From the Studio #001: What Our Los Angeles Tattoo Artists Have Been Creating

Most people know us as Los Angeles tattoo artists, but there’s a lot more artwork being created inside Hollywood Stars Tattoo than what makes it onto social media.

When we’re not tattooing, we’re usually drawing, painting, practicing, experimenting, or working on something new.

So we decided to start sharing more of that process.

Welcome to From the Studio.

Every once in a while, we’ll open the doors a little and show you what our artists have been working on the finished pieces, the works in progress, the experiments, and the stories behind them.

For our first one, we wanted to show you what Art, Raul, and I have been creating lately.

ART: LIFE ON THE WATER

Art has had a fascination with tall ships, boats, the ocean, and maritime artwork for years.

And there’s a good reason for it. Art actually lives on a boat.

The ocean isn’t just something he likes to draw. It’s part of his everyday life, and that connection naturally finds its way into his artwork.

The piece below is one of his previous maritime drawings.

This drawing was directly from Art’s imagination, no references

Right now, he’s back at it again, working on another tall ship and studying all the complicated details that come with these old vessels like the sails, rigging, structure, movement, and character.

What Art is working on now

What makes Art’s work interesting isn’t just the subject matter. It’s the connection behind it. He’s drawing a world he actually lives around, studying the details and continuing to sharpen his craft one piece at a time.

RAUL: BUILDING HIS CRAFT

Raul has been putting a lot of time into drawing and developing his work. A big part of getting better happens away from the tattoo machine. It comes from drawing, studying, trying new ideas, and learning something from every piece.

Raul building the image by hand stippling, one dot at a time.

Raul spends time drawing at the shop whenever he gets the chance. Right now, he’s working through this piece by hand, building the details little by little. That time on paper carries over into tattooing, especially when it comes to line work, shading, composition, and learning how to make an image read clearly.

Finished artwork by Raul.

Raul’s work has a completely different energy when you see it finished. He likes bold characters, strong expressions, heavy line work, and images that have a lot going on. You can see how all that time spent drawing and experimenting starts to develop into his own style.

ERIK: ALWAYS STUDYING

I’ve been tattooing over 35 years of my life, but I’ve never stopped being a student of life and art. I’m constantly drawing, painting, studying other artists, experimenting with lighting, composition, color, and trying different ways to push my work further.

For me, tattooing is only one part of the lifestyle of being an artist. The work I do away from the tattoo machine eventually finds its way back into the tattoos.

Sketchbook studies exploring shape, composition and color.

These studies are where I work through ideas before worrying about a finished piece. I’ll repeat a subject, change the silhouette, push the shapes and try different color combinations. That kind of experimenting keeps me learning and helps me continue to evolve as a tattoo artist.

Ballpoint pen study based on an unfinished tattoo.

This drawing actually started as a tattoo. I had tattooed the skull, roses and filigree on a client, but we eventually lost contact before I had the chance to finish it. I always wanted to see the piece completed, so I went back to the idea on paper and added the spiders, webs and butterflies.

I chose to do the entire drawing with a ballpoint pen because I wanted to force myself to slow down and pay attention to the smaller details. Working this way makes every mark count. For me, it was also a way to practice the kind of control I use when tattooing with smaller needle groupings.

A frog and mushroom painting inspired by an idea from my daughter and her friend.

This painting started when my daughter and her friend asked me to make them a fat frog with mushrooms. They gave me the idea, and I took it from there.

For me, this piece was personal because it was part of making good on something my daughters had pointed out. I had spent so many years creating artwork for other people, but I wasn’t really making things for them.

At the same time, the painting gave me a chance to keep developing skills I’m still working on. I had to think through the colors, lighting, shapes and atmosphere while figuring out how I wanted the character to feel.

So even though it started as something fun for my daughter, it also became another opportunity for me to grow as a painter.

WHY OUR LOS ANGELES TATTOO ARTISTS ARE SHARING THIS

Most people see the finished tattoo. They don’t always see everything that happens before it or everything we’re doing when we’re away from the tattoo machine.

Art draws ships because he’s genuinely fascinated by them. Raul spends time drawing and developing his own ideas. I’ve been getting back into sketching and painting, both to keep learning and to make things for the people closest to me.

This is part of who we are as artists too. The drawings, paintings, studies and unfinished ideas all matter. They give us room to experiment, make mistakes, learn and keep developing.

From the Studio is our way of showing more of that side of Hollywood Stars Tattoo.