Soto
Gerardo
The man, the myth, the legend
Gerardo Soto, a tattoo artist, a father, and a great friend of mine close to 20 years and counting. There is so much to say about his artwork and career, but let’s talk about him on a personal level. I remember our first time hanging out, in Jose’s back yard jumping on the trampoline talking about our mutual love for Dragon Ball Z. From there our friendship was born. I found out shortly after he liked to draw. His ability to draw stood out to me right away. I can still remember in 5th hour lunch when he would draw different anime characters quickly, always with little effort.
Now moving forward and thinking of all the achievements, struggles, and seeing how happy you when you're tattooing someone, it’s clear to me that this is what you were meant to do, it was in your soul. You’re a wonderful person and father to your son. It’s beautiful to see how he’s captured your heart.
Gerardo you’ve always been an honest friend. A great friend. Someone to bullshit with. Someone to talk about life with. I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll achieve next.
May you be blessed for all time.
Who is Gerardo?
What defines me? Who am I? I’m just a person, I’m a person who just found his nitch catching his second wind in my tattoo career by doing anime tattoos. I always have father in mind before I start any project along with my son. He’s my biggest motivation.
Why did you choose tattoos as your artistic outlet?
I found tattooing kind of by accident. I used to draw on my friends during free time in high school. One day someone suggested I be a tattoo artist and I looked into it and thought it was something I could do. I then had my friend order a tattoo kit off of eBay, because I had no idea how to order anything online, so I used his account. He ordered a very cheap eBay tattoo kit, and I started practicing on myself and my friends. Learning the ins and out of tattooing by trial and error. God bless them.
Now, I’ve always wanted to do something with my art I just didn’t know what. I looked into going to school. I was never really the school kind of person. It wasn’t until I saw my friends going to college that I thought I should go and do that just because it felt like that was what we were supposed to do, follow the crowd. I don’t regret my time in college. I got to meet a bunch of people that I still know today, it wasn’t until I dropped out and had my tattoo kit in the back of my car still on the last day of school that I knew it wasn’t for me.
Since I was familiar with Milwaukee, once I dropped out, I started asking shops if they needed an apprentice and the first shop I asked, Moving Shadowing Ink took me in. They saw my portfolios and my drawings, they didn’t care about what my tattoos looked like, they were just confident in my ability. Looking back, I was pretty decent for a basement tattoo artist. I knew my limits, what I could and couldn’t do and I never crossed that line. That gave me a good reputation, I never did anything I couldn’t.
Any difficulties you faced in your career?
I wasn’t able to tattoo as well as I could draw, that was the most frustrating part of my tattooing experience. I would be frustrated when my tattoos weren’t looking that great. Knowing I could draw 10x better than what I could tattoo. In order to achieve something better, I had to take risks and take on projects that I might or might not be ready for. Sometimes they could end in a bad tattoo, it’s happened before. But I would take those risks on clients that were okay with me exploring. I was always open with that. I would ask if they were okay with me practicing on a style, try and spread my wings. Most of the time they would let me, and it worked out great for the both of us.
If you could work with one person past or present, who would it be and why?
I would really love to work with, a big inspiration to me, Mark Kissner from Imagination Station on PBS. He was a big influence on me. You remember *in his best singing voice* “Imagination Station”. I loved watching him. In college my style was 3D and so was his. I would love to meet that guy. He was my Bob Ross. I would send him my drawings as a kid in the mail without stamps because I didn’t know. I didn’t get anything back since they never got mailed.
What has been the key factor in your success?
Honestly, consistency. I have been fortunate enough to have people want to have tattoos done by me and I’m at point in my career where I can be picky in what I want to do. By being picky I get to choose projects that excite me and having my schedule like that, I look forward to coming into work and seeing the end results of the tattoo. I get excited seeing people’s reactions to the tattoos I post on social media. Its less stressful when I get to choose the projects I want. I get to make sure that I’m the right person for the project. I get to be honest and upfront about my skills. If I don’t feel like I can give them what they want, I will send them to someone who will better fit what they are looking for.
This wasn’t promised. I didn’t know I wanted to be a tattoo artist. I do think that you should seek out an apprenticeship with a shop vs experimenting with in a basement. I got lucky that it’s worked out as well as it has. It’s been 12 years, or 14 if you count the basement.
Any goals you’re trying to reach?
I want to do guest spots. I want to travel and network, meet new artists. Eventually want to open my own shop, at least that’s in my 5-year plan, I’ll be staying in Milwaukee.
