SAVED BY INK
Skin Deep|Issue 311
Carlos ‘Loz’ Oliveros has never had any shortage of passion or drive. Inspired by his father, a pro fighter and DIY tattooer, Oliveros started boxing when he was just six years old, then picked up tattooing at 16. All the while surrounded by the realities of Miami’s Mexican gang culture. Saved by tattooing, Oliveros chose to follow a different path than most of his peers. A path he’s now sharing on a VH1 docu-series called Cartel Crew
iamloz
SAVED BY INK
“I first saw my dad’s tattoos—he had a dragon tattoo from his old neighborhood and a scorpion for his zodiac sign,” recalls Carlos ‘Loz’ Oli-veros of his first encounter with ink. “The funny thing is, I ended up covering up that tattoo for him with a better Scorpio design,” he continues.

“He really hated it because it read ‘Escorpio’ when it needed to read ‘Scorpio,’ so it had an accent. It just became a joke for quite a while.”

An industrial electrician by day, Oliveros’ father would use everyday items to build DIY tattoo machines at home. “I watched him build the power supply and the machines,” he remembers. “He was pretty good with his hands, creating things. He tattooed as well” and passed on his knowledge to Oliveros who started practicing on his friends when he was just 16.

Thinking back to his first time tattooing, he reveals, “I tattooed a name on the lower back of a female that wanted to honour her boo-thang. It got infected after the third day—I was sooo embarrassed!” he laughs.

Needless to say, he had a long way to go. From there, he “learned the basics at my buddy’s shop and after that, I just paid attention the same way I did when I boxed. The discipline I had for the sport taught me to be very poised with certain dogmas within the industry as I took it by the horns.”

Reflecting on the pros and cons of being a self-taught artist, he notes, “The best thing was not having anyone critiquing me or tearing my heart out in front of me.” As for the toughest part, it wasn’t the learning curve, but rather the lifestyle itself. “The hardest thing for me was to have to leave my family behind during family events,” he admits. “It has been the biggest sacrifice I’ve ever made in my life.”

This story is from the Issue 311 edition of Skin Deep.

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This story is from the Issue 311 edition of Skin Deep.

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