Born in Olinda, Brazil. Being an 80’s kid, it was the perfect decade to be inspired artistically at a young age. I used to watch cartoons like He-man, Thunder Cats and Dungeons and Dragons. Those cartoons gave me my first taste of what art was at that time. Then the experience went from cartoons to movies, I remember first time I saw Conan the barbarian, it was the first time I saw Arnold Schwarzenegger, riding a horse as Conan, that’s where my passion for fantasy art begun. My gramma used to take me to a bakery shop to buy bread in the morning, and the guy who owned the bakery used to draw Conan on the paper he used to wrap the breads with, and I remember as a child, and I couldn’t take my eyes off that drawing, I couldn’t believe how such a good image could be on a piece of paper. The 80’s for me was a school of art as a kid, watching movies like Robocop, The Terminator, Predator, Batman, I was very inspired by all that, so my early drawings come from all 80’s movies.
Fast forward to the 90’s, I was exposed to video games, my first console was a nes, however my strongest memories come from when I finally got a Super Nintendo at the age of 11, that was the console I dreamed to have, as all I wanted was to have Street Fighter 2 in my bedroom, and I knew everything was going to be ok. Super Nintendo is still to this day my favourite console, it really made me want to draw more and be totally immersed in the world of video-games and art. I have very happy memories with that console.
When I became 14 years old I moved to São Paulo to live with my auntie, as my Mum was travelling to England. It was a hard period of my life because my auntie was quiet strict, and I didn’t have the freedom to do much, and she would not let me have any video-games, or do much, however that’s when I discovered comics, and I used to hide my comics from my auntie, scared of what she was going to think. So my period as a teenager was most been locked in a room reading comics and drawing, I thought that was a curse, however it was actually a blessing. Looking back, that’s when I learned about proportions and different action positions. I used to buy comics drawn by Todd McFarlane when he used to draw Spider-man. He was the first artist to draw Sider-man with spider jumps and action figure. A lot of people don’t know this but a lot of the positions you see in a movie of spider man, when he’s jumping in New York, it all comes from Tod McFarlane drawings. So when I watch a Spider-man movie, It’s like reading the comics in the 90’s.
I used to read Comics as a Teenager, and at the age of 14 years old I discovered Heavy Metal. My Mum was in to Guns and Roses and Pink Floyd when I was a kid, however when I was a teenager I got introduced to a Brazilian Heavy Metal band called Sepultura. And that completely changed my life. I probably would not become a Tattoo Artist if it wasn’t for Sepultura, as that’s when I begun to look at Tattoos. I was only 14, so I couldn’t get any Tattoos. So i used to look at Tattoo magazines in 1997, however the Magazines were from 1995. Because by the time tattoo magazines arrived in Brazil it was 2-3 years late.
At the age of 17, i came to England to live in Manchester Lancashire, in a small town called Heywood. It was a big culture shock coming from Brazil to England, specially in a small town like Heywood. However i was exited about how different my life had become, the weather was different, i had to learn a new language, it was like living a completely different life.
Something that really caught my attention about living in the Uk, was how older generations had old tattoos in England, in Brazil my grandparents generation would never dreamed of getting tattooed. And in England for the first time I was exposed to tattoos done in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s.
Old school tattoos were quiet magical to me, they seemed to have so much history behind them, I liked looking at really old tattoos, they made me realise that tattooing wasn’t just something happening now, it seemed like a culture that had history. I could feel the history behind it, and i felt like I wanted to get to know it, and be a part of it. However I thought of being a part of it getting tattooed, and going to tattoo conventions. As I did not know back then I was going to be a tattoo artist.
At the age of 18 I got my first tattoo by Gary Parkinson at the Bolton tat shop. And I got hooked about getting tattooed. I started attending tattoo conventions as a tattoo fan, and I used to love the atmosphere, I felt like I belonged in that world, even knowing it didn’t cross my mind about being a tattoo artist, I’ve always been a fan of art and never stopped drawing.
It wasn’t until I started living with a friend of mine that he opened my eyes about being a tattoo artist. I used to draw in his house, and he turned around to me and said, you should be a tattoo artist.
My house mate, used to get tattooed in Bury. And that’s when I got offered my apprenticeship and started tattooing a year later.
I started tattooing flash designs, however that gave me a strong foundation in tattooing, I started tattooing small designs and building up to bigger ones.
I moved to Leeds in 2009. And started working with Butch. He was a great teacher for me, as he cared about art and tattooing, and his studio was full of artists coming from all over the world to tattoo where I was working, so it was great for me to be in a studio, and working with tattoo artists from all over the world, I learned a lot by doing that.
It’s important to travel tattooing to learn and meet different people.
I had seminars with my favourite artists, Boris Vallejo, Carlos Torres, Nikko Hurtado, Alex de Phase.
I get tattooed by my favourite Tattoo Artist, Victor Portugal. As I can learn from him.
I’m a Tattoo Artist because I love it, and I wouldn’t be able to do it if I didn’t love it. I have had amazing experiences with my clients, and I have built a lot of friendships along the way, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.
I feel like art is my purpose in life, and I want to make the most of my life journey to fulfil my artistic needs. I get a lot of ideas in my head to paint and draw, and I know my time here is limited so that’s why I try to fulfil my free time, painting, drawing and learning art.
