Old City Tattoo

Great experience with Joel Lee Tattoo. Professional, talented, clean and honest. Good rates. Quality art. Highly recommend.

Joel is an incredible artist and was a consummate professional . His studio is so aesthetically pleasing, clean and Covid cautious with just a GREAT vibe!!! It’s an honour to adorn my body with A custom piece by Joel. Positively gushing over my new tattoo!!

People disregard Mike K review, this guy has his head somewhere else but his shoulders.. I have had Tats done from all over the world, Joel is #1.

Joel is amazing. Very friendly and professional. I am in the process of getting a full sleeve from him containing some tricky cover-ups. After my first appointment I knew I picked the right artist. Incredibly skilled and talented, I wouldn't trust anyone else for the job. Highly recommend.

For my first two tattoos i want to thank Joel for doing an amazing job and making it easy for me , very personal and kind person, once again thank you .

Amanda did my mother and I's tattoo #flashforfoodShe was extremely kind and made sure we were comfortable. Will absolutely be recommending her to others!

Unbelievable artist, I cannot recommend Joel enough. If you are looking for quality work, look no further than Joel Lee Tattoo

I can't recommend this artist and I'm writing this review as a caution for others.Me and my partner had a consultation to discuss small anniversary designs and during the consult I talked to him about working the anniversary design into a larger piece for myself. He was positive and we all seemed to be on the same page. We discussed many things and I showed him a picture of what I was kind of looking for but of course wanted his own spin on the final design. He liked the idea and asked us to email the picture to him for reference. He asked me for an art fee" promising a custom piece and we left with very positive energy from the consult.When we showed up for the appointment though it was clear he was totally unprepared and had remembered almost nothing from the consult. All he was prepared to do was our anniversary designs and said it was too late in the day to start my other piece. He said there was a communication breakdown between his booking office. I wasn't very happy about this as I told him during our consult I wanted the anniversary design to be a part of my piece and not 2 separate pieces tied together at a later date.The more we talked the more things went sour. He became defensive and his ego bruised. The old "I'm a professional artist" reference came out and he started talking about how simple my piece is and how he has pre-drawn up templates he could "slap on"(His words) and it really isn't that hard or long to do. That he could do it in such a way that would connect it to my anniversary design. That may be true but it wasn't what we talked about during the consult nor what I paid an art fee for. I wanted the anniversary design to be a part of one piece. Not worked into at a later date. He didn't remember any of this. It was like our consult never took place and I wonder if he never went back to his notes until the day of our apt.At this point neither party was feeling very positive about things so we agreed not to tattoo that day and pushed it to a couple days later. After me and my partner got home and digested what just happened we decided it was probably one of the most unprofessional experiences we've ever had and that we didn't want to deal with him further. We canceled our appointments and washed our hands of the whole experience. He walked away with my art fee without ever having done a thing."

Absolutely incredible experience! When no other tattoo shop in Nanaimo bothered to call me back, I found Joel Lee Tattoo by accident and seriously I am so glad I did. The man is not only amazing at what he does with his skills and art, but really gets to the root of why the tattoo, it's detail and takes pride in his work. Super easy to talk with and easily understands what a person wants. I can honestly say I will not go anywhere else. Joel Lee Tattoo is the place to go if you want a REAL Art piece to your body.Thanks Joel! Looking forward to next session!BrentThe Brent Owen Magic Show