Heroes & Ghosts

I ALWAYS trust the staff at Heroes and Ghosts. They produce nothing but great work and I don’t have enough good things to say about the place. The work areas are always clean, and with seven full time artists, it’s easy to find an artist who can make your tattoo a reality.
I recently stopped in four my fourth piece and worked with Nick since my previous artist Elliot moved back to Boston. A bit skeptical, after seeing his portfolio and the design he made for me, I know I can trust him to continue to do great work for me in the future.
The process itself was one of the easiest I’ve experienced so far, and Nick made sure I was comfortable before doing anything. His crisp line work and tasteful shading techniques will keep me coming back for sure. A+

went here for my 1^st tattoo — just walked in. Didn’t have to wait long at all to be seen. Tattoo was $ 80 or $ 100, can’t remember it was almost a year ago. Took under 15 minutes, didn’t feel a thing! Good first tattoo experience. Some of the letters don’t have straight lines and that bothers me but not enough where I don’t like my tattoo.

Got my first tattoo there from Josh. I’m actually really upset about it. It was three words in very simple script on the flat part of my wrist and it is really jacked up. I know no tattoo is perfect but god it’s bad. There are three i’s all of them are different, all the letters are different heights including two crooked l’s right next to each other. I’ve tried to move my skin around to see if there is any way to look at it so that it didn’t look wacky but there isn’t. I went in to have him look at it and he was very rude the second time around and didn’t say there was anything wrong with it although people say it’s very clearly crooked. After I gave him a huge tip the first time around. So if I could take it all back and go somewhere else I would. I really regret it.

My wife got her first tattoo today. Greg put her at ease. Did an excellent job. Will return.

I came all the way from Hawaii back home to see Charles and have some work done and he definitely did not disappoint. I will never go to anyone else after seeing and experiencing his craft. Made the experience so relaxing and a total professional.

Love this place. Had two tattoos done, one by Greg and one by Ish. Greg also touched up a finger tat for me. Highly recommend it, especially in a competitive area like Richmond.

It seems like a hit and miss at this place. I came in here for a tattoo for myself and another with my cousin.
Half the guys here are really nice and friendly, the other half aren’t as friendly and are even a little rude. Just not very good vibes from them.
My tattoo was a quote along the backside of the ribs and it looks fine other than a couple minor places where the letters look off. My cousin’s tattoo was a Celtic motif and it’s not very well done. Parts of the line are thicker where it’s not supposed to be and it’s quite noticeable.
Both these times were walk-​ins, not appointments, and we both got the same tattoo artist. The other artists told us they were booked up for the day. My guess is that if you want a qualified, experienced artist, you’d have to make an appointment. Otherwise you’re stuck with the guy who nobody has made an appointment with. Nothing personal, but it probably means he’s not as good as the others in the shop. So we were stuck with him both times.
My recommendation for anyone considering Heroes & Ghosts or any tattoo shop is to ask around or research a good, reputable artist and make an appointment with them.

I’ve had two tattoos done by Greg. He’s much nicer and less judgemental than most tattoo artists and while my first one is quite nice, I wish I had never gotten my second one. It’s pretty crooked and has faded greatly. Now I realize that it was simply a bad idea in a bad location, which an experienced artist should have been able to warn me about. I really wish this had been discussed, as it’s part of why you choose and pay an experienced artist. I probably would have gotten the tattoo in a different place but now I have something permanent that an experienced artist should have never done. I guess my advice is– get a few professional opinions first.

I went in to get advice on a finger tattoo. I was told by Ellie that he was one of the only tattoo artists in Richmond that would do finger tattoos (this is not true, almost all do). Ellie did give me some good advice about how risky finger tattoos are and that I should consider putting what I wanted somewhere else on my body. He was not very open to trying something else on my finger. It was either his one interpretation or it was a crappy tattoo. I have researched that you should really listen to your tattoo artist so I appreciated his honesty. I decided to pass.
I called around and found another tattoo parlor that was also honest but WAY more collaborative and open minded. I think the artist at Heroes & Ghosts just didn’t have the skill but didn’t want to say so. He could have just told me to find a different artist that worked with smaller needles. He seemed to have a preconceived notion that because it was my only tattoo that I was too «square» to handle a tattoo. He seemed offended. The tattoo had a very specific meaning to me and I would not have gotten it for any other reason. I am glad I passed on working with them.

I highly recommend Heroes & Ghosts. Especially one of their artists, Charles B. Charles was recommended to me when I was looking for an artist to do a paw print for me, as a memorial. I showed him a ceramic impression done by the vet, and he turned that into a very special tattoo. I am attaching a picture. (Charles is VERY good at script, so if you want a word or message, he is your guy!)
My second tattoo by Charles is still in progress. I took him a very small picture of a leaf to show him the shape I wanted. He turned that into an extremely creative back and upper arm piece (still in progress). Again, I will attach a picture.
If you are looking for a cheap shop, with carbon copied stencils on the wall where you just pick one, this is not the shop for you.
If you want an original, permanent piece of art, then go see the guys at Heroes & Ghosts.

My tattoo is pretty messed up

This place is amazing. Absolutely amazing. I am 16 years old and just got my tattoo done here by Greg French (also known as Gfresh) and he was fantastic. He calmed me down, held a great conversation, and his work is positively amazing. This definitely deserves all 5 stars and I will recommend to all friends who are looking for a tattoo.
The two negative reviews no longer apply to this store, as they no longer do piercings and the tattoo artist that was so terrible has been gone for two years. So there really isn’t any negativity about this shop at all.
As for the shop, it is clean, organized, and has a very welcoming atmosphere. All of the employees are kind and ready to answer any questions you may have.
Price does change depending on what kind of tattoo you want, how big it is, color, etc which is expected of a good tattoo parlor.

I enjoyed my time getting my leg piece done and that is saying a lot since it was a 5 hour appointment.
To start, I had an idea for a dinosaur landscape. I took a photo in to the shop and spoke to a guy. I explained my idea and he said, «have a seat and look over these portfolios». Their concept is that you are not scheduled with the next person available; you are scheduled with the artist that you select based off the portfolios. What an excellent idea?!
It turns out that I selected the artist I spoke to when I walked in. We discussed my idea further and he said in a few days he would have a drawing made up.
So the day of the scheduled tattoo… it went by almost completely painless. His drawing was 100% what I had pictured in my mind. I adjusted one small item, a small tree in the back ground. He had it as a pine and I wanted more of a fern. He made the adjustment by hand instead of recreating the whole stencil.
I can’t describe the technique used for the different shades of colors because I am naïve but I will say that the artist was able to create bright, vivid colors. He added multiple shades of blues and purples throughout the tattoo.
The whole experience was completely stress free and an enjoyable time. Everyone there was very friendly. They were not stuck on themselves and didn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all. The only weird part of the whole thing was that the artist assistant told that she did not believe in dinosaurs. Don’t get me wrong, I am not putting her down for her thought but it was a weird thing to say to someone who is covering their left leg with pictures of multiple species.
I added a photo for reference on the quality of their work.

Recently got a piece done by Ish at Heroes and Ghosts. It turned out fantastically. He paid a lot of attention to detail, and was very attentive. It was my first tattoo and I was at ease (well, as much as one can be during a tattoo) the whole time. Strongly recommend if you’re looking for something detailed and a fun atmosphere. The place was clean but easygoing and I loved every moment.

I don’t know why this shop doesn’t have more reviews here, and everyone should know the people here were great!
I walked in here yesterday afternoon wanting a straight forward addition to my working collection. The artist on duty let me know that he was busy, but had some free time at the end of the night.
I returned in the early evening, and Freeman worked up a great design from my request/​description. He had a great vision for the size and detail, and i couldn’t be happier with the result. A Professional, straight forward and amazing experience.
I will be back, without hesitation.

Greg «G-​Fresh» French the artist and owner of the shop is very professional. He did my sons portrait and he did some old school work as well. He is one of the Best artist I have encountered in 13 years of collecting skin art. The shop is in beautiful shopping district of carytown. The shop itself always has good people and great art on the walls. I suggest Heros and Ghosts to any and everyone thinking about ink.

My friend and I wandered into Heroes & Ghost’s while strolling through Carytown. She had wanted a lip piercing for a while and they were running a «nice weather special” — they were asking $ 45. We are both from the DC-​metro area, where any significant piercing rarely runs under $ 50, so she decided to do it.
The shop itself is clean, spacious, and inviting. The waiting area appears very polished and professional, with artist portfolios laid out on the counter and work hung on the walls.
I accompanied my friend into the piercing room, and while on the small side, appeared the same as the rest of the shop– clean and professional.
Tom, the piercer, prepped all the instruments and properly sanitized everything that needed to be sanitized– both my friend and I have had multiple piercings done in other tattoo shops and knew what to expect. The real problems began after Tom pierced my friend’s lip with the hollow needle. The needle was very long– much longer than was necessary and probably longer than recommended. It appeared to be at least four inches long, if I had to guess. Tom then appeared to struggle with insertion of the jewelry, and after a few minutes he admitted to us that he had pulled the needle out of the freshly pierced hole before he had put the jewelry all the way through. He then told my friend that he would only be charging her 50% of the original $ 45. He continued to struggle with reinserting both the hollow needle and the 16 mm stud for a few awkward minutes. Tom then informed us that because he had lost the hole, he couldn’t successfully insert the jewelry and didn’t want to «tear up [my friend’s] face». He also said that he was new to the shop, and wasn’t «familiar with the old piercer’s tools». He gave my friend cleaning instructions and told her the hole would heal up without scarring, and apologized for the experience.