Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlos Ortiz.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am a tattoo artist from Blue Island, Illinois, just south of Chicago. My earliest memory of tattooing was when I was about 4 my family would travel to Mexico to visit my grandparents. In the neighborhood, I would see young kids tattooing each other when they were only10 years old. My brother, Jose a.k.a. DzRANGERdz began hanging out with these kids when we saw them, and shortly after he turned 13, he began tattooing as well. By the time he was 15, he had a full sleeve he had done himself and was on his way to starting his tattoo career. Back then, I had not started tattooing but I would watch my brother all the time. I was always curious if I might be able to do the same thing. He would have me help him with making stencils by hand, sterilizing, and making designs for him. After watching my brother tattoo for over 10 years, I began tattooing in 2006 at the age of 18. In 2009, he opened Aztek Ink after tattooing at other peoples studios and my parent’s house for almost 13 years. We worked side by side constantly, often working until the wee hours of the morning. Jose was diagnosed with Stills disease in his early twenties. He battled with it for years, although he never complained about it. He passed away in June of 2014 at the young age of 31.
Today, I have loved drawing all my life and began to enjoy horror and surrealism after learning about Salvador Dali from my high school art teacher Mr. Hart. I enjoyed ballpoint pen for a long time then spread out and tried almost every other medium I could get my hands on, from oil to digital to sculpting. I attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago from 2007-2010 where I received a bachelors degree in Illustration. My favorite style is realism with horror or surreal parts to it. While I mostly do black and grey, I still really like to do color realism as well. I love the added challenge of balancing the intensities of color and value at the same time.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I don’t believe anyone tattooing has a smooth road. You can have the best teachers, and still, need to learn a lot of things by feel and through time. It’s a career, like most where you experience many setbacks before it becomes fruitful, but we do it because we enjoy it more than anything else.
At first, some of the setbacks I experienced were not having the skill set in tattooing to match my artwork. I knew I could draw well but tattooing was a different beast entirely. I could apply what I knew about art but the technical knowledge was difficult to gain, it changed depending on each project and each person as well. I would do the same thing on two people and have totally different results! It was frustrating, to say the least. It takes a lot of patience to eliminate those variables and improve every aspect of what you do until finding a good middle ground that will work the most consistently.
Losing my brother at the young age of 31 was by far the biggest struggle. I saw him tattoo for over 17 years and was around him constantly after he opened his own studio and I became the first artist working there. After he died, I needed to replace him as the owner while I was reeling over his loss. It was a massive struggle but it has given me a greater appreciation for my life and the people I still have.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The studio is called Aztek ink. We are a tattoo studio mainly concentrating on realistic work, but we are capable of all types of styles. What sets us apart Is our attention to detail in our work and the constant improvement by all of our artist. We’re not happy coming to work, tattooing and leaving. We often stay late tattooing or We want to be better than we were yesterday and we communicate on how we can do that all the time. Through this, we have managed continually up our game and that’s what we take the most pride in.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was introverted and curious. I liked to draw and play video games A LOT. After that, I became obsessed with skateboarding for about 10 years straight, my life works in an obsession that lasts 10 years, first video games, then skateboarding, now tattooing!
Contact Info:
- Address: 13357 olde western ave
- Website: aztekink.com
- Phone: 708-529-8356
- Email: aztekinktat2@gmail.com
- Instagram: @aztekink
- Facebook: facebook.com/aztekinktattoostudio
Image Credit:
Carlos Ortiz
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