“I’m only going to get one more tattoo on my face, and it goes on the corner of my jaw where your sideburns are at. It’s a female’s lips in red cursive letters that run down the jawline, and it
says “one more kiss” in Spanish writing. The red and black ink lettering means something to me, a memory from a part of my life with a female. This will be the last tattoo on my face, but as far as tattoos,
I will get more on my body. Mostly, they represent my culture, family, and life, things that are a part of me and have meanings. I already have somewhat a lot of tattoos, but I’m misses spaces, so I’m going
to fill them in. I’ll be inky. What do you think, Iris? I just love tattoos with my whole heart.”

My start as learning the art of tattoos involves gangs because as a kid, I grew up on the streets surrounded by street gangs. I saw my friends’ older brother and his homies with tattoos. This really interested me. I thought, “Wow! That is really cool.” So I admired the gangsters, the respect, the fear, the tattoos, and money they flashed. The women they had were beautiful. I thought, “I’m going to be a gangster whenI grow up.”  This is the truth, honestly. So I joined the gang. Little did I know the pain and hardship it cost to live this life, not to mention death because any day you could die from being shot at by a rival gang. So this life started at 10, and at 12, I got my first tattoo, which was an old English S 13 on both wrists, top side above your fist, which meant south side 13, only to represent my gang. This is the beginning and where I picked up my first tattoo gun, which wasn’t actually a professional tattoo gun. It was a makeshift gun made out of a car toy motor. We call it a spinner in the tattoo industry. It’s called a rotary. So this gun, I picked up because my homie, partner in crime, the same day I got my tattoo, which he actually did, he tells me, “Tatt me up, homie.” I told him, “I got you.” I had no clue of what I was doing, but homie did it easy. “Fuck it, I got you.” I did an old English numeral 13 on his ankle. I took off from there.

I’ve been tattooing since I was 12. I started with family members, homies in my gang, but I didn’t get good until I got older in prison. When I was in the world, I learned the basics of tattooing: the machine, needles, ink. Then, when I actually started tattooing, well, I learned on my own how far not to go on skin. I started with letters, cursive, graffiti, then tribal designs, stars—you know, easy stuff—basically line work and some shading, but not stuff like realism or any images, not even flowers. So when I got to prison, I actually started doing this on my own with people who paid me, and little by little, I got the hang of it. Then I did some tattoos on myself, like the Emiliano Zapata piece, or I have two more other good pieces I did on my legs—a female with a scarf wrapped around her head, but half of her face is a skull, plus designs. Then another female with a bandana around her neck, makeup smeared from her crying, and her mouth slightly open. It looks good. I did this with one needle and a bad tattoo gun. I mean, it was not good. It kept overheating.

The appealing part of tattoos was an art you can show forth that represents you. It is a part of you. It’s you. Think about it. You see something you like, something you love, passionate about, and you see this.
Wouldn’t you want that on you forever and to be able to show someone else? This is how I felt.

Tattoos are different from other art forms because it’s skin art, basically. You have one shot, and you have to get it right and know what you are doing because you can hurt someone, ruin the skin, and lose clientele if you mess up. A painting, you can just start another. Same with drawing or sculptures. Just throw it away, break it, start over again. In tattoo, you cannot do this. That person is scarred forever.

The key to being a really good artist is patience, knowledge, and experience. These three go together. You have to be patient when working. Take your time, analyze everything. Make sure you are not going too deep nor too light so that you won’t scar anyone. So be knowledgeable in tattooing is a must, which experience follows practice. Then go out and work. As time goes, you will learn more and more. The difference from other artists is, I’m self-taught. I never had an apprenticeship, but I can do work on a level as a professional tattoo artist, even better. I never went to school for this, nor did anybody actually teach me. I learned on the streets, tattooing friends, family, other random people. I once did a tattoo with a syringe filled with ink on a friend I met in school. The tattoo was on the inside of his lips, which said “fuck you” in graffiti lettering, top and bottom.
Imagine that, but true. He paid me $20 for it.

So, the most memorable tattoo I did was two, actually, because I did one, then the other the same day. So, I had a friend that tattoos also. He actually wanted a Chinese character, “iris.” I had no clue what it meant, but he’s like, “This is what I want, solid black.” Okay, easy money. I get it done. So, he brings up the topic of a female wanting a tattoo. She will pay you, he says. I’m like, cool, call her. She comes, brings beer/pot, which I don’t indulge in because I had to work. So, I’m like, “Okay, what do you want, shawty?” She shows me a tribal design that goes from shoulder to breast, which I start. So, I get to her breast on her tattoo, and I am gripping her breast. I’m not trying to be perverted or disrespectful, but my train of thoughts interrupts this (my thought): “Homie, you got a female’s breast in your hand… I know! Fuck! Shut up! Just concentrate, do the work. Okay, try not to get a hard-on.” Moments pass (my thoughts): “You got a hard-on, seriously?” “Yup! Fuck! Yes, definitely! Fuck! Chill! Idiot!”… Back to reality. I look up, “Are you good?” “Yeah, okay, back to work.” Mexican, then I’m like, “Give me a moment.” I look up, breathe in, out, try to think of something: the sky, the clouds, the color of the grass. “Okay, you’re good, back to work.” I finished, she paid me, I left. Ha! So weak, I thought when I left.
So, this is the most memorable tattoo, funny right but inappropriate.

Well, tattoos play into my life because it’s actually a trade. You can make money off tattoos almost anywhere. Plus, this is what I love. You create designs on the skin, something you love and are passionate about. So, the next question is based on practice, practice, practice. You have people that want certain art, certain things. So, as an artist, you have to learn, adapt a lot. The training begins with your work, the experience you get from that work. A lot of times, you do something unexpected, and you’re like, “Wow! How did I do that?” Then, go back and redo it, learn the technique. But you can also go to another artist or many artists and ask to learn their styles like color work, realism, surrealism, etc. But practice makes perfection.

Subjects I like realism to do a tattoo so realistic it almost creates an illusion that it’s coming out of your skin. That’s lovely to me, and I love it. The inspiration is the work, to be able to create something with your hands and have the person love it. That inspires me to make more masterpieces on people and be able to say, “I did that, and it’s beautiful.”

Tattoos, well, I’d say they are you as a person because the type of tattoos you get can show who you are, what you like, where you came from, how old you are, your past, present, future, and so forth. What would it say about me as a tattoo artist? Well, that I love tattoos and am passionate about tattoos, love the work. So, a lot of my tattoos are gang-related, which I loved my gang so much. I wanted to represent my gang to the fullest, so I got what I loved the most at the time.

My favorite piece would be one I did myself, which is part of my culture: Emiliano Zapata, a general of the southern part of Mexico. I admired him because he was said to be humble, strong, patient, a great leader, and gave to the poor. He did so much for his people. His quote was, “I would rather die standing on my feet than live on my knees.” This is my favorite piece. I did this on myself on my shin. Who did my tattoos? There are so many names, people, which is a long list. So let’s just say it was many friends of mine.

Notes: Questions from Iris.

How did you learn to tattoo?

What made you get into tattoos?

What appeals to you about tattoos?

How is a tattoo different from other forms/types of art?

How long have you been tattooing?

What is the most memorable piece of tattoo that you have ever done?

What is it about?

What made it special?

What were you trying to convey?

What is key to being a great tattoo artist?

What makes you different from other tattoo artists?

What role does a tattoo play in your life?

Since you need to create tattoos based on different people’s tastes and preferences, how do you train yourself on different styles, different topics?

What are your favorite subjects when it comes to tattoos?

Why is it your favorite subject?

How do you get inspiration for tattoo artwork?

What does your tattoo art say about you as a person?

What does it say about you as a tattoo artist?

You have a lot of tattoos on you, what are these tattoos about?

What is your favorite piece?

What is it about?

Who did these tattoos?