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In addition to continuing my regular visits to Katattoomba in A Coruña and Poison Tattoo in Madrid.
As I have been commenting in the previous post of my blog, I want to broaden my horizons and I'm working on it.
As the name of the store indicates, it is located at Betanzos, very close to A Coruña where I live, and there I can better serve many of those who commute by car from other nearby villages.
I have two other good reasons to go to the city of Betanzos for tattooing: to share space and time with Leonel y Nico Grifonetwo experienced Japanese style tattoo artists.
In the middle of old town in the center of the cityNext to the Plaza de la Constitución and surrounded by tourist attractions is the studio of Delicatesen Tattoo Betanzos.
In the Rúa Castro number 1In this unbeatable location in the capital of the region, the store has spacious rooms to receive customers, ringing and tattooing. Everything looks very clean and the atmosphere is cozy.
As usual in the tattoo studios, wherever you look you will see beautiful plates made by good tattoo artists from all over the world, and without realizing it, you will already be thinking about the next tattoos you want to do!
Leo decides to set up his second location in another city with the intention of increasing his business and to serve those who live in other parts of Galicia and travel from far away. for tattooing in La Coruña city.
Later in the year Miryam joins the team as banding machine and receptionist. It's nice to see her in the store. Besides being beautiful and nice, she has a super collection of Japanese tattoos, most of them made by Leo and Nico.
Two resident artists: Leonel and Nico Grifone. Two banders: Miryamwho usually spends the most time out there, and David.
My friend Your is in charge of laser tattoo removal.
The apprentice Johnthe regular guest artist Diego and me, who will also be visiting the store regularly from September 2022.
I will tell a little more about Leo and Nico, who are the resident artists and Japanese specialists.
Leonel tattooing since 1996 and has lived in Galicia since 2004.
The first store Delicatesen Tattoo had already been in A Coruña since 1998Leo subsequently becomes its owner.
The irezumi of Leo is characterized by contour fine and precise, detailed composition and dintorno with a variety of bright colors and gradients.
It recalls great masters of the modern Japanese tattooas Filip Leu, Jack Mosher o Mauricio Teodorothe latter a pioneer of Japanese tattooing in Brazil.
He usually works a lot in his drawings the depth and volume through shines and shadows, making more realistic the elements of his tattoos and giving a more realistic look to his tattoos. really beautiful finish a the pieces, both the colorful ones and those made in black and gray.
As a good tattoo artist who started in the 90's, Leonel fully controls other classic styles of tattooing in addition to Japanese. It is worth taking a look at his work.
Throughout the post there are links to the social networks of the professionals and venues mentioned here.
I have been following Leonel for a long time through the networks and although we had not yet met, we have many friends and affinities in common.
We are both natives of the South American pampas, he from Argentina and I from the south of Brazil. We chose to dedicate ourselves to tattooing in the same years and then we decided to go to Madrid, and later to La Coruña.
In addition to the passion for Japanese tattooing, we share a passion for the BJJ (Jiu Jitsu Brazilian) that we have practiced for so many years. On these roads we have coincided in local and with a few coworkers.
Now it's time to work together!
Nico Grifone is a native of Italy and has been tattooing for more than three decades.
He has been living in Spain for a long time and in 2019 he moved to Betanzos at Leo's invitation, to work at Delicatesen and has made his home there ever since.
It is a privilege to meet tattoo artists of Nico's generation. In those years there were few who were brave and passionate enough to choose the path of the tattooist, then so stigmatized.
We have been working together many years ago at Mala Sangre Tattoo Studio in Madrid with our dear friend and tattoo artist Joel.
I have had the pleasure of seeing tattoos of different themes made by Nico. I have seen these tattoos many times, freshly done and over the years and always appreciate the good quality they have. Without a doubt Nico is a excellent tattooist.
He is equally good at drawing, and as masters different stylesOnce one follows his work, one is able to identify his works by their peculiarities.
In his creations you can notice Nico's authorship, as he has a very mature and particular art.
When working with Japanese themed tattoos, his good drawing fundamentals and his more than thirty years of experience.
It is perceived in the gakubori and the way it uses to represent the water the aesthetics of the great European masters of Japanese tattooing.
Nico's signature is appreciated for its authentic way of doing business. dintorno using the resource of total painting of the surface. The expressive countenance of his characters and the combination of few solid and vivid colors also define his tattoos.
A beautiful city between green mountains and many estuaries, full of long-lived buildings and churches, white galleries and stone arcades that delight the eyes of pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, tourists and all those who appreciate the beauty that exists in all these buildings that clearly keep many stories, for me yet to be revealed.
I have visited Betanzos many times before. I have taken there a few friends and all my relatives from Brazil when they have come to visit me.
Although I've been there a few times, I've spent very little time there all the time.
I am looking forward to getting to know Betanzos, its corners and betanceiros better.
The tattoo scene is changing by leaps and bounds. In Spain and in the world.
When I started tattooing, more than 20 years agoThe tattoo artists were dedicated to making drawings and tattoos of the most diverse themes. and the public generally asked for small pieces.
The stores used to have one or two professionals at the most. More than two in the same shop was not common.
With time and the increased commercialization of tattoos, artists have started to specialize in different styles and the stores have started to have a larger number of tattoo artists.
When possible, a team of tattoo professionals with different styles was organized to serve a larger number of customers with different tastes in the same place.
Tattooing is becoming more and more popular and the time is coming, each country at its own pace, for several countries to tattoo artists skilled in the same style to work together in the same study.
Some styles are more popular than others. This depends on several factors: time, fashion, price, time of production, etc.
Although some clients do small Japanese-themed tattoos, by definition the style of the tattoo is is characterized by tattoos of large dimensions and high economic value that require many hours to be finished..
Definitely the irezumi and the horimono require a great deal of dedication by tattoo artists and tattooed people.
Having the opportunity to work with other professionals who are experts in the same sector is one of the best ways to learn and evolve.
So to be able to collaborate with Leonel y Nico Grifonetattoo artists who, like me, have been decades in the profession and are dedicated to Japanese tattoo will be a pleasant experience for all three of us.
Tattoo History
For those of you who would like to know a little more about the history of tattooing, I invite you to take a look at the following link.
