When entering a tattoo parlor, a
person's objective is to have their vision of the art piece come to life upon
their body. Once you enter the doors of
Royal Tattoo, you enter an atmosphere with the type of family unity you feel
when you walk into your own home. It's a
place created by the owner, Dennis Binam, who handpicked his artists in order
to bring together the best visionaries in the business who can create master
pieces with a telling story. Each artist
at Royal Tattoo has a specialty and a particular way of bringing their vision
to life. Royal Tattoos artists: Fernando
Monter, Luis "Ink Priest" Ochoa, and Shane Roman; share a common
brotherhood and a true love for assisting someone's vision come to life. With state of the art equipment and the use
of top of the line sterilization procedures, Royal Tattoo patrons can rest
assure they are in safe and capable hands who will bring their dream art piece
to life in a royal manner!
Having gone through a very
tumultuous upbringing and overcoming the street life, Dennis Binam turned his
life around all while becoming prosperous within his business ventures. He attributes his uncle Rich, who was his
sole father figure growing up, to having the type of business savvy it takes to
establish a successful company. When
entering the tattoo business, Dennis's own love for having quality and
meaningful tattoos was an important factor.
He wanted to create the type of environment conducive enough to allow
creativity to grow and flourish. He hired
artists who live to create memories.
Dennis states, "Royal Tattoo is a place you can go, have a good
time, and leave with a great memory of body art!" His tattoo artists take time out to really
speak to the client and get to know exactly why they want to get that
particular tattoo, making sure that it fits their personality. He proudly states that, "We create
memories." Being able to capture a
certain story and bringing it to life on someone is a unique talent on its
own. Creating the type of environment
that drives different clientele with various background is also an important
skill set. Royal Tattoo clientele
includes local recording artists, police friends, and clients who come from the
hard hitting streets, as well as patrons with regular life styles. Dennis treats each client with respect and
makes sure they receive the royal treatment so they may be returning clients
for life. His advice for aspiring tattoo
artists is, "Be original, make it yours, and give them a memory not a
Tattoo!"
Shane Roman's curiosity for
tattooing was sparked by his mother's boyfriend who was a tattoo artist when
Shane was growing up. However, his
talent as an artist showed even from grade school years when he showcased above
average skills as an artist. As he got
older, being around tattoo artists in a shop environment helped hone his skills
as a tattoo artists. He was able to
learn from very talented tattoo artists who had spent years mastering their
skills. Shane began his journey as a
professional tattoo artist about eight years ago. Shane and Dennis have been friends for years
and when Dennis decided to open up a tattoo shop, he enlisted Shane and it has
become a perfect fit. Together they are
now creating an empire they can both be proud of. Shane has truly loved his time working at
Royal Tattoo and states that every client he comes across adds to his life by
the emotional stories they share with him about the pieces of art they want
Shane to create for them. It's very
special to be a part of someone's life for as long as they will live by
imprinting them a vision that's created from art. He loves doing full blown color pieces using
new school methods of color. By making
sure each and every one of the tattoos he does is a master piece, Shane plans
to brand his art one piece at a time. He
has very sound advice for aspiring tattoo artists and that is to find an
apprenticeship and work very hard all while never giving up their dream of
becoming the best tattoo artist that they can be.
Luis "Ink Priest" Ochoa
was born in Chicago but raised in Marin County.
Ink Priest's journey into the tattoo industry began at a very young
age. Surprisingly, he learned how to
tattoo when he was fifteen years old.
While living in Texas at the age of sixteen, he found himself tattooing
every day. His uncle was so impressed by
his work that he told Ink Priest that he should never stop tattooing. He realized that his calling was being the
best tattoo artist that he can aspire to be!
Ink Priest's journey with Royal Tattoo is a new one. He began working as an artist at Royal Tattoo
only two months ago, yet he already feels right at home. He has already shared some memorable
experiences. He recalls when his friend
Mickey Dancy came into Royal Tattoo and asked him to create a piece which
expressed his faith. Ink Priest woke up
from a dream with the vision of a piece that depicted the resurrected Christ
removing a mask of the crucified Christ!
Having such visions shows that Ink Priest's talent resonates from deep
within him. He states that he's specialty
is bringing to life, "Black and white gangsta style tattoos." He also loves doing Catholic religious
tattoos. In order to challenge himself,
he likes doing tattoos that don't consist of black and grey tattoos. Along with being an artist, Ink Priest also
likes to paint a story by words. He is a
poet with great word play. Outside of
being a tattoo artist and a poet, Ink Priest spends his free time with his two
children teaching them how to draw so they may one day aspire to be an
artist. His advice for aspiring tattoo
artist is, "To never stop drawing and to push yourself to be the best that
you can be. Do not try to be like another artist because artists are one of a
kind." Ink Priest also wants to
truly thank those who come to him to get tattoos done and appreciates them for
joining him on this journey!
The newest member of Royal Tattoo is
Erick Binder who is from Richmond, CA.
Erick's love for art work led him to want to enter the tattoo
industry. Being a tattoo artist ran in
his family as his father was a tattoo artist who did Erick's tattoo when Erick
was sixteen years old. Erick was
fascinated and watched his father as he gave him his tattoo. Erick has now been tattooing for over twelve
years. Even though he just started
working at Royal Tattoo, Erick loves the atmosphere and the comradery between
all of the tattoo artists. He loves
being a tattoo artist due to the fact that he's able to give lasting memories
to someone. Erick recalls a woman who
came in wanting a tattoo of her son who passed away and she searched for four
years to find the right tattoo artist.
After Erick finished the tattoo, the woman broke out in tears of
happiness because she was able to get the exact tattoo she had envisioned in
her mind. It motivated Erick to want to
tattoo everyday of his life so he can make someone happy by using his
talent. He specializes in doing all
types of tattoos but loves doing tattoos containing a lot of detail. When Erick isn't tattooing, he's spending time
with his kids and family. He enjoys
participating in such activities as camping, fishing, and going to the
movies. Erick's advice for aspiring
tattoo artists is to draw every day, take your time, and do a clean job! He thanks his supporters and encourages them
to come in and get tatted!
Written By Ani Galestanian
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