We were lucky to catch up with Jose Cruz Velazquez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jose Cruz, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
If only I could’ve started my career sooner. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to have a career as an artist of some sort, but I wasn’t sure how it would’ve worked out if I jumped right into it. I had to come up with a game plan sooner than later because I knew once I entered adulthood, life was going to get real and the best time to take career risks in life is when you’re young.
My initial idea after graduating high school was to get a job and earn some money that would eventually fund me throughout a tattoo apprenticeship. At that time, I had already purchased top of the line tattoo equipment with money I had saved through sales I made as a teenager and with that equipment, I started tattooing friends and family. I worked several jobs for about four years and set aside a good chunk of change, but I couldn’t quite make the leap to quit my job at the time and search for a tattoo apprenticeship. Throughout those years, I had still been tattooing old friends and new either at my place or theirs. I would work from 5am to 2pm at a grocery store stocking dairy products and would tattoo whenever I had the chance once I was off, sometimes until three in the morning. This schedule of working and tattooing led me to losing my day job after being late to work one too many times. At that point, I had no income to cover my bills or to set aside for my plan. I had to make a move and make one fast.
It was a day later I noticed a phenomenal local tattoo artist who I had become friends with through Facebook had listed that his tattoo studio was hiring an artist. It felt like an unexplainable calling. I was now jobless and had nothing to lose, so I gave it a shot. I reached out asking about the position, and the owner invited me into the studio to talk to him. I was nervous, but desperate for an opportunity to apply my accumulated skills. The owner was very nice and considered giving me a chance. I kept my cool but behind my collected smile I was exploding with excitement. I had asked when I would be able to begin my apprenticeship and how long it would take before I could become a licensed artist. He told me an apprenticeship wasn’t necessary because he had seen the tattoos I had been producing throughout the years and said I was ready to take on clients as a legit tattoo artist. It meant so much coming from such an amazing artist and I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t disappoint him.
Working those early mornings in the dairy cooler, I had always told myself that if I was given the opportunity to work as a tattoo artist in a studio, I wouldn’t take it for granted. I was coming in the studio every single day in hopes somebody would walk in or call the studio looking to get a tattoo done. I needed to build a consistent clientele if this was to work out and I did my absolute best to tattoo anybody I could and anything they asked for. It started off a little slow, but picked up quick. By a few months of tattooing legitimately, I was booking around a month out. I tattooed every tattoo like it would’ve been my last, and I would be at the studio for at least twelve hours most days. Around a year or so in, I was booking out around half a year and was exhausted of the long days but was fulfilled feeling as if my dreams had come true. My tattoo career had worked out better than I thought and in less time than I was expecting it to.
I looked back at the days I worried it wouldn’t work out, working in the grocery store thinking I might be there forever. Man, I wish I would’ve made the decision to just quit and send it. I could’ve been far more established as an artist and in my life. However, I am very grateful to have experienced the trials and tribulations prior to tattooing legitimately. I feel as if it shaped my work ethic and humbled me as person. It reminds me how much some of my clients love and respect my work to spend their hard-earned money to receive a piece of art from me they’ll wear forever. So although I wish I would’ve started my career sooner, I am satisfied everything worked out in the timespan it did.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m an artist and tattooist born and raised in Sacramento, California. I lived most of my early years on a ranch owned by my grandparents with my parents, siblings, and cousin. The ranch was surrounded by open fields and isolated from what felt like the rest of the world. It was peaceful and offered many opportunities to create fun. It’s a place I believe strengthened my imagination and creativity.
My father and older brother were both great artists and I always felt like I could become just as good. They were clearly more skilled due to the years they had over me to study and practice, but I was determined to catch up and create works just as impressive. I would draw all the time. Graffiti letters mimicking those of which my father produced in his sketch books, Pokémon and Dragonball characters from the animations I would see on TV, and cars because I always found them fascinating. There weren’t many references available to copy from since we didn’t have internet at the time, so I relied a lot on my memory and imagination. Because of this, the characters I would create wouldn’t be too accurate on detail and that’s when my imagination would kick in to fill in those areas to my liking.
I knew I drew a lot more than the other kids in my class growing up because most of them always seemed fascinated by the drawings I made. They also wanted me in their groups a lot of the times for group assignments because they knew I was the one who would make the assignment the most visually pleasing. I won a few drawing/coloring competitions held by some of the schools I attended and local stores that held them. Drawing never became boring for me. It just seemed to become more interesting.
As I got older, I understood that I didn’t come from much wealth. I eventually found myself trying to make a dollar however I could, and drawing and painting was a big portion of that. I would paint on friends’ hats, backpacks, shoes, phone cases, and a bunch of other possessions of theirs. I’d charge ten bucks most of the time and I thought it was so cool to make money doing something I enjoyed.
I was around 12 or 13 when my older brother started experimenting with tattooing (at home). I realized he was making a hundred dollars per tattoo sometimes and I knew that would be way more worth my time than painting hats and shoes. I decided I was going to tattoo as well one day.
Time went by and I eventually saved enough money to purchase my own tattoo equipment. I started tattooing friends in high school and that led to coworkers as well once I graduated and got a job at the grocery store. The more tattoos I made, the easier it became for me to get clients. I was building a portfolio with each tattoo I did and the more I had to show for, the more somebody felt they could trust me. I tattooed in rough conditions when I wasn’t working at the grocery store. I would tattoo in my bedroom, friends’ houses, garages, backyards, kitchen tables…Shoot, I would tattoo wherever I had the room to set up my equipment.
I eventually got fired from my grocery job and pursued tattooing legitimately and full-time. I landed a spot with Ryan El Dugi at his studio, The White Buffalo Gallery. Ryan gave me an opportunity that changed my life and I’m forever grateful for. I worked at The White Buffalo like a madman for a little over three years, eventually saving enough money to invest with my brothers Angel and Kehlan (Sly), and open a studio of our own. Thus, REALM was born.
My brothers and I built the studio we always dreamed of in 2022 and it’s been a surreal experience. We all carried artist backgrounds prior to getting into tattooing, and it’s something we implement in our work all the time. It’s something I feel we offer that some newer tattoo shops aren’t displaying much of anymore. We like to include traditional and organic design techniques in our work, sourced through our imagination and not only through photo reference. I love that about the team I work with. We also continue to push each other to do better and constantly apply pressure amongst one another with the work we produce.
I still love tattooing and creating art outside of skin every day. To this day, it blows my mind that I’m able to make a career from something I feel so passionately about. I’m very thankful for the friends and family I have who have supported me along the way because I truly believe I couldn’t have made this happen without them.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is to be the best artist I could be. Art is what I love, and what I can provide. So I’m doing my best to provide my best..
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I think the process of creating. There’s a certain magic in making an idea or vision come to life that is so beautiful and rewarding. It’s what I feel is the closest thing, to being truly free.
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