Nova Tattoo & Art

I just got my first tattoo with James today and it was a wonderful experience! He’s really chill and has an awesome style that is unlike any other. He also worked rather quickly which was nice. Very easy to talk to as well. See the tattoo I just got today! I will absolutely be coming back to him.

Great experience. James worked with some rough ideas I had and came up with an incredible tattoo. Super happy with it, I’d recommend him to anyone

Unprofessional. I've told this story to so many friends and other tattoo artists and everyone says the same thing. Leave the review, make him take accountability. Let me start by saying I asked for a full sleeve that included a portrait of my deceased dog, various colours and nature accents throughout the sleeve. This is a very sentimental piece I'm willing to drop thousands on and work with the artist on creating something special. And I thought I found the artist when I followed James 2 years ago. Every time I found another artist I always came back to Nova's profile, especially because he came recommended by a friend. First off he texts instead of emailing... I found that weird. But I let it slide and sent him photos of my dog for reference. I sent a few that really honored her personality, she was a very serious pup. But he wanted a picture of her smiling instead or else he wouldn't do the tattoo. Let me tell you the initial response to my dogs photos, "do you have a clear well lit portrait of her smiling? If not I'll probably have to pass on this one." Then 20 minutes after reading that saddening text he sends me what looks like a filter of my dog's face and some random black brush strokes. Not what I had asked for... I was already feeling uneasy about this whole consultation but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and told him it's a good start but I'd send him more photos of her smiling. I literally had to dig for these photos one was on film originally. I asked him specifically if they were any better and the dude ghosts me. This was on September 5th. Days pass and I assumed he's passing on the tattoo, like he had said. So I started looking for other artists. Ones that show excitement for tattooing my soul dog. Flash forward 3 weeks, September 27th, I'm flipping through Instagram stories and see Nova is at the Tattoo Expo. I think that's cool for him and look at his promoted flash. And smack dab in the middle of all his flash work is that filtered picture of my dead dog. MY HEART DROPPED! The idea of my soul dog tattooed on someone else literally would kill me. Let me remind you, he left me on read. He never said he wanted to do this Tattoo, but he's using my dog's image to promote his work. I texted him a stern text about how I'm not his client and he needs to delete my dog's photos immediately. Then he gaslights me. "Sure thing, I'm sorry you feel that way - I was excited about going this great tattoo✅" word for word with the misspelling. I was furious. I texted him again about his unprofessional behavior and poor communication skills. Still no apology or accountability from him so far. The tattoo artists I've told this story too are the ones who really encouraged me to post this review because you need to sell yourself too not just your skills in this industry. You're permanently putting sentimental art on people's bodies forever. Do you really want that person to look at that tattoo for the rest of their life and remember "that artist was a jerk". I really hope James will take this as a learning moment to work on his professionalism, communication, and sensitivity skills with his future clients.