We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel Angeles Dentlok tattoo arts . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel Angeles below.

Daniel Angeles, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

At the age of 5 my dad bought me dragon ball z posters which he thought me how to trace by placing a blank paper over them against the window I then took them to school and sold them for .25 cents to my classmates . Soon after we came to the states from Mexico City back 2002 I started to draw on my classmate journal covers for $5. In high school I painted back packs and would draw on people’s skins with pens (mostly In detention) I soon found my love and passion for the art of tattooing. At 18 few months after graduating high school with the help and support of my father I got myself and apprenticeship which I did for almost 3 years while holding several jobs in the food industry. Eventually I started tattooing 1 day a week while working 6 and subsequently worked my way to tattooing full time it has now been 9 years since I had a regular 9-5. While tattooing I continued to draw and paint and at night times I would go to many local bars and do live painting sessions as side shows for my buddy Ukiem . This helped develop my painting skills which have evolved into larger and larger canvasses ! At this point I have done several murals all over San Diego and I plan to make a living out of them ,making my tattoo work a hobby once again

Daniel Angeles, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well my dad helped a lot ,he drove me from shop to shop until I scored my first apprenticeship.I would be at the shop Monday -Sunday 10am-10pm . Being an apprentice was not very profitable given that I would only receive tips once in a while ,at this first shop I linked up with my mento Tony Lopez who would take me under his wing and guide me for the next 3 years . During this time we worked at several shops all over San Diego where I was exposed to many artist and their styles , as an apprentice I had to set up and clean up their stations as well as hand stencil all of their tattoos. ,this helped me develop a basic knowledge of many styles of tattooing , from American traditional to Japanese art to script lettering to fine line Chicano style work ,with in all of this I notice a huge lock for cover up work which I decided to focus on ,through my 12 years in the industry I developed the recipe to my sauce ! The thing that would make me stand out from most ! I figured out how to cover up anything that came through the door or my Dms , I believe that by doing this I would be helping people out , you see many people have tattoo the regret ,this messes with their selfstem most are ashamed of this crappy tattoos they many have been turned down or they have gotten stuck with Poot attempts at covering this regrets ,but with me they have hope , I help give them confidence and pride on the tattoos they have This is why I’m the cover up specialist

How did you build your audience on social media?

Network ! Get out there ! I did many live painting shows , I sponsored farmers markets and never stoped looking for ways to continue to expand my reach In my business word of mouth is the key to success! You most always do 120% ! No matter what ! The happier your customers leave the better they will talk about you to all their friends and anyone that crosses their path to admire your work !\

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

One of my mentors made me read many tattoo history books so that I would learn about every single aspect of my craft ! You should never stop learning ! There’s always someone coming up with new innovations and techniques The day you stop learning is the day you will begin to loose !

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