Born and raised in Santa Ana, California, Andrew Arteaga has been an artist his entire life and has been passionate about drawing for as long as he can remember. However, for Andrew, things never came easily. Sure, he is currently one of the biggest tattoo artists in the world, but he has faced his fair of struggles along the way. His childhood was filled with trauma and hardships. The support system was missing and he had to go through the journey alone. As he grew older, Andrew’s family discouraged his artwork and he was left thinking that it wasn’t an option for a career choice. He often struggled to earn his bread. The circumstances took the better of him and he started selling drugs. This ended up putting him in jail. He served two years sentence. The best thing that happened during this period was Andrew getting introduced to tattoos. It was in jail that Andrew got his first tattoo, and the rest is history.
Over the span of Andrew’s two-year sentence, he learned everything there is to know about tattoos and ultimately began his profession as a tattoo artist. He spent the duration of his time in jail as a practising tattoo artist; however, after completing his sentence he still hadn’t considered it his profession. Instead, he decided to go back to school to acquire a degree. It was his step-father’s recognition of Andrew’s talent that pushed him to make his passion his career.
While still an apprentice, Andrew met a rapper well known in the music industry and became close friends with him. From there, Arteaga recalls a snowball effect occurring as a result of his new friend, and before he knew it, he was tattooing celebrities from the likes of rappers Trippie Red and Smoke Purp, YouTubers and Influencers such as Jake Paul, and popular groups like the Hype House. It was through these opportunities that Andrew was able to leverage his connections to build and expand his clientele to a large network of musicians, celebrities, and athletes.
Regardless of your current situation, Arteaga thinks that you can achieve everything you set your mind to if you take the first step and commit to it. Andrew Arteaga is truly an inspirational person who has made the best of the situation and instead turned his failures to stepping stones to success. Make sure to check out his incredible works by clicking the links below
Instagram- https://instagram.com/i.drewit?utm_medium=copy_link
New York Herald 