Today we’d like to introduce you to Mario Arcila.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in Cuba till the age of 7. We moved to Miami my family and I made a modest little life for ourselves. They put me in an art school on Saturdays where I would learn as much as any 12-year-old could learn about oil painting until I started teaching other kids what I learned there.
I moved on to win an honorable mention in the Miami Heralds silver knights and went to college at FIU. During my Bachelors I started looking more and more into tattooing until I dove into an apprenticeship. I ended up leaving my apprenticeship after 10 months and tattooed by myself for about 4 months until a professor of mine recommended I work over at his friends shop and that’s where I began professionally tattooing. I’ve been tattooing 3 years since I began my apprenticeship and it’s been a bit of a rough ride but it smoothens out bit by bit the more you get a grasp on it.
I started off tattooing by learning how to do traditional tattoos which consist of solid lines and strong color packing, whip shading etc. Then I moved on to neo-traditional which is kind of the same but some color blending and differences in weight of line. Soon after came Japanese and Black and Grey which, for me, are the strongest pillars in tattooing, and also my favorite things to do. Then again, I’m just hitting the tip of the iceberg really, I’m practically 3 years old.
Please tell us about your art.
I do my best to give people the best tattoo I can possibly give them in accordance to their ideas. Sometimes people have really good concepts but really bad reference and it’s my job to give them a crash course on design and sometimes people come with amazing references but want the same exact thing and I have to give them a crash course on ethics in art because copying is bad but stealing is good, and sometimes it gets difficult to understand the difference. But ultimately people understand and end up bleeding, sweating and crying through some pretty cool tattoos when they give me the chance.
There’s really not a certain message in my work but there is a message that the people I tattoo walk away with and really that’s what’s important. I think that meeting so many people and talking to them for hours at a time about things that happen really open up my eyes to what the human condition is like and I find it inspiring to be able to work with so many people on so many different subjects and manage to impress them when it’s all set and done. The best way to get tattooed with me is to catch me at the shop and ask to talk to me about an idea you might have and how you would like to go about it and then we can bounce ideas off one another. At that point I’ll be able to have a good idea on what to draw for someone and once the design is done we’ll get to tattooing!
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
The biggest challenge facing artists has to be the convenience of being lazy. Having an iPad and being able to copy other people’s tattoos and ideas for tattoos has to be the saddest thing to happen to tattooing because in my eyes tattooing marks you as an individual and it’s supposed to be something that was crafted just for you. When you take the individuality away from it, it just makes you like anyone else and tattoos aren’t like anything else.
There’s not a limited amount of options, yet everywhere I look I see girls with roses and doves and boys with tiger eyes and fading forests. Maybe the real challenge could be a lack of imagination on both parts? Clients and artists? Maybe it’s just more convenient to get something that’s already designed and you know what it’s going to look like? I’m not sure, but I am sure that I don’t want to be a part of that side of tattooing and I guess that’s a challenge that we, tattoo artists, have to face on every tattoo. The good news is that with a good composition and solid design, there’s a lot of room for possibilities!
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The best way to check out my work would be in person but as I can’t carry all the tattoos I’ve done with me, Instagram does a decent job. My tag is @MarioArcilaTattoos feel free to check out my work whenever. The best way people can support my work is simply just sharing it with one another, tattooing is my job but more importantly it’s my career so it’s more than just money. Sometimes a little appreciation is more than enough to support any artist.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 7862374556
- Instagram: marioarcilatattoos
Image Credit:
Mario Arcila
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