Today we’d like to introduce you to Elijah Adame.
Elijah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I first got introduced to tattooing when I got my first one at 15, a guy I knew, his older brother liked the drawing I did for my tattoo and offered to show me how to tattoo, he didn’t know much either, just showed me the basics of a tattoo set up. I made a couple of homemade machines and when I got the money saved up, I ordered a kit off of eBay (definitely not the way to go) and I kept practicing, messing up homies at the pad. I never took a tattoo apprenticeship, but looking back now, I wouldn’t trade it for anything, I really learned to make something out of nothing. After a while, I wasn’t messing people up anymore and started working in tattoo shops in 2014. Once I did that, I knew there was no going back and completely dedicated myself to my art and progressing it.
I studied a lot to art books and classical drawing techniques that really helped progress my art and tattoos and in 2016, I was fortunate enough to work with world-renowned tattoo artist Abey Alvarez at his shop “3 foot Radius” and I was able to learn a real tattoo technique. Just how there are actual real techniques in every other medium of art, tattooing has its own techniques as well. After that, it’s just another day in the office. I had a private studio for a while but after a while, I wanted to be in the Orange County area and I talked with Herchell and he was willing to give me a spot here at his shop, Pachuco tattoo. Now I just focus on my work, constantly push myself in every tattoo and drawing that I do. I love tattooing and art in general and I don’t see myself stepping outside of that anytime soon.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Haha, no definitely not. A lot of trial and error, thats for sure. I never had an apprenticeship, so I started with a blindfold pretty much, even as simple as learning to use ointment during a tattoo. Working out of the house you were limited to the professional side of tattooing along with its equipment. You can’t get a hold of a lot of professional equipment, most websites won’t sell to you unless you work at a shop. So I had to use a lot of mediocre supplies and it does limit what you could do on the skin. I used to use these low end 3rl needles that I would have to swap out at least once during a tattoo. Or sometimes the needle wouldn’t be straight on the bar, so obviously couldn’t use those either. After some time, the technical side of tattooing became easier as I learned to work the skin and what supplies to use, using professional equipment and what worked for me in general.
Then I was able to focus more on the artistic side of it, trying to create actual artwork. thats where the books and studying classical drawing came in. Learning how to actually draw, naturally you have an understanding of the image so you’re able to translate it into any other medium of art your able to execute well, and having already learned the technical side, my tattooing definitely improved. It was always about trying something new and trying to get it right with every tattoo. Well, the ideology hasn’t changed much, there’s just levels to development.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Pachuco Tattoo – what should we know?
Here at Pachuco tattoo, we definitely are more known as a black and grey shop. We got a solid group of people and artists, Herchell, Danny, Carlos, Jorge, and myself, along with two apprentices Steve and Clyde. We each have our own specialty and collectively we take care of it all. It’s pretty easy to bring a client’s idea to life when you know what you’re doing, and we got a good handle on our craft here. The shop has been voted best place to get tattooed, multiply times here in Orange County and we’re only growing so the future is definitely bright.
I myself do a lot of black and grey fine line, illustrative, realism type of work. In fine line, you use a lot of small liner needle groupings to build up the whole image, then you can go in with mags to build and saturate more, just depends on what you’re going for big or small tattoo, it all starts with the 3rl. I will tattoo just about anything but what I am asked to do a lot of is portraits and faces in general. A lot of flowers, like roses, also one of my favorites. Then all the way down to tiny single needlework.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
When I first started tattooing, The homie/brother Daniel who doesn’t tattoo, would always pick out my mess ups when I was tattooing out of the pad. It got so annoying I started looking for and fixing my mistakes before he would say something. That was the first big push I had to better myself. Abey Alvarez was an actual mentor to me and aside from all the free lunches, gave me the knowledge of a real tattooing technique which without I’d probably still be going in circles trying to figure it out. Thanks Abey. Last but not least, a big thank you to all the really cool people who have trusted me to tattoo them, and the return clientele, you people are awesome. Sometimes it still feels unreal when people want your artwork on them and willing to pay you and make appointments. It really is an honor. I remember as a kid daydreaming about being an artist and I’m technically living it, and a big part of that is because of the people who get you are lucky enough to tattoo.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1620 e Mayfair Ave.
Orange, CA 92867 - Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: eli_tattooing
- Twitter: eli_tattooing
Image Credit:
@juicyrichie714, @Eli_tattooing
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