Hello Alex Bruz! Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. How long have you been tattooing? What inspired you to start tattooing? I started on February 7th, 2012. My inspiration was my father, he was a great sculptor and oil painting artist. I grew up watching him paint daily, and one day I decided to start tattooing.

Q: Was it difficult getting into the business? What was the main goal you've had back when you were starting?
A: First of all, I don’t look at it as a business, even though it is my income source, I’ve never looked at it that way. If you tattoo for money, you won’t have art nor money. The main goal when I started always was to do things the right way and be better everyday.

Q: Do you have any artistic background?
A: Yes, in fact I'm a guitar player, even before I started tattooing, that was what I used to do.

Q: How did you learn the basics? Did you have any mentor?
A: I started as a client of the best tattoo artists back then in the country. I learned a lot from watching, asking and taking advice from them. I attended a lot of seminars imparted by national and international artists. No, I didn’t had a mentor. The best way to learn this art is by practice, not making the same mistakes on each tattoo. Any person can learn in both ways, being an expert’s apprentice or by being self taught.

Q: Your best aftercare advice?
A: My aftercare advice goes like this: on the next 3 days after getting tattooed, wash the area from 3 to 4 times a day and let it dry. Don’t apply any ointment. After the 3rd day, start hydrating the tattoo with an ointment, with this technique I’ve achieved an optimal healing, since it avoids humidity and the final result is more solid. You should avoid sweating, drinking alcoholic brewages before, while and after, applying a non recommended ointment, and sun exposition for the following 2 weeks.

Q: How is the tattoo scene in Venezuela? Do you see progress? Would you change something about the global scene?
A: In Venezuela there's a strong development, the tattoo scene globally, the progress is noticeable, since there are new artists popping all the time. If I could change anything, it would be to get more respect as artists or as any other profession, like doctors, actors, musicians, architects, etc. Yes, of course there are so many talented young artists, but they should be more humble and close, leave egos aside.

Q: Do you have any favorite artists?
A: Yeah, my Venezuelan colleague, Darwin Enriquez. I think he’s an artist who never stops evolving, he’s always innovating.

Q: What's the best part of being a tattoo artist?
A: The best part of being a tattoo artist is to understand that there can’t be an error margin on the art piece you do on a client. It is gratifying to know they trust you enough to let you create something that will last forever.