Question #4: Which has been the hardest part of becoming a tattoo artist?
- "Well, from experience, I have to say that the hardest part is making the stencils, that's the design layered on the skin before the tattoo, because that procedure makes me spend more time and it slows me down because it's all done by hand. Something that's also difficult is to know how to handle the skins. Not everyone has the same skin, some are thicker than others, some skins react differently, it's all a process. It's about understanding, it's pure science, it's mathematics too. There's many things involved that one has to know of and be well focused, because this is not for everyone, this is for someone who has the art, first of all, the pulse and the patience to deal."
Question #5: Which is the best tattoo you've done? Why?
- "In the seven months that I've been a tattoo artist, you see I'm still a rookie, but in these seven months, I've passed 600 almost reaching 700 tattoos on my record so far. I haven't had one that I would say is my favorite but I think my favorites depend on the area. You ask me which is my favorite in a thigh, I made a couple of snakes that were pretty good. If you ask me about one between breast, I did one of my favorite flowers, a chrysanthemum, an original and personal design, I did it for the first time between breast and it was super good, it ended up just how I wanted it. If you ask me about my favorite back tattoo, I made a phase of the moon with details in pointillism with geometry. See, those large and personal pieces of mine, those I consider to be the ones I like more, the ones I'm proud to put in my portfolio. Why? Because that speaks to me, they show what I'm capable of, like if I can do this, I can do anything else. If I can pull my perfect circles, straight lines and geometry, I can achieve, I think anything."
Question #6: Who are your favorite puertorican tattoo artist?
- "I don't have many favorite puertorican tattooists, I know a few popular ones here. Obviously everyone know Juan Salgado from Color Conspiracy, but I'm not such a fan, like those color pieces of his don't really catch my attention, but the man is all in his category, no doubt about that. My favorite style is blackwork, tattooist that are more current in that style are mostly from Europe. My favorite tattoo artists are from Europe, from Italy, and many are from Australia. My dream is to travel there and work in one of their shops to learn from them. The geometry of these people is another level. And people over there have pale skins, which makes blackwork l0ok better. That's what catches my eye and catches my attention. I like the monochrome, black and white, pointillism, geometry and organic things, like floral."
Question #7: What advice would you give to an aspiring tattoo artist?
- "My advice is, don't go directly to the machine. First focus on having the art. Practice all possible things, faces, letter, geometric shapes, straight lines, circles, practice all of that. If you don't have the art, you don't have the tattoo. There's no point in having all the tattoo materials if you can't draw. Another thing is to understand and be patient. Understand the whole procedure, do everthing well, be well focused on what you're doing, and remember that this is permanent. You're introducing this pain to another person, you have to handle that. Some people may faint, you may have a dilemma. It's about being prepared for every possibility. But the first advice is to focus on having the drawing measured to then move to the tattoo. Because the tattoo is a very delicate and very serious thing and it must be done with precaution."