Tattoo by Jose Morales

Last month, Jose Morales shared the stories behind his tattoos (January 2010; Issue #45). This month, he talks about becoming a tattoo artist and shares some of the tattoo art that he's done.

Jose Morales moved from Santa Barbara, CA to Oahu with his parents when he was 17. Six years later, he began his tattooing career on the island and, with only two years in the business, has been gaining attention for his artwork. He sat with me and talked tats, the Warped Tour, and science.

What got you into tattooing?

When I got my first tattoo, actually my son’s name. I’ve done art all my life, but I’ve never had art lessons or anything. When I got my first tattoo, I was like, hey that’s cool. I think I might try that.  That was it.

Was it easy to get in?

Honestly, I was kind of nervous to get in. I decided that I wanted to tattoo when I was 19 but I didn’t do anything about it until I actually saw an opportunity when I was 23. I started apprenticing at Hart & Huntington, actually. I used to hang out with one of the artists that got hired there to work. He said hey, they’re hiring for shop help, so be shop help and work your butt off and see if you can get an apprenticeship. And I did… I was only there for like a year.

 

Then what?

I left Heart & Huntington and followed the guy who taught me the technicals of tattooing … but then I thought, I can do this on my own. I went to John Montavo, as far as color work, because he understood what is called color theory. He’s in Florida, so I flew to Florida a couple of times. Learned as much as I could while I was there. Finished up my apprenticeship, so to speak, and I’ve been tattooing ever since.

 

Which shops have you worked at?

The first shop that took me was Rockstar. From there, I went to Black Cat… for about six months and then I went to tattoo on Warped Tour… My friend owns a clothing line and he was going on Warped Tour. He said come tattoo on Warped Tour and bring whomever you want, so I brought [Josh Reed]… Then came back, finally, and started at Tattoolicious.

Are you going to stick around in Hawaii?

Every month, I go to a convention or do a guest spot. I just got back from Los Angeles doing a guest spot at Nathan Consteco’s shop, which was an honor because he’s one of the greatest in the world… I have a son that goes to school here, so probably when he gets older, I plan on moving to Los Angeles. I love Hawaii. Hawaii is really great. Tattooing-wise, being able to not have to fly to go do all this stuff would help a lot. It gets pretty pricey…

 

How would you describe your artwork? What’s your speciality?

I love color. I would describe it as surrealism.

What was one of the last tattoos that you did?

The last tattoo I did, I call a science rose. It’s a rose that has atoms sprouting out of its petals. It has water drops on it. It has a gem inside the middle. It kind of glows in the middle and then it has a geometric background behind that. The rose itself is growing out of the person’s flesh.

 

Sounds like you’re a big fan of science.

Pretty much. Just things that make people think… That’s probably one of my most favorite things to do, other than art, is having really good conversations with people about things or thoughts.

Are you constantly getting better at tattooing?

Oh yeah. I feel like anyone that is constantly striving to be better, get better all the time. I’m pretty stoked. This year, I feel like I’ll definitely improve.  I got a couple of invitations to conventions this year. I’m definitely going to be doing a couple more guest spots. I’m pretty stoked.

 

Find Jose at Tattooliciour or www.myspace.com/joeyjose and facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1710896816&ref=ts or search for Jose Morales.