Hey there, everybody. Welcome to the fireside. My name is Jake. Happy to have you back for another episode from the Richmond Tattoo and Arts Festival. Of 2024. This is a fun one. This one is with our buddy Edgar Marquez. Edgar. We first podcast with Edgar quite a few years back at the Evergreen Tattoo Invitational, which is a really fun show as well. We haven't been out there in a while, but that's where I first met Edgar, and we've crossed paths a lot since then.
Really, really love his tattooing. He's got a very unique style and, his approach is really interesting. So that's what we talked about a lot in this episode. We talked about just his, his kind of loose approach to design and how he refines his tattoos as he goes along. Talks about a lot of other stuff, too, but mainly this is a process oriented or, like, drawing and tattoo technical stuff, focused episode. So for those of you who are into that kind of stuff, you should like this one.
Before we get started, it's cold outside right now. You can tell if you're watching this because I'm wearing, stocking cap. But pretty soon it's going to be time for the Fireside Yacht Club. And if you have not been on a fireside yacht club trip, you should do this one that's coming up this June. I'm going to leave a link below, with Fireside Yacht Club. It is is, I bring along five tattooers five artists. You don't have to be a tattooer, but most of them are, five artists.
Come to my boat is a 43ft motor yacht in beautiful Heber Springs, Arkansas on Goose Ferry Lake. If you don't like lakes, it's because you haven't been to this one. Crystal clear, big cliffs. You can just ask the folks who have already been. It's really, really something special. You come out for about four days. It is a great, great value because it's all inclusive. Your, your stay. We stay at an Airbnb that is on eden isle a very beautiful little area. Right next to my Marina.
And then we walk down each morning to the boat. We spend the day drawing and painting and swimming and jet skiing and, you know, just relaxing on the boat. My special guests for this upcoming Fireside Yacht Club trip is Ande Chambers. And if you've been following fireside for any period of time, you definitely know Andy. He is one of my favorite, illustrative style Tattooers working today. He's going to come along with us and he's going to be teaching some of his illustrative stylings.
But yeah, I'm going to leave a link below. Only five spots available. So I'm sure it will go quickly. If you have any questions, you can email me Jake at Fireside tattoo.com and ask, and I will be happy to get back with you. What else? I think that's it. Enjoy the episode and I'll see you at the end. Let's, let's kick it off.
We haven't done this in a while, so I'm just going to pretend I'm sure some of the stuff we talk about, we talked about the last time we podcasted, but it's been quite a few years doing quite very, good. 4 or 5 years, if not more. Yeah. Yeah, I was up, so we'll just kind of start over. Like we haven't, like we haven't done before. I was in watching you tattoo yesterday and I've seen it.
I mean, you show your process a lot on your social media and stuff, but like how how loose you start and then how refined you, you kind of end up like, you don't do a lot of, how often do you use the stencil and prepare like, on the front end? You know, within the past years, within the past years, it's been less and less and less, you know, I guess, the clientele are requesting me more like, just go wild you know, it's it's cool. We'll go free with it.
You know, I think that's part of the free hand. And just be free with it, you know? I mean, not, not just stencil this and freehand this, you know, just go completely free with it. And, how often like, pretty much there's, like, almost my daily routine, you know, to a point where, like, I don't even have a printer at the, at the, my studio. Oh, wow. Oh, no. So even even if, even if I, if somebody comes in with a stencil, I'm like, I'm a free handed. I don't care how it comes out.
You know, it could be a girl's face or whatever. You know, obviously I don't do portrait work or none of that, you know, but within my range of what I do it the ever like. Yeah. I'm not going to stencil shit, you know. Yeah, yeah. Well it looks it looks to me like I mean, you work like general to specific. So it looks like you're just blocking out big sweeping shapes.
And then I guess from there are you like kind of deciding like, all right, this is a darker shape and that's a lighter shape or like foregrounds, dark backgrounds, light. That's like that simple. Yeah. Yeah. Like for example, the piece yesterday, that was like a giant cover up and, like a whole big, whole back because he had like, a back piece done. And I just started a new one, pretty much.
So, that was actually I took, like a I flip the coin, see how it comes out, hoping my customer will come back because he flew into LA, and we did, two sessions, and I just mapped it with opaque grays. I didn't even put blacks and I didn't put nothing, so it legit looked like a mess, you know? But I know my process. I was like, just hoping he will come back so I could do the cool stuff, you know? So with it this time, this second time around.
And he came back with did the blacks and the actual detail, you know, like all the textures or the highlights or the, the accent points and all this is super heavy lines. No lines, you know what I mean? So it's like a gamble. You're not throwing your work out there. Just been looking like I don't know what I'm doing. I'm But yeah, it's a great turnout in his turn out pretty good.
Yeah, well, I mean, I had no idea I watched you a little bit yesterday I didn't realize it was a cover up. I mean, I didn't get way up on it. I wasn't in your booth. But to me, it looked like the arrangement of dark and light shapes. Like you. Like I saw what I was supposed to see. Like you drove my eye, my attention to the center. I wasn't paying attention to the stuff surrounding it.
Says it, you know, it is pretty much like the drawings, you know, like, pretty much you need to create your focal points. Yeah. So I was saying, like, you drove the attention to, like, the place that that you want to drive attention to and distracted from the other area and. Yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty consistent to trying to stick to what my drawing is, how I do my drawings.
You know, I always trying to create, like, a super intense focal point, you know, like, regardless of size, you know, it could be a giant back these or, arm sleeve or exactly whatever size, you know, could be a single piece. I always trying to, create that super heavy focal point with either with lines or heavy outlines or blacks, you know what I mean? And the rest of it is like, almost like I don't care, kind of, you know what I mean?
Because it also helps to connect, like future artists are going to connect to my pieces, leaving like the the far ends of the tattoo are like soft edged in a way. That way other people can connect real good. And it looks great here. I mean, yeah, instead of surrounding everything with just black. Yeah. So I mean so right. So yeah, I just I put, I've put the attention to the main focal points a lot like teeth, eyes and noses and stuff like that. Yeah. In this case tentacles. But. Right.
Yeah I think that's something the edges of tattoos that it is neglected a lot, especially with a lot of darker stuff like similar to what you do now or even a lot of realism, color realism that everyone kind of like just saturates the edges out to nothing and they just fall out and they don't give an end for someone else to come in and grab it and move on with it. You know, it's just like I you if I'm trying to do something, I'm working up against this, like blob of background space.
And I'm like, I mean, I, you know, I can't do anything with it, you know? Yeah. I mean, yeah, I started I started thinking a lot like, I don't know if I mentioned the last time I interned in Oregon, but I started thinking a lot like, I see the body, like, legit like a canvas, you know? And it's not, it's not about, oh, it's my piece. And fuck the rest. You know, I think about it, man.
His body will look better if I can flow it to according Into what the other pieces he has, you know, like trying to think that little extra ten minutes just to see what we can do to connect that. Right. So the whole canvas in general looks good. Yeah. You know, not just my piece, you know, but I want to he's back and he's. And the arm that he already has connected together somehow. You know, either by color, by shapes, by flow, by negatives or whatever it is.
Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I, I always think that it's easier to think that way if someone has like an existing piece and say there's a sweeping shape on their shoulder and I'm coming around their chest, that sweeping shape, I want to repeat it, you know, because it's like, well, it's already there. If I do it again, it'll look intentional and it gives me a starting point, like I'm not starting from nothing, you know? Right. Yeah. And it goes with the symmetry of the body, you know, like if you have.
Yeah. Like you said, you have a movement going up in your shoulder and your other shoulder is it's free. I intentionally do that like trying to make the same shape and flow into, into your new shoulder, you know? Yeah. Either with, with the main subject or, or a secondary subject, but he's going to have that same he's going to have like a symmetry in your body, you know, and I think it looks super cool. You know. Yeah. And, and and I mean we get that all from Filip Leu.
No I mean, but I was like, that's why it's important to, to look through all the other times of tattooing regardless of is your style or not. But it's good to observe. You know what do it all those like legit like masters are doing you all that they're real masters of tattooing. That's why they do it, you know, and I think, we need to observe and appreciate and execute the same, you know? Yeah. They have a reason, you know. Yeah. Or a good way in aiming for you.
Thinks about all of that, you know, I mean, I'm pretty sure and yeah, I think there is we can do it in all other elements, like not elements in other styles, you know, it is. So I'm trying to implement that. You know, that movement and flow and connecting to other existing pieces for the rest of the body canvas. Right, right. Yeah. So yeah, it's interesting because stylistically you're you're pretty different from either Filip Leu or Jeff Gogue.
They have a very like traditional type of style with that. But those elements of like repeating shapes are like you even mentioned, like trying to use really bold edges where you're trying to focus attention, like in a very traditional tattoo manner. Right? Yeah. I feel like it's like literally like the same the same execution, just different style.
But it's like the same, like big, big shapes of shading, you know, big shapes of black, big shape for, for or whatever, you know, and but it's the same thing, which is different style, you know, but, thanks to them, you know, it's Shige you know, I, I remember I drove eight hours from L.A. to San Francisco, like 15 years ago just to see Shige tattoo. And and he hit me. You know, I just drove that just to see him tattoo for two hours and drove by, you know?
Yeah. And and he opened my mind to, like, oh, that's why you see all these big open spaces of just shading, you know? So I follow the fucking fish, looks Like it wants to jump out of the back? You see what I mean? So that, you know. Yeah. So that's why it's good to still credit those kind of art is you name it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Talk about the, I mean, I watch your, your you you have a lot of texture, a lot of, a lot of detail.
And I think as tattooers a lot of times you get dialed in or we all get dialed in on whatever area we're working on if we want to naturally, like, draw attention to that area, like every area it can, it can be easy to like, want to make every area important and come forward. But in your work that would be or in anyone's why, but in your work in particular, that would be chaos, right? Very chaotic. Yeah. So so do you.
I mean, are you like, intentionally like taking breaks, getting back, squinting, looking at, like or what's your process for thinking about that. Yeah. Especially if it's like a big piece. Yeah. You need to take your break, you know, step back, really observe what's going on and and really make that call, like. All right, I'm gonna leave it like that. No more textures on this little area because the next layer next to it, you know, it's already super saturated with textures.
Or you can we can also do textures better with the lighter tone. This is what I'm so gradually it's, it's getting into a very like super solid textures into like a dark and then accent it. I don't know if you make sense know like yeah grey wash, midtone, and black with highlights and that's and it so it gives a transition even out of textures, you know, not just all the same. Yeah. Pretty much.
Once again I go back to Japanese where because, you observe when they do the scales on the fish, you know what? What's underneath the water? You know, when the water comes in, they're like light gray, you know what I mean? And as he's coming towards board, there's more highlight in it. First I start with white the black and then thicker and thicker into a I was like, fuck that fucking scale. So fake you I mean yeah. And it was I think this would the same.
Once again I think is with the same, process and execution, you know, just different style, you know, and, yeah, but yeah, I see what you see. What you mean when it's a smaller piece, but obviously there's no need to read or step back a couple steps, but you get to see it in. Yeah. But but yeah. Yeah I think that's an important way to look I so it's less about the amount of detail or texture and more about kind of the value. Right. Squeezing that out of your range. Right.
So you're only using the full value range and the parts that you're really trying to drive people to. You can essentially use the same texture over here, but you're just using you're squeezing the value range with it. Exactly. So the further he goes into the edge of the tattoo, the lighter he gets somehow or less less lines and it less accents, you know? Yeah. So, and that's what he gives you.
It makes it look like, you know, way more round, you know, and it gives it more sense of space and everything. You know. Right. And, he's been working for me now for years. So. Yeah. Yeah, it's been pretty cool. Yeah, yeah. Another thing that you're, that you do really well that I think is, is particularly challenging is, is using them using color highlight. So a color saturation background in a black and gray foreground.
So like when you're when you're primary the subject matter is all black and gray. But maybe it's backlit with a red or some type of a glowing thing. And it can I think the easy the reason that's a challenge for a lot of people is it's hard to see where an intense color sits on the value scale, but you don't know how dark or light that red is, you know, because it's red. Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah.
Especially red since it's, the lighter values, you know, no matter how dark you put it, unless you really have, like, go ahead. But like, red tends to be on the lighter values, you know, so the is challenging but but also yeah, you need to have a sense of where to put it, you know, I mean, not just all over the fucking place. You don't want to fuck up your focal points or or you know, but, but yeah, it's a very interesting to see where you put it.
That's why it's important to, to really observe all the art. You know, in this case, I'm sorry if I just out naming, you know, but, like, Victor Portugal was doing it for, like, 20, but 20 something years ago. You know, I remember when he used to do these, like, ocher yellows into his little subtle of color. And I was like, oh, fuck. But that's just about where he put it is like that little placement on, I don't know, but like, on the jaw, you know.
Yeah, it was a straight up saying, look at my... look at the teeth of this skull, you know. So that's where it tracks your attention. So I trying to do the same thing, you know, but and but yeah, those are things that once again comes from this guy that experimented. I think we have it easier, all these new guys that came after that way because we just we're just executing what they did in a different way, you know, in our own ways.
But but thanks to them, you know, that they, they brought that out on like they open your brain into push more ideas out. Yeah. You know. Right. So yeah. Yeah. And I think that's, that's another big trick of it is kind of learning where to where to put what to say. The color in a black and gray tattoo.
Because if it's if it's, like, an ambient color that's coming from the background, that's like that, you think, oh, you should bathe forward in the whole foreground, but if you like, got that thing into your foreground shape, it would destroy the. Yeah. Now you have to use reflective light and all that shit. Now. Now you beat turns into a color piece, you know? I mean, right?
That's why it's not cool to use so much at the same time, you know, it's mainly to create contrast, you know, and, and something a little bit, something different to see, you know, because if you really go with it and you start using a lot and I don't know where your background really turns into just color now, you hope is you need to fuck around with a lot of reflective lights and then under lights and there, you know, it turns into a shit show, but.
Right. But yeah, I, I keep it very subtle at the same time, you know. Yeah, yeah. What about, because you're doing, you know, long sessions. You're building a lot of texture, you know, in a single and multiple passes in the same day. What do you think? Or how do you think about, a couple of things. One, just like working the skin, keeping the skin workable, not overworking it. And then two, like, just client management, pain management with like, this dude yesterday all on his ribs.
Man. Yeah. I mean, Bill, he he's a fucking tank, bro. You know, he doesn't complain like you can. You can set him up like fucking upside down. And you'd be like, fuck it. This is what you have to do. You have to do it. You know what I mean? So I'm so grateful at times like that, you know?
But I always try to make it as comfortable as possible to, you know, like, well, could we could get a pillow, you know, I mean, Steve brought a pillow from his fucking room, you know, like, you all bro, here's a pillow for your chest, you know? And, but, like, in my studio is like, I have heating pads, and and I have, like, extra cushion on my blanket, you know, by, like, those, those foams, and they're, like, real fucking sick. Oh, yeah.
So they later try to make it as comfortable as possible for them. And he works, you know, and, and it's crazy to say that because I saw Jeff at a convention in Pasadena about ten years ago, his guy, and he was, like, wrapped up in blankets, except the leg that it was the battery by and I and those lights. Yeah. You know, and it. Yeah. I mean, there's nothing new, you know, it's just once again just observing what, you know, what all these guys are doing.
Like I'm like, I ask the same question, you know, like, how does he get his clients to sit for so long, you know. Oh yeah. You obviously you treat them good a comfortable spot or they're going to get tattoo you on it. I mean, and I tend to do a lot of cold water. I use a lot of cold water. You know, and that's why I have heating blankets to compensate. Because, cold water. I tend to see that because the redness away, you know, the swelling away, you know?
And, so I always tried like, in my studio, I legit grab the water from my fucking fridge, order in my in my bottle. You know, and it works. Just plain distilled water, you know, when it works, it works great, you know that. But that's why they heated blankets. So you don't want to do that here, you know? Right. That, but it works. It works great for me, you know? Yeah. We just did a, a podcast with a guy, a friend of ours, and Kurt Jacobson who does three There's a lot of competition tattooing.
So he does three day projects for best the show. And his big thing was like, you want to make sure the client, can, like, have all the blankets they need and stripped down to their underwear if they need to, if they want to be in their boxers with a beanie on, like, the stocking cap on, like, you just want to make sure that that they can, like, make changes on the fly for their own comfort. Yeah. And I it's, Yeah, it's an interesting thought.
I've never, you know, I mean, I, I ask people if they're comfortable. I'll change the heat in the studio, but I don't like, prepare for, like, winter clothes and summer clothes. Yeah. I mean, that's a good thing about, in your studio, you can get, you can get them as comfortable as possible. Yeah. Getting heaters and all that, you know, I don't know, fans/ACs, whatever, you know, but, but, yeah, I mean, in this case, in conventions, you can't you can't do that, you know?
So you have to rough it out. Yeah. But do you go ahead. Do you use any, like, topicals, like, like Bactine or anything I use bactine you, but, almost like, at the end, I notice in my clients that if I start using it right since the beginning, they tend to, like, depend on it, maybe more so at the same time, I feel like they build their fucking strength, you know, mentally, and they don't even need it.
You know, once again, like Bill, you never ask for like on those two days he never asked for it or you got bactine? or nothing like that, you know, which is sitting. It was like, are you doing it like it sucks? But, you know, I mean, but I'm ready. You know, I'm like, you need to do ten hours till I'm ready. I'm like, bro, my bed can do an hour, you know? Yeah. No, that's a rare client.
Once again, I think, I, I think I'm very lucky with those man, those kinda clients here to me that they don't ask me for of that, you know, but I do have back in on the side just in case, you know, but at the end for highlights, you know, that's when I'm like, all right, I'll give you a break.
Yeah. I mean, yeah, but yeah, I wonder I wonder if it has to do with your like your look, your style, like the type of clients you, that you draw in that they're just like, I'm not tapping out, like, just that type of person that's like, you. I maybe draw in that type of client, you know? I mean, yeah, I mean, this is this your fucking guys are going to a bit with fucking.
All these motherfuckers have spines in their hands and the jackets, you know, where they been through pain, you know, worst mania. Like, I remember one of my clients, I think he went to a, metal festival in Finland or somewhere. Where? There in Europe. And he came back with the black eye and a shitload of bruises on his back and body, you know, like he legit flew in the day before the fucking like dude, What the fuck happened?
You got jumped like. Nah, I was in the pit , but he only lasted two hours. That says, you know that now you're a star, bro. All right? I get to fuck you up more. You it all right? But I think he has a lot to do with the year. I mean, yeah, yeah, I know what's up. But I also have my clients on there like, bro, this is that I can, you know, two, four hours. Yeah. Oh I get it. You. I can only serve for like six hours at a time too, you know?
Right. Yeah, yeah. Same here I, I struggle, over long and I'm, I'm getting a full back, like neck to ankle back piece from Ande Chambers. You know, Ande? Yeah. Know. But I can fly up in this area and do back to back days. You know, by the second. I'm nearly 50 years old. By the second day, like, my body hurts. Even if I were not getting tattooed, just being in the position for two days or my body hurts, you know?
And so, Yeah, I mean, I, I, I get it, I, it's funny, you go years like for me, I would go years and I get tattooed and it's easy to forget what you put people through, you know, and then when you start getting tattooed you're like, oh shit. Yeah. No, it was I mean, you have to get tattoos so you can have some kind of a sympathy towards. I try and, you know, because sometimes you forget
and then they it's, it's a fucking organic. You piece you're working on, you know, it's not a piece of plastic or, you know, right. It's something that it's alive and it's such, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Like, but yeah, I mean, you toughen up, you you learn how to tough up, you know, you don't want to sound the with the fucking pussy, you know, and especially with that kind of you admire so much, you know, like Robert, he tattooed the inner piece of my Robert Hernandez.
Yeah. That who the inner peace. And it was like every ten minutes he was like, you're good. You want bactine? I’m like naw, man I'm cool. in my head I was like, fuck yeah. What am I doing? You know, I was like, all right, but not like, but you, you fucking tough up, you know? And er, he also teach me to learn when, when the client sometimes the client said no, I'm okay. Just you don't want to sound like a pussy, but their body is asking for, you know. So I learned to reach out to you.
Okay. This area I'm going to use bactine, you know, I mean, and when I see I'm more relaxed, I'm. My eyes go right here. I mean, you see it when they're when you hit the needle, they tense a little bit. They're like, gets a little shaky, you know. Yeah. He needs bactine And you know when they don't they're just super relaxed. You know all of that with time team. Right. And sir and I assume going back to kind of the process and a lot of the layering that you do, the cold water probably helps you
to read the skin a lot and know how far you're going to be. What. Sure. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Big because it just, the swelling comes down, you know, I mean, I get to see the true value of the of the. Yeah. How the tattoo is going to achieve you naming. Right.
Are you from, just a technical standpoint, when you're, you know, you're laying out big shapes and I assume you're using, like, I'm just going to guess you're using, like, maybe the big mags to start to sculpt shapes and then coming up with smaller configurations. Or do you come in and like correct in lay in lines and stuff first a lot. I, I use for if this is a big piece, if it's like a project, I start with A55 magno. Okay? I do outline everything with my light tones.
I don't, I don't like, light lines. I feel like, like right off the go. You're hurting them like lights, you know? So magnums are a little bit softer, you know, and I don't do an outline. It's like I'm not cutting them open. Right? It's just the beginning. Because even if it's a water line, you still curve more. And. Yeah. So when I do a five Magnum is like, I'm already building something, you know?
I mean, yeah, I'm already building texture and whatnot, and I just pretty much draw the shape of it, you know, and, and then I come back with the big Magnum. It could be a 49 or a 27, depending on the area. The the big shape of mass, the big, massive, well, value, whatever value it is. And then come back with detail with the smaller needle. You know, I usually use either, for detail, I use either a, liner, 11 or a nine. It. Okay. And then I go much smaller than I. Yeah, yeah.
And, people think I use round shaders, but I don't. And because, I wonder these are to be super sharp when he he'll still, you know. Yeah, we all know that round shaders are it's more for a softer work. So. But yeah. And in between the 49 magnums all the way down to the five, I use all of them depending on the area. I'm like okay, this cool. This little area is perfect for nine magnum You know any or it’s is perfect for a 50 mag.
You know, I, I Magnum, I love using 19 magnums because it's like in between all of them, right? You know what I mean? So one of my favorites, you know, like are you using curved or straight mags? But I use only curve. I was never a little fucking tattoo with a straight mag. Yeah, yeah. I discover very fast in my beginning of tattooing that I was hurting people. Yeah, all I choose, I cad, you know, I don't have a sense of the angle. Like you like a perfect angle for that. You know. Right.
And I would say fucking tattoo artist like victor portugal, like he uses those, you know, like fucking heal. Perfect. I'm a fucking I he, you know, and I, just wasn't able to provide a good thing that, there was another option. So, you know. Yeah, yeah, I didn't when I started, I if there were curve mags, I had never heard of them. Yeah, we just had flat mags and, and I can remember very early in my career, when I started, it was a lot of tribal lower back, butterfly, all that kind of stuff.
And so, you know, your you line everything and then and then I would come in with the side of that mag and try to get that, fill that taper and you would see like a little razor cut like just I was slicing people like, oh, I always ask know. Yeah, fucking well we sent them to scar below like, yeah. And it'd be a fucking VIP ticket. Yeah. Me. Right. No. Later on said, that's not right. You know I can't do that, right? Yeah, yeah.
Usually those little edges, those little tiny corners that were fucking scar below. What happened with those magnums? Yeah, yeah. And I have that thanks to that. I admire people so much for that. Regardless of style, what they do, people are able to use those. It's like something to admire, you know, respect, you know, like, fuck, I don't give a fuck if you did a butterfly, but if you did, that would if that. I sorry. Leave. Looks like that. Yeah you do Yeah, but he's good to fine.
I mean, I'm pretty sure they we we tried it and you would achieve it. You know me, but I was like, well, let me let me see what what else is out there, you know. And and I got super comfortable with the round magazine. That's what I use and. Yeah. Yeah. What about like, from a drawing, like just design standpoint. I mean, obviously people come to you for a certain thing. Do you ever feel like. All right, I'm kind of, like, burnt out on this subject matter? Do you want to, like, how are you?
Are you able to, like, introduce new, different subject matters, different ideas, or do you have any interest or do you just like to explore the kind of textural like darker stuff that you've been doing, right? Well, in tattooing it's in enter in the tattooing matter, it becomes repetitive. You know, I mean, it becomes repetitive no matter and no matter because people. Exactly. That's what they want is that you can do the same fucking skull. And people, if you did a real badass
skull, people are going to be like, I want something like that. Sure. So and if you try to move away from that design, they're like, no, I just kind of want like this one, as I have shown, I'm like, well, I skipped stairs. You know what? Some of them were like, whoa, I kind of want to more like the one you did before. I'm like like like two years ago at the, Gods of Ink convention. You know, I legit did the fucking same demon. Three days in a row.
Oh, I like the same face because I went in with, I was booked, you know, and I did my in my friend's head with the demon face on a Friday. The Saturday guy, I didn't know what he wanted. He was like, yo, I want that same thing you did on on me on the. Okay, cool. You know, the Sunday. You're that guy. You. They don't fry one. That's exact. I'm like, oh fuck, I enjoyed it, but. And I showed them something different. He was like, well, how about we do like tentacles.
It will fit the body or like, more like the, okay. You know, so it's kind of a move away from it, you know, but in drawing and painting and fucking with other subjects, you know, I mean, I'm going back into, like, really drawing for me. You know, I think I went a little bit, commercial in a way. You could say more for the for the, the tattoo community, but they like about me, you know? But I was leaving behind what I like about myself.
So I'm doing that in painting and drawing, and I've been reconnecting with what I want for me now. Now that I have some kind of a style, you know, I call it. So now, like, okay, I'm drawing some cool. I started to draw and paint my travel experiences. Wow. You know, that's in some of my sketch work that I brought today. I'm drawing like, like the the castle gorillas in Switzerland, you know, with some elements of Giger.
And so I'm, like, mixing it real cool, but it's actually like a moment in time that I was there that I'm drawing. Yeah. So it's like legit just for me. Yeah. I mean, right. Or like the Barcelona fucking, church, you know, you know, a Gaudi church or area, right? Yeah. Gaudi church, you know. So those little moments, I'm drawing them now for me, you know, and they're still, you know, I'm actually people by some of those are like, dude.
Okay. So but yeah, now I'm drawing for me a little bit more and I'm happy. Yeah, yeah. Are you doing more like a painting or, you know, charcoal pencil or just like, all right, I just rotate because a you get burned out of the same, you know? Yeah. Like, I just moved studios from L.A. to the city of Pomona, and, this new studio is, like, huge. So I'm trying to do bigger paintings. Oh, okay.
So, like, now my painting is I'm doing a series of five paintings that I haven't shown I nothing, but they're about this size, you know, maybe half of the booth big, you know what I mean? Yeah. And, so, yeah, I'm gonna concentrate on that this coming year, you know, and, and, just for me, once again, you know, having to show nothing but but he's going to they're going to be super cool. Yeah, yeah. Is oil is this is this you're joining a group of artists or is this just you?
It might be just you. Yeah. I been by myself, for the past seven years. I've been having a private studio. I, I was, partner with somebody, Tony in Long Beach for 13 years. Ink Assassins, Long Beach. Okay, I and, you guys go should go get tattoo over there. That's my hometown. Yeah. And, but, I went solo. I just needed that space. But I was in la. La got super bad, you know, traffic, homeless, you name it, the economy. So I moved to a different city, which is, 40 minutes closer to my house.
Okay. And I got almost triple the space for the same amount of money, so it's like a no brainer. So now I'm able to paint big because I have triple the space, and I'm still just being by myself right now. I mean, so, but I do have a guest artist, you know, I have, I have a couple of guest artists lined up coming, you know. Yeah. And they're nice, too. So I guess with that type of move that doesn't really affect your clientele at all, whether they go into LA or whether they.
Yeah. No, when I first moved to LA, to L.A., I was a bit scary, you know, because L.A. people we know travel and how you get. So they're like, no, you know, they're lazy, but they're like, I'm not going to drive an hour when it's only ten miles away. Yeah, I know, but, but yeah, they're I get to tap them like, dude, you it's it's only one day, so I need to drive every fucking day on earth. They're like, oh, fine. Now you make me feel like a day, So you have to, like, reverse psychology anyway.
And he works, you know, but it doesn't affect me a lot because I have, most of my clients, they they fly in regardless. So, you know. Right. I know the great thing about the studio where I'm at is that, it's 50 minutes away from the Ontario airport, so it's very accessible. You don't have to fly into L.A. like how they used to. So it's like, well, this is cool. You know? They love it there. Yeah, I love and Mark, what percentage of your clients do you think travel versus. They're fairly local.
I think about, a good 80. Oh wow. Oh yeah. A good idea. You know, because L.A., L.A., they're still very strong with their with their roots, which is, black and gray, super nice, grey wash style, Chicano style in a and, they're very We still rooted with them, you know what I mean? So is is harder to get a client to. Good tattoo over there, you know? So, when I do conventions, I would in California, it's like I only booked, like, one person that double check me out.
I'm like, bro, but I know already, you know, I mean, but when I come here to the East. Yeah, it's like everybody ones work, you know, because. But it's because I think because of the roots of that, you know. Yeah. it’s interesting. we so locals are very and which is great. You know, I'm like I'm happy you know. Yeah. But it's not so good in the has big though the the father get more dark should you know I don't want to do a Virgin Mary or I want to do the, the the fucking, Bernini statue.
You name it. Yeah, yeah. But, at the same time, if money gets real tight, I'll do it this year, you know? But but unfortunately, they don't come to me for that anymore, you know, by, like, did you work in that style or early on? And, I mean, it's it's like, almost like a if you're from L.A., it's kind of like you have to. Yeah.
Because the people that come in, you walk, if you work at a walking shop, it's like your daily bread, you know, like you have to learn how to do the roses in the nice transition of shades and area and, the whole statue, it is like, yeah, I've done it, you know, and, and I and and I'm very proud with the accomplishment that I do, you know. But when that happen or it happens still sometimes I just feel like I went to work. Sure that. All right, here's my artist hat on.
I'm gonna put my tattooer hat on. Right. And let's fucking tattoo whatever you want. Yeah. For the the feeling of accomplishment at the end is not there. Just a great job. That's it.
But the artistic element of it is like, Fuck, I wish you would have let me fucking turn that Jesus face into the fucking the textures and yeah, yeah, but, yeah, yeah, but yeah, it's like a, you must in a way in LA because to the traffic that, that it's involved in that, in that, on those areas, you know, I mean everybody one says like I notice up here in the, like right here, it's just in this convention itself, 90% is color.
Yeah. If I'm mistaken, I think they only enter like six pieces for black and grey. It's crazy. I'm like, with this, you got I y'all. Because this is, like, like 200 people in black and gray. Yeah. You know, and then there where gets is like, whoa, that motherfucker got it bro And he was me. Like super clean, you know. Yeah. Right. And colors over there. This is the opposite. And it was like oh three pieces were fucking colored.
Yeah. So I guess it depending on the area and I notice those things, you know, it is strange and it's, you know, it's a, I guess partially east west, but I, there's a show that's kind of close to me that I've been doing further since they started, called Space City. And it's in Huntsville, Alabama. And, and it's like, like you're saying on the West Coast, like I've judged there and like, I would rather judge the color categories because there's only like ten of them.
But if you get caught up in, like black and gray, especially large scale black and gray, first off, like all of the pieces are flawless. So it's like you can't pick the best one. It's impossible. And there's like, you know, 75 of them are like, well, we'll be here for three hours. Yeah. It's terrible. I know the but it. Yeah, I mean it is that's, that's how I see em. Yeah I mean but yeah I would imagine but working you know, it being forced to work in that style, especially early on.
Probably built the skill set that you use a lot now, though. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I mean, it help. I mean, for sure, it's like my, I, I keep it in, in between, like, like real saturated and not. And I mean, yeah, because of that early style, you name it, it's like I'm, I'm used to seeing, like, directness of the fucking skin being, you know, the saturated, but it's almost blood. Anything. But I know it's going to kill this tone. Yeah. See what I mean?
So I use those other elements in my tattooing elements, not just straight off black and just highlights. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Because we know what happens with that. You know. So that's why I but yeah, I'm very highly into influenced by the, by the LA style. You know, I just don't do the style I no more the technique. All right. Now L.A. style. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Talking about it becoming And sorry, anyone who here's the main stage. We're just stuck close to the main stage.
Talking about feeling like you went to work rather than you don't get the artistic kind of, gratification. At the end of the day, I feel that way about anything symmetrical I that I have to do it for, like, I, I only do larger scale stuff these days, but if it has to look the same on both sides, if I have to look and see, like what I did here and then try to like, pay attention over here, it ruins my day. I'm terrible. I know, right. And it feels like you want to work, you know?
Yeah. Which is good, because we have a great job at the same time, you know? But, but, yeah, I think at the end, there's more. We're looking for a little like, fuck, I did that role, you know, that's boy. You know, you just keep looking at the fucking picture. You do it and you scroll and you zoom and you. And then for hours, you know. So even my why is the what the way you fucking phone all day. I'm like. So the tattoo I did last weeks. You you staring at the fucking tattoo were at for Damien.
But it's it's that little meat, you know, from an artist like this. Yeah. You know. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Definitely. So this is probably. Okay. They start shutting down. Okay, so from here, you're headed back home. You'll be home for how long? And what's your next kind of trip? From here, I'm going home. I'm going to relax. I'm flying back to New York, to do a guest spot on my friend's shop, a Philip Lee statue in Manhattan with the old church. And you all. So much for being a part of this.
I mean, I'm still debating. I want to go to the, the Josie's, Puerto Rico convention. Okay. Yeah, I want to do that. And I do it on that one. Before I did the I don't remember who was a first or second edition. Okay. It was really nice. You know, it brings up all these, real respectful, collectors. You know, it's a great convention here because that's what I've heard. They know. They know what it's about. You know, it's a great convention. I haven't been able to go to this in December.
You know, you always have, like, family flying in and all of these. It's like my son's birthdays. Is the windows back in there, so it's hard to get away, you know? But, but I did the first or second edition, I don't remember, but, hopefully I, I'm going to try to make monster girls, you know, and, next year, hopefully it's, I think I'm, I'm going to try to hit Asia. Now, we go to a couple conventions, us and, and one in Europe, hopefully. Romania. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be.
Yeah, that'd be awesome. Yeah. That's great. Yeah I I've, I've wanted to I don't know Yallzee I've met and podcast with Fibs before who I guess support for that as well. And I he's a great guy, awesome tattooer and so I love to I love to check it out. But that's the same problem. It's like my fit. Like. That's right. I'm between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I just there's just too much happening. Just the dates, you know? I mean, it's like it's an it is it's a great convention.
I mean, he's, he's put together by by and by Yallzee you know, and I mean, he's a great, respectful collector and he loves the fucking industry, I think more than some tattooers, you know. Right. And he knows about the history of it. And, and so it's put together by a real fucking guy that loves this community. Yeah. I mean, and it's a community, not industry. You see it, I mean I so I'm like, but for the fucking dates, well, why don't you do it in October or you know.
Yeah, but, but, you know, in a good site, it's like if you go in December over there, it's like the is warm and go, you know. Yeah, yeah. But he has his own reasons I don't know. But that's the reason why. Yeah yeah yeah I understand. Well man I enjoy it. I'm glad we got to catch up. It feels like I haven't seen you in a long time, but I give up. Oh, no. Because the whole fucking. Yeah, because the Covid and all that, we just shut everything down for so long.
Yeah. Like I was saying, walking up, like, just podcasting way in person is like, it feels like brand new to me again. It's so much better. So much better. Here. We're like, yeah, yeah. I want to like, go find everyone that we podcast with virtually and like, hey, I'm going to come to your shop and do this in person. I would rather yeah. Also you're doing that, going to shop. So sometimes. Yeah, I was super dope.
Yeah, yeah I listen I I really, I enjoy that we can control the sound and the light a lot better. You can like, you know, you're not trying to grab people in between tattoos, so yes, we can. It's nice. Maybe tattoo a couple of days and then everybody in the area. You're welcome to my studio, bro. Man. Hey, do you mind? I'll take you to tattoo or whatever. Yeah, I mean sweet. Yeah, I really do amazing tattoos, so. Well, if you're ever in the L.A. area, you know, Pomona is in the L.A. County.
Okay, so, But, yeah. Boom! Mikasa to man. Thank you. I appreciate it, dude. I enjoyed it. And good to see you. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you guys for supporting what we do. We'll see you next time. Oh yes. Thanks so much to Edgar Thanks so much to Jesse Smith for having us out to Richmond this year. And thanks to you for watching this episode. I hope that you got some value from it. You can keep up with Edgar at all of the links below. What else? I think that's all. We'll see you next time. Thanks.