After months without animation work, Character Designer Alex Untoria discovered a new medium for his art: skin. “It’s become a significant portion of my income,” he says of the past three years he’s spent working as a tattoo artist.
In the wake of Hollywood instability brought on by strikes, studio consolidation, and the rise of AI, many animation workers have had to find creative ways to pivot their skills. Six months out of his last big job, Untoria found himself working part-time at a bakery to make ends meet. But he wanted something creative that could draw on his artistic experience in animation. He considered going back into graphic design, which he’d done right out of college, but that industry was shrinking, too.
Tattooing came into his life serendipitously when he reconnected with a former animation friend who was newly working as a tattoo apprentice. She told him she’d gotten the job by cold-calling different tattoo studios, so Untoria tried the same. “I took my character design work and formatted it to look like a tattoo portfolio instead of an animation portfolio,” he says. There were a lot of rejections, but eventually that same friend reached out with an offer when her mentor needed extra hands at their studio.
From there, Untoria began to learn the ropes of the tattoo machines: needles and ink, the process, and application. He also had to take a bloodborne pathogens course to be certified as a body art practitioner in California. Spending nearly half a year getting to know the equipment and practicing on silicone skins, eventually he felt ready to be his own first client. After giving himself a couple of small tattoos, he thought: “Oh, that wasn’t actually too bad.” He put it out into the world that he was offering free apprentice tattoos to anybody who wanted to be his guinea pig.
Untoria has worked his way up from simple designs to more complex pieces and sleeves. In December, he moved to Broken Hearts Tattoo, an upscale studio in downtown L.A., which he credits for helping him to elevate his work. Unlike animators, tattoo artists have free rein to develop their own personal style, something Untoria has been focusing on to differentiate his designs from other artists specializing in pop culture tattoos.
Drawing on skin is similar to working with pen and ink, Untoria explains, where you need to have confidence in the line and the stroke that you’re making. But while digital art is forgiving, with ample opportunity to undo and erase, “you don’t have that luxury with tattooing,” he says. “You’ve got to get it right the first time.”
The medium also brings with it new variables to consider like client comfort, needle depth, and skin tautness. Because ink spreads as tattoos heal, “any line you make will eventually get thicker over time,” says Untoria. “You have to make sure that you’re not crowding a lot of details into a really saturated area. Otherwise, they might slush together as the tattoo heals.”
He recalls advice from one of his teachers in the animation program back at Montclair State University to “draw with your arm, as opposed to being very precise with your wrist.” But when tattooing, he explains that you have to be steady and precise with both your arm and your wrist: “Your arm can’t make the broad stroke. You have to use your wrist to pivot.”
To ensure longevity and manage pain, Untoria has started doing wrist stretches and massaging his hands between appointments. “I know a lot of animators tend to develop carpal tunnel and arthritis,” he says. “I have to keep reminding myself not to grip the [tattoo] machine so hard, but it’s difficult since it’s vibrating in my hands.”
At a tattoo studio, the average workday is unpredictable. Because Untoria manages his own schedule, he may see up to five people in a single day. Tattoos can take anywhere from one to 12 hours to complete. And since like most artists he uses social media to market himself, he can be booked out anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month in advance.
Untoria has worked on numerous animated series over the years, including HouseBroken, Hailey’s On It!, The Freak Brothers, and Kevin, and many of the people coming to him want animated characters. Pokémon and Studio Ghibli characters are especially popular. But occasionally he’ll get a request for something that is outside his wheelhouse. “Fortunately, one of the benefits of working in animation is having to be adaptable to different styles,” he says.
As the animation industry shows slow signs of rebounding, the most recent production jobs Untoria has gotten have been short-term freelance gigs, and it’s been a while since he’s found consistent work. “I love animation,” he says. “I love the storytelling of it. I love the characters and drawings, but it doesn’t seem to want me back. Tattooing has been really good to me so far. I get to meet a lot of cool people [who] also love animation—it has reconnected me to the reasons I love the medium so much.”
You can see more of Untoria’s tattoo work at www.instagram.com/alex.inks.u.
