Geo

 Located at our Shaenfield Ranch location, Geo has become one of San Antonio's most sought-after artists.  Widely known for his watercolor and vibrant realism, Geo also excels in realism, black and grey, graphic illustrative among other styles -- his portfolio speaks for itself.

How long have you been tattooing professionally?
About to hit my 5 year mark.

What inspired you into the art of tattooing?
I grew up in the Chicano based culture on the west side of San Antonio watching my Dad, and the majority of my family, getting tattooed.  I just thought it was a normal way of life: kind of a rite of passage that I couldn't wait to be a part of.  To me, those guys were the coolest bunch.

Naturally, I like to figure out how things work. I was like, I'd take apart a VCR and put it back together, my mom tells me, but I never thought I'd be able to be behind a tattoo machine. I remember being about as tall as my Dad's waist, hiding behind him when strangers came around.  Once they pulled out their rigged up VCR motors and Bic pen tubes with the dull (what I know now was the E-string of a guitar) I lost all sense of shyness and I wouldn't stop asking questions and I never stopped.

As I grew up, after suffering some pretty heavy losses (from murders to life sentences), I realized this had been calling me all my life.  There's no going back now -- that's not even an option

Tell us about your preferred style of work.
Honestly, I prefer anything I didn't do the week before, if that makes sense.  I don't think there is a style of tattooing I'm not interested in, but I'm most confident in black and grey based work because it was all I was able to do where I grew up. But because it was an older style, with several generations of the concept already having been laid out, I've found myself searching for anything different: anything I never saw on uncles and cousins.  Now, I love dramatic color and semi realistic color floral that I can put a twist on.  I guess people throw it all into a "watercolor" category, but it's so much more to me.  I've never really practiced watercolor, but am now really into the creative freedom it offers.  

I'm also a tech nerd at heart, I've built a house of graphic illustration.  So, for example, you'll see me photoshop a real flower onto my hand-sketched flower, which morphs into melting or dripping paint because you don't see that kind of stuff ever.

What other styles are you known for?
I used to do mostly American neotraditional, and Japanese traditional work, along with realistic, illustrative black and grey, but in the industry right now I don't get to take on as many of these projects as I'd like to.

What inspires you as an artist?
Life. Love. Freedom. Expression. Even Death.  I see us as flowers who bloom ourselves, and to recreate a moment in a life cycle that's also over too soon.  It's just my way of dealing with the thought of a mundane existence vs the end of an existence in itself.

Why should someone pick you for their next tattoo/to be their artist?
Because I want to give you something to help you love yourself.  I will go above and beyond to balance what you want, what I can do, and what tattooing will let us do to create something as beautiful as possible. That doesn't mean I have a problem with names or street shop walk-in flash -- I care about your story and I'd love to hear it.

Anything else you'd like for prospective to know about you?
I'm grateful for your trust and patience.  I'm far from a "this is what you get" or "lemme talk you into something else" kind of artist, unless it's against my more code and/or experience is illustration tattooing.

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