01
Custom, always
No flash wall, no traced images, no Pinterest translations. Every piece is drawn for the person wearing it — your references in, a drawing that fits your body out.
Eleven years of
drawing.
Inkwell & Iron opened in 2014 above a café on Hoxton Square with two artists, one chair, and a refusal to do anything except custom work. We've grown to four artists and a 3,200-piece archive. The refusal has stayed.
The studio.
47 Hoxton Square is a single room, four chairs, high ceilings, and a window we open when the weather holds. There's no flash wall, no front desk sign-in sheet, no playlist of tattoo-shop rock. Just four artists, two apprentices, and a wall of finished drawings.
We use single-use needles opened in front of you, vegan inks, surgical-grade setup, and barrier film on every surface you touch. The studio is licensed with the local council and inspected annually.
Consults are free, last 30 minutes, and happen in person. We don't quote over email — the drawing has to fit the body, and the body has to be in the room.
— What we stand for
Four rules.
02
Vegan inks, single-use needles
We use Eternal, Dynamic and Solid Black — all vegan, all single-pigment. Needles are opened in front of you and disposed in a sharps bin when we're done.
03
Take our time
We book by the half-day, not the hour. Rushing is how lines wobble. Your piece gets the full session it needs.
04
Honest quotes
Fixed price after the consult. No surprise add-ons. If your budget is tight, we'll tell you which artist or sizing will get you the best work for it.
— A short history
Then & now.
2014
Studio opens
Two artists, 32 square metres above a café on Hoxton Square. First year: 47 pieces, all custom.
2017
Renji joins from Osaka
Brings Irezumi tradition to the studio. Our first full-back piece takes 14 hours across two days.
2019
Move to 47 Hoxton Square
Four chairs, four artists, the studio we've been in ever since. Natural light, high ceilings, no fluorescent tubes.
2021
Ines & Davi join
Ines from Lagos (fine line), Davi from São Paulo (neo-traditional). The studio rounds out to four distinct practices.
2024
3,000+ pieces on skin
We stop counting at the wall and start a digital archive. Guest artists begin visiting quarterly.
— Inside 47 Hoxton Square
Come see us.
The studio is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11 to 8. Walk-ins are welcome to look at drawings — tattoos are by appointment only.