Middle Village Tattoo is a three-person team with different artistic strengths and a shared approach to clear planning, careful execution, and straightforward client communication.
Marco founded Middle Village Tattoo after years of working around New York and wanting to build something closer to the Queens neighborhoods where he grew up. He is especially interested in custom black and grey work, larger compositions, and projects where several visual references need to be turned into one cohesive tattoo. Outside the shop, he still keeps a small sketchbook with him and has a habit of drawing storefronts, old signs, and streetscapes he notices around Queens.
Nina focuses on fineline tattoos, botanical subjects, small custom illustrations, and designs that depend on careful editing rather than heavy visual weight. She grew up in Queens and first became interested in tattooing through illustration and printmaking. She is known around the shop for spending extra time adjusting tiny spacing decisions that most people would never notice until two versions are placed side by side.
Luis works heavily in black and grey, portrait-focused tattooing, and shaded pieces where light and dark values carry most of the image. A longtime New Yorker, he became interested in portrait drawing through pencil studies of family photographs before moving into tattooing. He keeps folders of lighting references and often asks portrait clients for several photos so he can understand a face beyond a single image.
We do not divide clients into people who know tattooing and people who do not. Some clients can describe line weight, contrast, and composition in detail. Others say, "I like this picture, but I want it to feel more like me." Both are workable. Our job is to translate the idea into practical decisions about size, placement, style, and appointment structure.
The team also talks to each other. When a project better fits another artist's strengths, we would rather point it in the right direction than force every tattoo through the same person. That keeps the work varied while giving clients access to the part of the team that makes the most sense for the project.
Read more about the company on our About Us page, or see the services we provide.
Have a reference image, an old tattoo you want to change, or just the beginning of an idea? Send us the details and we can talk through the next step.
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