My Tattoo Collection

We asked Robert to name a few of the artists who have impacted and inspired him and his response was, “To mention just a few of the artists that have impacted my art (as well as my career) is a difficult one to do. With so many talented and truly inspirational artisans in the game, I’m sure that there are some I have failed to mention as well as many more.” That said, here’s a look at some of the artists that have influenced his career and please check back as the list continually expands.

Jack Rudy

Tom Renshaw

Bob Tyrell

Robert Hernandez

Carlos Torres

Nikko Hurtado

Mike Devries

Roman Abrego

Joe Capobianco

Kore Flatmo

Josh Duffy

Marshall Bennett

Tommy Montoya

Chente Rios

Brian Gonzalez

Fernie Andrade

Abey Alverez

Chuey Quintanar

Fred Flores

Boris

W ilson Pan

Bobby Sterna

Paul Booth

Jack Rudy

Jack is a legend in the tattoo industry. He was the first tattoo artist to give me my very first professional tattoo after I was released from prison. I met Jack through Little John who at the time hosted a tattoo expo in North Carolina in 2003. I had looked up to Jack for years and have admired his incredible black-and-grey work and the style that he brought to the industry. After meeting Jack at the expo, I felt it was only right to ask him to do my first tattoo; he ended up doing some letters on the back of my neck that said “Times of Greatness”.

Tom Renshaw

My father passed away in 2004 and immediately I was seeking someone to do his portrait on me. When I think of portrait tattoo artists, Tom Renshaw was immediately in the top 3. Due to how he changed the game with his black-and-grey realism. A veteran in the tattoo game, Tom was known for his award-winning portraits and animals. He is someone I’ve looked up to for years; from magazines, books, & expos. I met Tom in 2004 at an expo in Detroit where he gave me his number and then flew back out to Detroit to receive a portrait of my Father on the side of my neck.

Bob Tyrell

When Bob Tyrell came into the scene, he took the world by storm with his fascinating lifelike hyperrealism on skin. Being a student under Tom Renshaw, Bob brought high contrast to black-and-grey realism with touches of white specular highlights. Known best for his black-and-grey portraits and ranking top 3 in 2004. When I found out Bob was coming to the West Coast to an expo in Arizona, I was fortunate enough to meet him there and got him to do a portrait of my first born baby girl, Reena, on the side of my neck, opposite to the portrait done by Bob’s mentor, Tom Renshaw.

Robert Hernandez

In my opinion, Robert Hernandez is the number 1 guy out there, a true icon in the industry. Top 3 in the world, known for his ability to freehand and create his unique surrealistic pieces. Robert brought realism to a whole different level, with both color and black-and-grey. I first heard about Robert when Filip Leu came to Little John’s North Carolina expo in 2001 and spoke about him. Filip had just gotten a free-handed tattoo portrait of his wife done on his chest and “it was done by an upcoming guy named Robert Hernandez from Spain.” I have followed him ever since then. I met him in Detroit and had been trying to get tattooed by him for many years before having the opportunity to have him come to my shop in Vegas in 2007. The first piece I had done by him was a surrealistic face on the side of my calf. Since then we’ve become good friends and I have collected almost 20 pieces from him.

Carlos Torres

I’ve looked up to Carlos Torres since the mid-2000s when he was working at SoCal Tattoos in Long Beach, California. The first piece that stuck out to me was a portrait he had done of Tito Puente that I saw in a tattoo magazine in the mid-2000s. In 2009, Carlos came to my shop in Las Vegas on Eastern Ave and did a piece on the inside of my calf of a skull in the form of a Cambodian apsara..

Nikko Hurtado

Nikko Hurtado took the world by storm with his hypercolor realism in the mid-2000s. Even though there were artists who did color realism such as Deano Cook, and Corey Kudney, to name a few, Nikko did something to his work that brought out color portraits and changed the game alongside Mike DeVries, and Roman Abrego, to name a few. After apprenticing under Mike Demasi, he eventually went to work with Jamie Schene in Hesperia, California and I was able to get my tattoo done by him there in 2008. Shortly after he did a second session at my shop in Las Vegas on Eastern Ave. Nikko tattooed a full-color female Cambodian apsara on the front of my upper thigh. Even though I don’t do color tattoos, I appreciate what he has done for the industry and it was an honor to collect a color piece from him.

Mike Devries

Mike DeVries, known for his lifelike color realism, also took the tattoo world by storm in the mid-2000s. Showcasing exceptional color work that competed with artists such as Nikko Hurtado and Roman Abrego, to name a few. A pioneer in using the Neuma tattoo machine, the first of its kind to be powered by an air compressor, changed the tattoo world. I actually got my first tattoo session done by Mike at his garage studio in 2004 before he was in a shop and eventually got my second session done by him at Mike Demasi’s tattoo studio in Hesperia, California. He did a color realistic portrait of my dog, Blue, who had passed away, on the side of my calf.

Joe Capobianco

I met Joe Capobianco through Jime Litwalk in 2008 who at the time was working in Las Vegas, Nevada. While most people at the time were focused on developing their style, the new school era was also making its own waves and brought out some of the best trendsetters such as Joe, who was known for his bold comic styled sexy women, which I had the privilege of him doing on me representing my wife holding a tattoo machine.

Kore Flatmo

I first came across Kore Flatmo’s work in a tattoo magazine in the early 2000’s. The magazine showcased a beautiful portrait he did of a lady framed by these Japanese waves and it was the most amazing piece I’ve ever seen; so lifelike you can almost touch it. From that moment on I became a fan and knew one day I was going to collect from him. In 2011, he came to visit me at my Las Vegas studio on Eastern Ave and we’ve become good friends since. I flew out to Ohio for multiple sessions so he could create a Cambodian-themed black-and-grey sleeve mixed with his own style.

Josh Duffy

Josh Duffy is a very talented surrealist artist who comes from a family line of artists. Starting first at Mike DeVries’ shop and then Carlos Torres’ shop in San Pedro, he became very well known for his ability to produce top-notch black-and-grey tattoos mixed with a little bit of dark realism that would soon earn him his own style and captivate artists and collectors all over the world. I had the pleasure to get the inside of my sleeve done by him at his studio in Arizona in 2017 of a black-and-grey Cambodian-themed design with a girl wrapped with a 7 headed serpent and some traditional hand movements from a Cambodian traditional dance.

Marshall Bennett

Marshall Bennet is well known for his black-and-grey portrait work, so of course I had to collect one from him and had him do a portrait of my mom on my leg when he came out to Las Vegas in 2009 to do a guest spot at my studio on Eastern Avenue.

Tommy Montoya

Tommy Montoya was one of the well-known & well-respected artists when you thought of LA-style tattooing. He represented Inksllingers for many years, a shop known for its bold black and smooth grey tones often done in one pass. Tommy dominated at many expos in LA with his iconic black-and-grey work. He also worked at Inflictions with Kat Von D and Tim Hendrix, where a lot of the similarities in styles came from. In 2008, I met Tommy at the Ink & Iron Tattoo Expo and later was lucky enough to get my family portrait tattoos on my chest of my mom, my sister, and myself by him at his studio in Covina California after he left Inkslingers.

Chente Rios

When I first met Chente Rios, he was working at Inkslingers and was producing some amazing work. I saw a leg sleeve that Chente had done at a convention that consisted of portraits of Bob Marley and other musicians and I knew right away I needed to collect a piece from him. I asked him later to do a portrait of my son on my chest/top of my shoulder and we ended up exchanging work at his studio, Under The Gun, in Los Angeles, California.

Brian Gonzalez

Brian Gonzalez is the owner of the world-famous Inkslingers studio in Alhambra, California. His studio is known for their notorious LA-style black-and-grey work and housed some of the best that ever did it. Such as Tommy Montoya, Chente Rios, Fernie Andrade, Bobby Serna, Fred Flores, Vetoe, Ricardo Avila, Wilson Pan, Frank Sanchez, to name a few. I’ve been watching his work evolve over the years and was blown away to see how good he got. We’ve become good friends since and have traded work between shops. He did some skulls on my lower stomach that represent the killing fields in Cambodia.

Fernie Andrade

I met Fernie Andrade in 2009 at a tattoo expo in Las Vegas, Nevada when he was working for Ink Slinger in California. While tattooing at the expo, I saw his work from far away on a guy that had a Virgin Mary carrying Jesus on his stomach and asked who did it. The guy immediately called and introduced me to Fernie and I became a fan. Once I saw more of his work up close on his wife, Kat, and his brother, I knew right away I wanted to get work by him. Years later I went to Inkslingers and got tattooed by Fernie and around the same time I got one by Brian Gonzalez. Fernie did a portrait of two of my daughters, Reena and Reesa, when they were younger.

Chuey Quintanar

Cheuy Quintanar is an iconic LA tattoo artist known for his details and smooth black-and-grey style. Best known for his realism but influenced by his Chicano roots his art arguably voted one of the best to do it. A young historian in tattoo culture and an award-winning artist at early Pomona expos with his iconic Pieta side piece done on famous tattoo collector David “Compton David” Oropeza. I had the privilege to have him do a portrait of the Virgin Mary from Lourdes, France on the side of my ribs at his studio, Deers Eye Tattoo in Santa Fe Springs, California.

Fred Flores

I met Fred Flores at the grand opening of my Spring Mountain studio location in Las Vegas in 2014. Fred is another artist I looked up to from the Inkslingers Tattoo family. He brought a lot of high contrast to his realistic work while still working super fast and getting a lot done. His work caught my eyes over the years so I reached out and later went to his studio in West Covina to do a large piece on the side of my leg, near my knee, of a Mickey Sharpz telephone dial coil machine blended with a skull and a rose

Abey Alvarez

I first met Abey Alvarez at a tattoo convention in Arizona where I also met Jose Lopez, owner of the world-famous Lowrider Tattoo Studio in Orange County California, where Abey was working. The Lowrider tattoo family was known for their fine line and softer, smooth black-and-grey style but Abey had more of a darker, higher contrast realistic feel to it. I started seeing more of his work develop over the years so I later decided to get a piece done from him and soon flew out to his shop, 3 Foot Radius in Upland California to get a tattoo of Mickey Sharpz Paul Rogers coil tattoo machine and pelican bottle of ink design tattooed on the inside of my leg commemorating the tools I had used in my career.

Boris

Boris is a very well-known international artist and well-rounded in both black and grey and color realism. For many years I have admired Boris for his color work but later when I saw a black and grey rib piece he had done, it caught my attention and shortly I inquired with his manager about getting an appointment with him in the US. I soon flew out to a shop in Brooklyn, New York where he was guest spotting after the New York expo and had him tattoo the side of my hip with a Cambodian girl to which he added his own twist.

Bobby Sterna

I met Bobby Serna before he was a tattoo artist; when he was collecting artwork by the talented guys at Inkslingers and was actually driving to Vegas back and forth to get tattooed by me. At the time he was offered to be mentored by Tommy Montoya and shortly enough became his apprentice. I started to follow him and have watched his work progress over the years and was so proud of him that I asked him to do a portrait of my brother, Roger, on me on my upper chest over my shoulder which we ended up doing at my Las Vegas shop, Skin Design Tattoo on Eastern Ave.

Wilson Pan

Wilson Pan is another artist that I discovered and followed on Instagram and knew he had worked at Inkslingers and also with Bobby Serena’s shop in Covina California. Even though they had similarities in the black-and-grey style, Wilson brought on more of an Asian influence which made his work extremely unique. I reached out to him to do a piece on me and shortly after he flew out to do a guest spot at my Hawaii location and we ended up trading work. He did a gloved hand holding a Cheyenne tattoo machine which we both were using at that time.

Paul Booth

I have followed Paul Booth since I was in prison reading magazines and have always admired his work. He is a legendary tattoo artist known for his freehand dark surrealistic tattoos that consists of powerful textures, soft tones & white highlights that was never seen before. His contributions to our industry has far paved the way for so many artists from all over the world. I was honored to finally get a piece of his art on my left hand in 2024 at his private studio of a custom filagree piece with a face emerging from the depths of it.