01Recent work
Out of the room
A cross-section of what the crew has been sitting on lately. Every photograph here is work done at this studio.
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Spartan warrior half sleeve in black and grey, with a Greek key border running round the shoulder. -
Full colour clown girl on the calf: red hair, painted face and a string of beads, packed with saturated colour. -
Memorial piece for Cujo: a realistic dog portrait in a mortarboard, paw prints, name and dates in blackletter. -
Armoured angel with a sword running the length of the forearm, detailed plate work in black and grey. -
Black and grey Medusa with a Scorpio glyph. Soft greywash in the skin, hard blacks in the hair. -
Chicano style portrait, all greywash. Smooth gradients like this are where the hours go. - 14 pieces in the portfolio See more work
02The feed
The feed is the front window
New work, flash days and open spots go up on Instagram and Facebook first. If you want to see what the crew is working on, or catch a flash day before the designs are gone, follow along there.
Or go straight to your artist
03Styles
What we actually do well
Rather than list every style that exists, here are the ones we can show you finished work in. If what you want is not on this list, ring us and ask. We will tell you straight if it is not our strength.
- 01 Black and grey Greywash, heavy blacks and the patience to build a gradient that still reads in ten years.
- 02 Colour and traditional Solid colour, bold outlines and the kind of saturation that still looks like something from across a room.
- 03 Fine line Thin, precise linework, and a straight answer about how small a design can go before it stops being readable.
- 04 Script and lettering Names, dates and quotes, set and spaced so they read cleanly at arm's length and stay that way.
04The studio
Licensed, clean, not precious about it
- Established
- 2011
- It is painted on the wall.
- Google rating
- 5.0
- From 92 reviews.
- Days a week
- 6
- Walk-ins Monday to Saturday.
- NSW licence
- 011131
- Ask any studio for theirs.
- Licensed in NSW
- Southside Tattoo holds NSW operator licence number 011131. Body art tattooing in this state is licensed through NSW Police, and a studio that will not tell you its number is telling you something.
- Single-use needles, every time
- Needles come out of a sealed single-use pack in front of you and go straight into a sharps container afterwards. Anything that penetrates the skin is sterile before it is used, and the premises is registered with Shellharbour City Council as required.
- You see the drawing first
- Nothing goes on skin until you have seen the design and the stencil is sitting where you want it. If the placement is not right, we move it. That is a normal part of the appointment, not an imposition.
05The crew
Some of the crew
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Adam Paterson
Artist and owner
Works across colour, black and grey and cover-ups, and takes on a lot of the studio's larger multi session pieces.
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Glenn Phipps
Artist
Colour and black and grey work, including large scale pieces and portrait style subjects.
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Skye Gallagher
Artist
Fine line, botanical and illustrative work, and black and grey animal and portrait pieces.
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Brad
Artist
Clean, precise linework across a wide range of subjects, and the artist most often named in the studio's reviews.
06Word of mouth
What people say afterwards
His attention to detail is outstanding and the new premises looks and feels bright, inviting and had a good vibe.
07Where people come from
Ten minutes from most of the Illawarra
- Albion Park the studio
- Albion Park Rail 2.3 km
- Oak Flats 4.3 km
- Flinders 7.4 km
- Barrack Heights 7.7 km
- Warilla 8.1 km
- Shell Cove 8.3 km
- Dapto 8.7 km
- Shellharbour 8.8 km
- Horsley 9.3 km
- Windang 9.5 km
- Lake Illawarra 9.5 km
- Kiama 13.3 km
- Wollongong 19.5 km
We are a single studio on Tongarra Rd, not a chain, so there is no branch nearer to you than this one. Most of our customers drive in from around Shellharbour and the lake, and a fair few come down from Wollongong or up from Kiama for a particular artist.
Distances are straight-line from 155 Tongarra Rd, as the crow flies.
08Common questions
Before you book
Do I need a booking or can I just walk in?
Walk-ins are welcome at Southside Tattoo, but a booking means one of our artists is set aside for you rather than fitted in around the day. You can book by phone on <a href="tel:+61242578288">(02) 4257 8288</a>, in person at 155 Tongarra Rd, or by DM on Instagram @southside.tattoo. For anything larger or more detailed, booking ahead is the better bet.
How does the custom design process work?
You talk through the idea with your artist first, covering style, size and where it is going on your body. They then draw up the design ahead of your appointment, and there is usually a chance to see it and talk through any changes before the needle starts. Every artist works a little differently, so ask them directly what their process looks like.
Do you do cover-ups?
Yes, cover-up work is something our artists do regularly. Bring in a photo of the existing tattoo, or come and show us in person, so your artist can talk you through what will and will not work over the top of it.
Can I bring someone with me?
Bringing a support person along is fine, especially for a first tattoo or a longer session. Keep in mind the studio is a working space, so check with us on the day if you are planning on bringing more than one or two people.
Tell us what you are thinking about
Send through the idea, roughly where on your body it is going and how big you are picturing it. If you have reference images, mention them and we will ask you to bring them in. For anything urgent, ring the shop.
- Ring the shop
- (02) 4257 8288
- Open
- Mon to Fri 10:00 to 5:00pm
Sat 10:00 to 4:00pm, Sun closed