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David De La O, II - San Antonios Own
David De La O, II or Butter-as he is known in the ink slinging circuit-was raised on the south side of San Antonio, TX, near a town called Pleasanton, where he attended and graduated from high school. During his high school years, David won a number of state competitions in art. You see, David has always been an artist, so these awards weren't anything special to him. He saw it as him just being him.
"As early as I can remember, I have been drawing and making comic books," David recalls. David's artistic prowess was so advanced that his school took part in publishing a book titled The Title Bout, which David wrote and illustrated.
David was introduced to tattooing by a few of his friends, who were impressed by David's illustrations and asked him to draw some tattoo ideas for them. "They all said, 'You should get into tattooing, man.' I was all about it, but never followed through."
David has had his share of bad luck and endured some hard times. At the age of two, he and his mother were involved in a car accident, which his mother didn't survive. Thirteen years later, he lost his father to alcoholism. With the pressures of having to deal with the two major losses in his life, David did what anyone his age would have donehe rebelled. "I got into trouble after high school. After [my father] passed I got into drinking and drugs. This was the only way I knew how to handle my depression."
His dangerous lifestyle eventually landed him behind the bricks. Luckily for David, his sister-who has taken the place of his mother since the accident-has been looking after him since the loss of their mother. When he was released from prison, his sister encouraged him to move out to Colorado-where she was living at the time-so that he'd have a fresh start. "This was my ultimate wake-up call. After I got out, I decided to live life right. I was a father now to my beautiful son, David De La O, III," he expressed.
When he arrived in Colorado he decided to try and pursue his dreams of making a living doing what he felt he was born to do-art. "I gathered some of my art and researched local artists and shops in Colorado Springs. I got an apprenticeship under one of the most prolific tattoo artists there in the city."
David flew through his apprenticeship, exceeding his own expectations, and acquiring his title as an official tattoo artist after only three months of apprenticing. "I wasn't ready, but my boss thought I was. Since I started my tattoo career so late in life, I decided that I had a shorter time frame to get as good as I could in as little amount of time as possible."
The shop he worked for closed down after a short while, when his boss decided to move out to Houston, but David bounced back in no time. He and a good friend of his met DOQ-a local tattoo legend who took David under his wing.
"[DOQ] is the greatest man I have ever known in my life. He taught me a lot of techniques in tattooing, and, even more importantly, how to be a good man, a man of God. I claim David 'DOQ' Wilson as my father." At the time, DOQ's Tattoo Parlor was suffering heavy losses, due to the shaky economy preventing folks from getting tattooed. David promised DOQ that he would stick it out with him and help him bring the shop back up.
David's wife decided to take their son back to Texas. The absence of his son began to take a toll on David. "I was missing my son terribly. I would spend some days in a funk crying 'cause I couldn't see him as often as I would have liked," he lamented.
DOQ hated to see David suffering, so he urged him to move down to Texas to be reunited with his son. After David refused, DOQ made the decision to close down the shop, so that David would have no choice but to move on. "One day DOQ calls me outside and tells me that he is closing down the shop. I couldn't believe it. He said, 'I am closing my shop so I can relieve you of your vow. You're hard-headed and you are a man of your word. Now you can go home to be with your baby boy.' I have never known love like that from a man who wasn't my family."
Back in San Antonio, David bounced around from shop to shop trying to find a perfect fit. He'd heard of Prick Tattoos and the great art that comes out of their shop. However, when he went to inquire about a job, Mario and Roxanne-owners of the famed shop-told him that, even though his work was excellent, they weren't really looking for anyone at the time.
"I then went to work at one of the whackest shops in San Antonio-Platinum Tattoos. It was a production shop, where they were just about money, and not about the art. Although I was making good money, I felt that I was selling out. I was losing myself-and who I was-working there. I felt things were coming to a head, and I was on the verge of looking elsewhere for employment. And then, I received the phone call that I had been waiting for. It was Mario's wife, Roxanne! She said that they were opening up their second location and that they wanted to offer me the job. I jumped at the opportunity!"
Now, as part of the Prick Tattoo staff, David is a regular at the Slinging Ink Tattoo Convention in San Antonio, where he has won numerous awards, including "Tattoo of the Day," for a portrait he did on his girlfriend, Taylor-which he admitted was only the third portrait tat he had ever done.
"I aspire to own my own business some day soon and pass it on to my son. He is four-years-old and is already a gifted artist. I truly believe that you get out what you put in. I give tattooing my heart and soul, so I would assume that [the] blessings are going to be abundant."
PRICK TATTOOS
11950 Nacogdoches Road, Suite 201
San Antonio, TX 78247
(210) 545-3886
PrickTattoos.com
MySpace.com/BUTTER_DOES_INK
butter_tat2@yahoo.com
(210) 687-7412
Article by Trini Black
David was introduced to tattooing by a few of his friends, who were impressed by David's illustrations and asked him to draw some tattoo ideas for them. "They all said, 'You should get into tattooing, man.' I was all about it, but never followed through."
David has had his share of bad luck and endured some hard times. At the age of two, he and his mother were involved in a car accident, which his mother didn't survive. Thirteen years later, he lost his father to alcoholism. With the pressures of having to deal with the two major losses in his life, David did what anyone his age would have donehe rebelled. "I got into trouble after high school. After [my father] passed I got into drinking and drugs. This was the only way I knew how to handle my depression."
His dangerous lifestyle eventually landed him behind the bricks. Luckily for David, his sister-who has taken the place of his mother since the accident-has been looking after him since the loss of their mother. When he was released from prison, his sister encouraged him to move out to Colorado-where she was living at the time-so that he'd have a fresh start. "This was my ultimate wake-up call. After I got out, I decided to live life right. I was a father now to my beautiful son, David De La O, III," he expressed.
When he arrived in Colorado he decided to try and pursue his dreams of making a living doing what he felt he was born to do-art. "I gathered some of my art and researched local artists and shops in Colorado Springs. I got an apprenticeship under one of the most prolific tattoo artists there in the city."
David flew through his apprenticeship, exceeding his own expectations, and acquiring his title as an official tattoo artist after only three months of apprenticing. "I wasn't ready, but my boss thought I was. Since I started my tattoo career so late in life, I decided that I had a shorter time frame to get as good as I could in as little amount of time as possible."
The shop he worked for closed down after a short while, when his boss decided to move out to Houston, but David bounced back in no time. He and a good friend of his met DOQ-a local tattoo legend who took David under his wing.
"[DOQ] is the greatest man I have ever known in my life. He taught me a lot of techniques in tattooing, and, even more importantly, how to be a good man, a man of God. I claim David 'DOQ' Wilson as my father." At the time, DOQ's Tattoo Parlor was suffering heavy losses, due to the shaky economy preventing folks from getting tattooed. David promised DOQ that he would stick it out with him and help him bring the shop back up.
David's wife decided to take their son back to Texas. The absence of his son began to take a toll on David. "I was missing my son terribly. I would spend some days in a funk crying 'cause I couldn't see him as often as I would have liked," he lamented.
DOQ hated to see David suffering, so he urged him to move down to Texas to be reunited with his son. After David refused, DOQ made the decision to close down the shop, so that David would have no choice but to move on. "One day DOQ calls me outside and tells me that he is closing down the shop. I couldn't believe it. He said, 'I am closing my shop so I can relieve you of your vow. You're hard-headed and you are a man of your word. Now you can go home to be with your baby boy.' I have never known love like that from a man who wasn't my family."
Back in San Antonio, David bounced around from shop to shop trying to find a perfect fit. He'd heard of Prick Tattoos and the great art that comes out of their shop. However, when he went to inquire about a job, Mario and Roxanne-owners of the famed shop-told him that, even though his work was excellent, they weren't really looking for anyone at the time.
"I then went to work at one of the whackest shops in San Antonio-Platinum Tattoos. It was a production shop, where they were just about money, and not about the art. Although I was making good money, I felt that I was selling out. I was losing myself-and who I was-working there. I felt things were coming to a head, and I was on the verge of looking elsewhere for employment. And then, I received the phone call that I had been waiting for. It was Mario's wife, Roxanne! She said that they were opening up their second location and that they wanted to offer me the job. I jumped at the opportunity!"
Now, as part of the Prick Tattoo staff, David is a regular at the Slinging Ink Tattoo Convention in San Antonio, where he has won numerous awards, including "Tattoo of the Day," for a portrait he did on his girlfriend, Taylor-which he admitted was only the third portrait tat he had ever done.
"I aspire to own my own business some day soon and pass it on to my son. He is four-years-old and is already a gifted artist. I truly believe that you get out what you put in. I give tattooing my heart and soul, so I would assume that [the] blessings are going to be abundant."
PRICK TATTOOS
11950 Nacogdoches Road, Suite 201
San Antonio, TX 78247
(210) 545-3886
PrickTattoos.com
MySpace.com/BUTTER_DOES_INK
butter_tat2@yahoo.com
(210) 687-7412
Article by Trini Black
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