Today we’d like to introduce you to Tomas Archuleta.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I had family members who were artistic and really inspired me to want to draw and create. I was doodling as young as a toddler and took my first commission piece in second grade, it was a big ad for Hillshire Farms in a grocery store. I had great marks in art classes growing up but didn’t think it would become a career per say. I wanted to be successful and felt I needed to join a more corporate structure to make that happen, but at 21 I started drawing things to tattoo on my coworkers and friends and that quickly opened up a whole new world of art that I couldn’t get enough of. I realized I had found my path in being a successful artist and being true to myself and my creative passions. I have always loved to paint and have been welcoming more commissions as well as teaching after years of establishing myself as a professional tattoo artist and business owner.
Please tell us about your art.
I specialize in black & grey realism and Japanese tattoo styles but my portfolio extends much farther than that. As I mentioned before I love to paint and have been extending my fine art catalogue as well as teaching private classes and painting for charity/fundraising events. I enjoy oil painting the most and am primarily commissioned for portraits and sea/landscapes. Leather working is another passion of mine, I’ve made motorcycle seats, wallets, horse bridles, dog collars etc. I love working with my hands and I especially love putting my creations out into the world to have someone use/admire. I hope they can look at my work and know that I put my soul into every piece. It takes a lot of fine whiskey and late nights for me to create the way I do. That’s my artistic recipe haha. A lot of practice and determination goes into being a successful artist and you can’t give up, you have to put the hours in until you get it right.
As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
I define success by waking up every day and being able to do what I want to do, to me that is the epitome of success. I’m happy because I get to be 100% myself every day and create artwork that I love. I don’t have to wear a mask for someone else’s business plan, this is my plan, my art, and every day I get to fulfill that. It doesn’t just happen overnight though. I’ve been tattooing for 16 years and it took major discipline and practice, practice, practice to get here. Like I said, you just can’t give up. For every 100 people who want to be an artist for a living only about 5 of them will actually have the passion and determination to put in the work.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Best place to see my work would be True Fit Tattoo’s social media pages, our Instagram (@truefittattoo) is updated all the time with photos of my recent creations. Another option is to stop by the studio! The walls are covered in artwork by me and the fellow artists, and we’d love to meet you! You can also catch me and the crew at various charity/fundraiser/art shows/festival events. You can see where we will be on our social media and then look out for our True Fit Tattoo vendor tent. I usually have paintings and prints for sale at these events and it’s a great opportunity to meet me and support my work.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6561 EL CAJON BLVD
- Website: TRUEFITTATTOO.COM
- Phone: 619.450.6031
- Email: TRUEFITTATTOOSD@GMAIL.COM
- Instagram: @TRUEFITTATTOO
- Facebook: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/TRUEFITTATTOO
- Other: youtu.be/5f_lvqX27N0
Image Credit:
All images belong to Tomas Archuleta and True Fit Tattoo Studio
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