Tattooed on his mind: Family must come first
But most women loved tattooed men and tattoo artists, he bared, saying ink on the skin provides “pogi points” and something that adds masculinity.
People sporting tattoos or skin art, as well as those with body piercings, are often the subjects of prejudice and ridicule — that they’re most likely drug addicts or convicted felons.
This should not be the case, according to 24-year-old tattoo artist Harvey Molina, a civil engineering undergraduate from Malabon City whose own skin has served as an artistic canvas.
Harvey told Daily Tribune that his passion for tattooing has been supporting his family for years after he started doodling on his own body using colored pens.
He said he always found himself being reprimanded at the guidance office during his elementary days when he came to school with drawings on his arms and even his face.
“To stop my parents from being called again and again to the principal’s office, I practiced drawing on body parts covered by clothes,” he said in Filipino.
Grudging support
In high school, he said he knew that body art would be something he’d like to pursue seriously and so he started buying instructional magazines on the subject matter.
He said he then got grudging support from his parents for his passion as long as he would not neglect his studies.
“From school, I’d go straight to a tattoo shop to watch the artist at work,” he recounted. “I tried to tattoo myself, but it was nearly impossible and I stopped, unable to finish the artwork.” But it was when he went to college that Harvey started buying tattoo supplies to start making money from his passion.
“A friend took a gamble on me as my first ‘experiment,’” Harvey said. “But he liked my work and he endorsed me to a friend of his to be my next customer.”
Social stigma
At that point, he was already feeling the social stigma associated with tattooed people and those who make a living from inking skin, Harvey said. But most women loved tattooed men and tattoo artists, he bared, saying ink on the skin provides “pogi points” and something that adds masculinity. He’s proof of this, Harvey added, getting his girlfriend pregnant even before he entered his fourth year in college, forcing him to focus on earning a living for his young family. “Tattooing provides enough for us, my wife and baby. I can also help my parents and sibling a bit,” he said, adding he goes as far as traveling to the provinces, where his clients live.
At the height of the Covid pandemic, he said many more people wanted to get tattooed and so he took a lot of risk of contracting the virus.
Vagabond
He decided it would not be wise to always be coming home lest he spread the virus to his family. And so the art came between him and his young partner as he almost lived like a vagabond.
In 2022, love prevailed and Harvey and his partner and baby got to be a family again, living under one roof and he establishing a tattoo shop just beside their home.
He said he has learned his lessons, including the need for family time.
“No matter how busy, a family is a family, I realized that, especially during this pandemic. There were so many deaths,” he said.
“That’s when I thought that no matter how much a person earns, when they are hit by the virus or any disease, it is possible to lose them anytime, so spend more time with them, because we’ll never know.”