Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Inclan.
Erik, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I got my first tattoo at the age of 14 and from that point, I knew I was hooked. I hung out and tattoo shops for the next few years and I had friends that did it and push me to start doing it. I started tattooing at the age of 17. That was 1989. I work in the Southern California area from 1989 till about 1992 and then I moved to Dallas where I have been since.
I have travel the world and have tattooed just about everywhere in the United States from Hawaii to New York and outside of the United States like Amsterdam, Rome, Malta, Australia and Mexico. I have a large celebrity clientele that range from athletes to musicians two movie stars. I did a lot of tattoos on Dennis Rodman throughout the mid-90s. I’ve been a lot of work on John Mayer. I’m also friends with and have done a lot of work on James Hetfield the lead singer of Metallica. Members of the band Godsmack. And have even done some work on actor Ryan Reynolds.
There’s a lot more I can add to this list but I think you get the point. I still tattoo everyday. Nothing is too big or too small I don’t turn anything down. I try to keep myself booked out three to five weeks. At this point, I am still learning this craft and still take advantage of when I can watch other artist work. I always have different guess artist coming through my studio at any given time. I also continue to go do guest spots all over the country and in other parts of the world.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Tattooing back in the late eighties and through the 90s was challenging in the way of keeping a clientele. There weren’t very many shops but there also was no internet. You actually had to look at a phone book to find a tattoo shop. All we had was business cards in Word of Mouth to get people in.
Tattooing is a very seasonal job sometimes and winter is always the most difficult time. You learned very quickly how to put money away through the spring and summer to get through the winter. There were many months in a row where you would eat 49 cent bean burritos at Taco Bell and have ramen soup on a regular basis.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Ace in the Hole Studios – what should we know?
I started my studio January 1st, 1998. I am the owner operator and tattooer. I specialize in all styles of tattooing and consider myself a pretty well-rounded artist. I try not to turn down stuff what it’s brought to me this year we celebrated our 20-year anniversary is a studio in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We are one of the older studios in the DFW area as well.
We have a very good turn out of guest artists that come through the shop on a regular basis as well to give people the opportunity to get tattooed by some artist that they might not normally have a chance to see.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Even though tattooing is still a little rough around the edges I still think that it comes down to how you treat the client in the end. Along with doing good work as well the experience that you give somebody along the way is what they will remember and if they have a good experience they will recommend you two other people.
Pricing:
- Based on $200 per hr
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aceintheholestudios.com
- Phone: 2149384296
- Email: myjuiceisworththesqueeze@gmail.com
- Instagram: @beatnikvonzipper
- Facebook: Facebook.com/voninclan
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