Kyle Leblanc - Head Tattoo Artist & Cover up Specialist
👉 Book your appointment with Kyle today and see why he’s considered one of Halifax’s best tattoo artists for cover-ups and custom work.
Head Artist & owner at Sin on Skin Tattoo Studio
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~ Head Tattoo Artist with 32+ years of experience
~ Award Winning
~ Cover up specialist
~ Special Effects Make-Up for movies & TV
~ Color Theory & Numerous Art Courses
~ Bloodborne Pathogen Certification / HIV Certification
~ Past shop: Skintastic Tattoo Studio~ Halifax
He Doesn't Just Tattoo. He Understands Tattooing.
Strong tattooing starts with fundamentals. Linework. Saturation. Contrast. Composition. Placement.
Kyle's background in traditional tattooing has given him a strong understanding of the principles that make tattoos work. Whether the design is simple or highly detailed, those fundamentals remain critical.
He knows when a design needs more weight. When it needs more breathing room. When a line needs to be stronger. When a design needs to be changed because something that looks good on paper simply won't translate properly to skin.
That's experience you can't fake.
He Thinks About the Healed Tattoo
A fresh tattoo isn't the finished product.
The skin changes as it heals, colors settle, and the tattoo becomes part of you. Kyle approaches his work with the long-term result in mind rather than designing solely for that perfect photograph immediately after the appointment.
His goal is simple:
A tattoo that looks great fresh—and still looks like a great tattoo years down the road.
Cover-Ups Are Where Experience Really Shows
Cover-ups aren't easy.
You can't simply put a new picture over an old tattoo and hope it disappears. Existing ink, ink depth, location, and designs affect what is possible. A successful cover-up requires understanding contrast, shape, saturation, placement and visual flow.
Kyle has extensive experience with cover-ups, reworkings and tattoo restoration, allowing him to look at an existing tattoo and determine how to turn a problem into an opportunity.
Sometimes that means completely transforming the original. Sometimes it means incorporating what's already there.
The goal is always the same: make the new tattoo look intentional—not like a cover-up.
Custom Means Custom
Kyle isn't interested in giving everyone the same tattoo.
Your tattoo should be designed around your idea, your placement and your body.
Bring Kyle a reference image, a rough concept, a collection of ideas or even just a starting point. He can take those pieces and develop them into something that works as an actual tattoo rather than simply copying an image from a screen.
That's the difference between getting a picture tattooed and having a tattoo designed.
He's Comfortable With the Difficult Stuff
Not every client walks through the door with a blank canvas.
Kyle has experience working with:
- Cover-ups
- Reworkings
- Older or faded tattoos
- Restorations
- Bold blackwork
- Traditional designs
- Colour work
- High-contrast pieces
- Custom illustrative work
- Challenging placements
That range matters because it means Kyle isn't limited to one particular type of tattoo or one particular kind of client.
He knows how to solve problems.
Why Halifax Clients Choose Kyle
At the end of the day, choosing a tattoo artist comes down to trust.
Trust that they'll listen.
Trust that they'll tell you when an idea needs to be changed.
Trust that they understand how tattoos work on real skin.
Trust that they're going to put the same effort into the tattoo as you are putting into choosing it.
And trust that when you leave the studio, you've got something you're genuinely proud to wear.
Kyle LeBlanc brings experience, technical skill and a serious commitment to the craft of tattooing to every appointment.
He's not trying to be the artist who tattoos everyone.
He's focused on being the artist whose work speaks for itself.
​Tattoo Style & Specialties
Join the countless satisfied clients who wear Kyle's creations with pride, and find out why Sin on Skin is the destination for exceptional tattoo artistry. If you have tattoo regret, Kyle doesn’t just cover it—he erases it. Faded ink, ex’s name, a “what-was-I-thinking” moment? He's got you covered, literally! If you want to forget the past and wear something you love, Kyle’s your man!
- Cover-Up Specialist
- Color
- Black & Grey
- Re-working
- Completing unfinished tattoos
- Celtic
- Tribal
- Traditional work
- Realism
- Portraits
Tattooing Experience & Approach
As a young artist during his apprenticeship years, Kyle travelled the tattoo circuit every summer with his first mentors. Watching, learning, and constantly improving on what they taught him. He did work with other mediums other than tattooing, but always came back to what he loved. He spent time designing stained glass windows for churches, illustrations for novels/books, sculpture, clay, acrylic, watercolor painting, and did prosthetics (prosthetic props and special effects) for movies/TV. Working his way up while paying his dues taught him a true respect for this industry. He soon surpassed his mentor's talent level, so he was taken under the wing of Dave Long, who was one of the greatest artists in our industry. In 2003, Kyle left his previous studio, Skintastic Tattoo, and Sin on Skin Tattoo Studio was born. Moving upstairs from the previous location on the main level, the studio is now found on the top floor. As one of Halifax's original and longest-running artists, he has been tattooing in the area since the early '90s.
With over 32 years of creating art, Kyle is one of the original artists who broke through stereotypes here in Halifax. He has a design process that has allowed him to create masterpieces that not only fit the body perfectly, but also last for your lifetime! He creates most of his work while you're here; he finds it gives him a better fit and flow when he has his canvas in front of him.
- Over 30 years of experience
- Special Effects Make-Up and Prosthetic work ~ Blade the Vampire Killer 1 & 2/ Lexx the Darkside / & Titanic
- Offers FREE consultations
- Guarantees his work against artist defects
- Understanding true Cover-Ups concept
- ​Color Theory​​
Tattooing in Halifax at Sin on Skin
Kyle has spent the last 30 years growing and building the studio into a place clients want to travel to and strive to see when in our beautiful city of Halifax or just visiting the East Coast in general. He has made sure that we've always:
✅Held cleanliness standards and our customer service to a higher level.
✅We ensure all artists have Bloodborne Pathogen training and certification
✅COVID precautions training
✅Artists who can understand and use many of the needle types available, not just 1.
Media, TV shows and Movie projects
Most recently, Kyle was contacted by Kate Schroeder, an Emmy-nominated entertainment news producer with NBC. She is currently developing a book on the cultural legacy of Titanic, to be published by Simon & Schuster. As part of her research, she interviewed Kyle about his experience working on the film and his memories of collaborating with the late Bill Paxton. The project highlights the immense craftsmanship and behind-the-scenes effort that brought the film to life, and Kyle was honored to contribute his firsthand perspective.
In addition, Kyle has been in discussions with CANADALAND journalist Julian Abraham, who is investigating one of the strangest and most enduring mysteries tied to the production: the mass PCP drugging incident on set. Decades later, questions remain about who—or what—was responsible for the sabotage attempt during the making of Titanic, directed by James Cameron for 20th Century Fox.
Point-by-Point: The Titanic PCP Drugging Incident
- During the filming of Titanic in 1996, the crew was working on location in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (near Halifax).
- One evening, members of the cast and crew consumed clam chowder provided by catering.
- Shortly after eating, dozens of people began experiencing severe and unusual symptoms, including:
✅Confusion and paranoia
✅Rapid heart rates
- It was later discovered that the food had been contaminated with PCP (phencyclidine), a powerful hallucinogenic drug.
- Approximately 50–80 people were affected, including high-level crew members and actors.
- Bill Paxton was among those impacted and later described the experience as chaotic and surreal.
- Several individuals were taken to the hospital; some wandered off in disoriented states.
- Production was temporarily disrupted due to the incident.
- Authorities investigated the incident, but no one was ever officially charged.
- The motive remains unknown, with theories ranging from:
- A disgruntled crew member
- A prank gone wrong
- Deliberate sabotage targeting the high-profile production
- Despite the seriousness of the incident, it has since become a bizarre and infamous piece of Hollywood lore surrounding Titanic.
- To this day, the case remains unsolved, continuing to spark curiosity and investigation from journalists and historians alike.
Global News
Variety
The Guardian
CBC