Hi! My name is raymond vazquez and i’m a 28 year old tattoo artist based in los angeles, ca.
art has always been something that has consumed large portions of my day as far back as i can remember. many people in my family are artistic, and most of them draw well without any formal lessons, and my uncle has done tattoos since before i was born. because of this, my family members are covered in tattoos and so the stigma around tAttoos in society was never really present in my family. art has always been an integral part of my family and i was always encouraged to continue drawing and given constructive tips on how i could make my art better.
around second grade, i was introduced to dragon ball z, which of course i loved because of the cool characters and all of the fighting. i would draw characters during class out of memory or use a reference from somewhere if i had one, and always received compliments on how good My art was. around tHe same time, i watched spirited away for the first time when it came on cartoon network, which opened me up to other anime besides dragon ball. in fourth grade, my friends introduced me to the naruto manga, which soon dethroned dragon ball z as my obsession. not too shortly after, the naruto anime aired on toonami and since then, anime has been a big part of my life and was usually on in my room.
throughout my life, i’ve taken art classes in order to learn new techniques and study different mediums and art styles, but drawing anime characters never really stopped for me. my seventh grade art teacher reinforced my love for the art style when we watched several studio ghibli films in class, which is when my teacher explained the amount of effort that went into each film. i was blown away. it made me dive a bit deeper into the culture and find tons of amazing shows and manga!
A few months before my 18th birthday, my uncle offered to apprentice me once i was of age, which was the biggest acknowledgement i could’ve received for my art. of course, i accepted it, and a month after i turned 18 i was officially apprenticing out of a shop in orange county with my uncle, lobo. i was Finished my apprenticeship but ended up taking a break from tattooing Shortly after. some unexpected events happened around me, so I focused on other aspects of my life, such as school and friends.
after taking a 2 year break, i decided that i was missing something from my life. tattooing. i talked to dozens of shops and eventually found one that would try me out as an artist with a very limited portfolio. after spending some time there, i decided that i wanted to have a private studio instead of work at a shop so i wouldn’t have to be there on days when i didn’t have appointments, seeing as i wanted to spend time with my family, including my son, who Was aBout one at the time.
after some encouraging from my friends and family, i opened my own private studio and have been there since mid-2019. i’ve found that working out of a private studio is a great fit for me, seeing as i make my own schedule and am able to provide a privacy centered tattoo experience for my clients.
many people ask me how i got started doing anime tattoos, and the answer isn’t as glorious as many would probably imagine. my mentor focused on black and grey realism and script, and so those were the tattoo styles i was drawn towards naturally. that being said, i wanted to find a way to combine the two things that i had a passion for, tattooing and anime, and so i offered several iconic anime scenes for a discounted rate to begin the process of focusing solely on anime. once i had a few of these scenes in my portfolio, My page got some attention from others that wanted anime tattoos and since they liked the finished product of the few pieces i had, they wanted me to do theirs. eventually it kind of snowballed. the more anime tattoos i had in my portfolio, the more people considered anime my specialty. now i’m pretty much booked with only anime tattoos, but Of course, i love it.
