friend a tattoo for fun. After that he started to realize that he enjoyed it, so he invested in the best equipment he could get in ’91, then quit his job and never looked back. In addition to his experience as a tattoo artist, he has also been doing piercings for over 19 years. Adrenaline Tattoo and Piercing, Steve’s tattoo shop, has weekends in the middle of the work week, so be prepared for this when booking.
Top 5 Tattoo Studios in San Antonio
Since we’ve already talked about specific tattoo artists, let’s take a look at the list of the top 5 tattoo studios in San Antonio. These are the studios with a lot of positive reviews from real clients. By the way, if you suddenly want to do a piercing, most of these studios will be able to do both tattoo and piercing. And maybe at one of these studios, you can get an appointment with one of our best tattoo artists in San Antonio, Texas.
💠 Dandyland Custom Tattoo and Professional Body Piercing
This studio, which is located in San Antonio’s historic Deco District, is well-known not only in the local tattoo and piercing scene but also in the global body modification community. Clients who get their first tattoos here return for more, as Dandyland remains committed to providing high-quality tattoos, piercings, and body jewelry in a safe, pristine, and positive environment. The place is also notable for our artist Travis Wilkerson.
🌀 Twisted Tattoo
This studio is known for quality ink for any tattoo, as well as piercings, tattoo removal, cover-ups, and cosmetic tattoos. They offer discounts to active military personnel, nurses, teachers, EMTs, and more.
💚 Adrenaline Tattoo & Body Piercing
The very studio of our artist Steve Owen, as well as his and Sonia Anderson’s place of work. This one opened its doors in 1997 and since then has been delighting its customers with the quality and cost of the work they have done. They have a friendly and helpful team with their principles and approach. For example, one of the rules is that you must be 18 years of age and have a valid ID with you to be able to get in.
➰ Tattoo Maze
Sting or Stinger, the owner of this salon, opened it in 1998. Clients find Sting an easygoing person and are satisfied with both his tattoos and piercings. Sometimes his shop has interesting promotions, such as quick tattoos or a discount for subscribing and reposting on Instagram.
🐯 Element Tattoo
This tattoo studio has been through hardships, but since 2006 has grown from a small team of 4 people to several times its size and now provides its clients with a large selection of tattoo styles performed by professionals.
Summary
We hope now with our list of the 10+ best tattoo artists in San Antonio, TX, you’re convinced there’s talent here. Masters with a lot of experience like Danny Smith, Gary Graves, and Steve Owen are ready to bring any of your ideas to life on your skin.
Also, walk-in for tattoos and piercings at one of the top 5 tattoo studios in San Antonio, where you’ll have a pleasant (well, aside from the needle) time and maybe meet one of the artists we mentioned above.
FAQ
⭐ Who Is the Best Tattoo Artist in San Antonio, Texas?
If we count by the number of awards, active portfolio updating, and publicity, we can distinguish such tattoo masters: Samantha Menchaca, Veks Renee Martinez, Jason M Jensen, and Sonia Anderson.
☯ Who Is the Best Black and Grey Tattoo Artist in San Antonio?
We have several artists who have perfected their work in this style to mastery, and they include Samantha Menchaca, Veks Renee Martinez, Jason M Jensen, and Sonia Anderson..
💃 Who Is the Best Female Tattoo Artist in San Antonio TX?
In terms of work experience and years, it’s Sonia Anderson. She does cool cover-ups and floral tattoos and has been in the industry for over 25 years. However, when it comes to awards and being more active on social media, it’s Samantha Menchaca. Although, compared to Sonia, she doesn’t have much experience, however, she actively participates in contests and often updates her portfolio with neo-traditional tattoos and realistic portraits.
💸 How Much Does It Cost To Get a Tattoo in San Antonio?
Generally, you can find reliable painters in any price range from $150 to $200 per hour; however, some may charge less or more. You can also use our calculator to determine the average cost of your future tattoo (you can choose the size and style here).
