Exile Ink

Had a great experience working with Ray. Not only does he take the time to work with what you want but he also applies his skills to make it above and beyond what you can expect. The realism, style and creativity he puts into his work speaks volumes. I continue to receive so many compliments on his work. It’s great to see an artist so passionate about his work and the true dedication to his customers. Highly recommend and definitely will be going back for any future work to come.RJ

The two artists that work at exile, Ray and Kaitlin, are both incredibly gifted. Rays been working on my sleeve this year and I couldnt be happier. The detail is incredible, the overall artistic vision is perfect.

Ray and Kaitlin are dope. Highly recommended. Great atmosphere. Ray is one of the best in the biz. Hard to match his shadowing. Once he gets excited about a piece, game over.

I highly reccomend Kaitlin , she is amazing ! She’s done 4 of my tattoos now , and each time I can say I’m more and more impressed. She goes above and beyond to make sure you feel comfortable.The shop itself is just a whole vibe , it’s very clean and makes you feel welcomed!I honestly don’t think i’d go elsewhere since finding Kaitlin! Here is my 2 most recently pieces (pictures taken fresh) I mean look at this work 😍😍😍

Exile Ink is probably one of the best shops around. Friendly, professional, and well informed with tattoo design, color palettes, handling, and aftercare.I had a chest piece done by Ray; a down to earth artist who made sure you were comfortable. Hes a elite with designing, choices of colors, and fairly light handed when it came to actually tattooing.The whole experience was worth the price, but the second skin type aftercare was enough to make me go back for my next tattoo! Less worrying about the challenges which comes from aftercare, the second skin type aftercare, you just leave it on for a few days, peel it off and somehow it heals rather quickly, but not fully. I feel like all shops she invest in the type of product!Overall, I would definitely recommend this place to anyone wanting a great tattoo!

EDIT:looking at the other reviews i do believe ray did my tattoos. but he seemed too arrogant to even tell me his name so i cant be sure.honestly, not very impressed all around. i went for a flash event back in october, i go to many in the pittsburgh area. we get to the location, and no line was there so i was pretty stoked. and the studio itself is small but cool and seemed clean. the lady who took down my name was nice. that’s about where the good ends….i got 2 flashes, both colored. the one is fine i guess aside from some weird lines but the spider is just a little wonky. i dont think its “bad” by any means, but it definitely makes me cringe to look at up close. i felt kinda rushed thru the whole thing. the man who did my tattoos was rather rude towards me, he called me “lame” for not having any colored tattoos and just line work (at this point). i have a skin condition that causes my skin to flake and become dry, he made fun of me for that when cleaning my skin. he also made rude comments about my pain tolerance (which is not bad at all, i literally grunted like once), and all in all was just really uncomfortable for me.before i went in he was yelling at this woman to stay still. i get it, u gotta stay still. but dude was yelling at her—if shes moving just stop and let her breathe…i understand its a flash event, but at the very least i would hope the person stabbing a needle in my body a billion times per second would have some professionalism. he was very rude and only had rude things to say. ive never had such an odd and distasteful experience at a flash event or studio in general. i feel like the other artists here r way kinder, seeing how they interacted w their clients and i feel i would have had better things to say ab this place if i had a different artist. sad to say i wont be returning.

Got my 3rd tattoo here done by Kaitlin, work came out perfect and is exactly what I wanted, met Ray and both were very cool. Would for sure get another tattoo here. (Also pictured is before color)

Rays the man. Did a chest piece for me and it turned out better than I ever would have expected. Extremely detailed. Comfortable, fun and friendly atmosphere

I’ve had two pieces done by Kaitlin in the past few months… both very unique and very personally meaningful to me. She is absolutely wonderful and so talented. He r attention to detail is so incredible and she was able to take the vision I described for each tattoo and make it better than I even imagined. Highly recommend!

Loved my experience both times! Ray tattooed my entire left sleeve, hes very upfront about locations of tattoos that will work great or not so great. We both agreed on how far my tat went up my hand due to him informing me they tend to blow out and fade quickly the farther up the fingers they go. I tend to let the artist take the lead on any of my concepts and he definitely did not dissapoint with both of my big pieces! Highly reccomend :)

Exile Ink was recommended to me because of the tattoo artist Rays high level of skill and artistry. He definitely deserves the hype. Ray is kind and welcoming, but also a professional who clearly knows what he is doing. I was nervous to get my first sizable and most visible tattoo, especially because it is dedicated to my grandmother, and is written in her handwriting. Ray did an amazing job. He captured her script perfectly, and it came out even better than I could have ever hoped. He took my rough sketches, and created a cohesive piece of art that I adore. Everyone that have seen my tattoo compliment it and immediately ask who did it. I have since been back, and had another great experience. This time I was able to get a tattoo designed by his apprentice Kaitlin, who is also awesome. The shop has such good vibes, and I will absolutely go back again and again. I could not say enough good things about Exile Ink, and I recommend it to everyone I know.

We have had multiple different services here. Carly is absolutely amazing when it comes to piercings she explains everything in detail and is always a call away if you experience any problems. Angie is absolutely amazing when it comes to semi-permanent makeup, she absolutely transformed my look with her skills! We have multiple sessions booked for tattoo work with Ray and his apprentice Noel has done some amazing work already as well!! This shop is super clean and each and every time you come in, you just feel like youre around friends and family!! Absolutely best shop ever!!

This place is amazing! Very clean, very professional and very caring and considerate! Carly has done about four piercings for me now (more to come) and they’ve all healed amazing, are beautiful and I love them so much! She genuinely cares about all of her clients. She cares about how you are doing before, during and after the piercing. I’m extremely grateful for Carly! She’s very fun, professional and personable. She is extremely knowledgeable and very thorough with her work. She will check out your desired piercing location to see if you have the proper anatomy for the piercing you want- and if you don’t, she is ready with options to help you choose something else if you wish! She never pushes anyone to do anything and always makes sure you are 100% consenting to everything before she does anything. If you are looking for a piercing, or just want a consultation, please see Carly!! You will not regret it. ♥️

Ray at Exile Ink has done several tattoos for me and each time I have been more impressed than the last! The shop is clean, welcoming and professional. Whether you are getting your first tattoo or your 100th you will have a wonderful experience. I know this for a fact because after multiple visits getting my own work done, I sent my brother for his very first tattoo and he had an absolutely fantastic time there and could not be happier with the results. I know a lot of people might be a little intimidated at the thought of going to a tattoo shop for the first time but all the employees at Exile are fun, personable and inviting and a pleasure to spend time with. Ray is a truly talented artist, and every time I bring him an idea he manages to come up with ways to make it better while still fitting my original vision. Years of experience means he knows what works and how to execute whatever it is you have in mind. Bottom line is, he will do you right and you will want to come back for more work as soon as your tattoo is healed!

Exile ink is the ONLY place I will go for tattoo work. Ray is an amazing artist and teacher. He understands the artwork you want and brings it to life. I am working on my 8th session with ray for my sleeve and I get compliments almost on a daily basis. I fully trust rays professionalism and artistry. It is truly been an honor to have my work at exile ink and I would not even consider going elsewhere. All I can say is that the business they run is AMAZING! So happy I found exile ink.

Ray has been my artist for as long as he has been tattooing in Pittsburgh. I am thankful that it was him that designed and tattooed my full sleeve. I feel that he is very creative, passionate, trustworthy, and on top of that an excellent communicator. I wholeheartedly trust his artistic opinion which is why Ive never went to another artist since discovering him. As someone who has a bunch of tattoos, I cant recommend him enough!

I been going to Ray for a couple years now and even followed him from one shop to another! He is meticulous with his work and always has an eye for detail. He can make any tattoo come alive just like a photograph. Also his shop is always clean and he is very easy to get along with. Everyone I have recommended him to is a client for life!

This is the only tattoo artist I’ll use anymore. Amazing designs and very friendly doesn’t matter if you’re a veteran or a first timer

I just went here for my first tattoo! Ray is so great. I was nervous but he made me feel super comfortable. If you’re looking for a clean, relatable and relaxed experience definitely go here!

I’m not going back to Ray. I’m not a fan of the arrogant attitude and the fact that he acted like he was on such a high pedestal but didn’t really produce much of an art piece for me. I just don’t understand how a black and gray half sleeve I have took him over 13 hours to do when I’ve seen other artists do way more intricate and colorful details in a full day session. A lot of it doesn’t add up, but I’m just gonna look for somebody better. I felt like I was bother him the whole time and all he did was bad mouth everyone. Not for me.

I came here to see Carly, who will forever be my piercer, because she’s a professional, clean, and so very sweet. She makes you feel so comfortable and at ease. She had me laughing and smiling the whole time. 100% will always recommend going to her.

My wife just got an awesome tattoo on her left arm. Ray the artist came up with a cool, detailed design. I highly recommend anybody looking for quality to check this place out. The studio is relaxing and the staff is friendly and talented

I had a set of old mall piercings fixed by Kaitlin and she did a great job! One needed to be re-pierced, and the other was tight and needed to be stretched up a bit. It hasnt even been a week and Im planning my next visit.

HeLLo Tattoo shop!Absolutely wonderful owner Ray Marrow.Nice Facebook Profile, and Website.Scheduled Appointments are Preferred!Excellent job everyone!ALSO Pricing is very affordable, so if you have a budget youre trying to stay in please let them know..

My daughter got her ears pierced here after a bad experience at a mall with a piercing gun a few years ago. Carly was awesome and explained it all as she went. Great people, very clean shop!

Ray is awesome! He’s been working on my sleeve and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Super awesome experiences every session! One hell of an artist for sure!!!!

Carly was absolutely amazing- I went for an eyebrow piercing and they explained everything and created a comfortable environment. I will only be getting piercings here from now on, can’t recommend enough.

Ray is an outstanding artist, great environment and very clean shop, Ray has done alot of coverups over the years to me and I will always returning for every tattoo, you wont be disappointed, Really understands the art of tattooing

Carly was super awesome and sweet! This was my first piercing and even though i was squeamish about the needle, she helped make it a lot easier.

The most professional tattoo and piercing shop in pittsburgh and you can tell they care about thr tattos and piercings they put out. Thr shop is clean and even offers a coffee bad for the clients

I had such an amazing experience getting tattooed at this shop. He listened to exactly what I wanted and created the perfect piece. I can’t wait to get my two older tattoos touched up!

Was tattooed by Kaitlin and she was excellent! So friendly and and gave me a dope little snail tattoo! I cant wait to get something else from her

Super nice and helped calm me down. Explained everything she was doing, totally recommend!

Excellent place! Very accommodating and polite. Super clean.

Ray did a great job.

Carly is the best piercer in pittsburgh

The staff was thorough and the shop was clean.

The best

Super friendly and clean :)

Great people, very clean

Great experience!