Tattoo art on skin canvas

Leanjor Salcedo, is a 29-year-old Venezuelan tattoo artist who has been practising his talent for five years in Trinidad and Tobago and who hopes the passage of the pandemic will allow him to continue making his art.

Born in San Carlos, Venezuela, Salcedo is a father and husband dedicated to his two passions: family and painting.

Between the paper canvas and the skin canvas, Salcedo has been growing and gaining followers, but above all, clients who seek to capture their ideas, memories or feelings on their bodies.

“Since I was a child I always drew, it was normal for me to be able to recreate the characters of the television of the moment, cartoons, anime among others, and at ten years old I reaffirmed my talent for drawing and art by making a portrait of my hippie dad from a small photo in black and white. From that moment I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Salcedo said.

Over the years, Salcedo was observing other types of art and in his adolescence he painted graffiti on walls until he began doing tattoos in 2010.

“In a tuning car exhibition I met one of the best body modifiers in the world: Emilio Gonzales, he was there with his tattoo shop and I was impressed by the art of tattooing to the point of believing in myself that I could do it,” Salcedo said.

His impetus and desire to continue growing as an artist led him to start a personal savings bank in order to buy the tools to start tattooing.

"I bought the equipment for tattooing and I started practising at home from the age of 19, studying all the styles. I was perfecting the techniques."

Combining his art with alternative jobs in his native country, Salcedo understood he had to emigrate due to the economic situation in Venezuela and in 2016 he decided to undertake the trip to TT.

"I came here with the same enthusiasm, working on something alternative and saving to buy better tattoo equipment and I got it with a lot of effort."

When he arrived in TT, he did various jobs as well as doing his first tattoos at home.

Salcedo acknowledges that having come to TT is one of the best decisions of his life, especially for his art.

“I have a large local clientele, even greater than Latinos, with whom I have shared excellent talks and pleasant moments in work sessions. Trinidadians definitely like art and are lovers of tattoos."

In 2019 Salcedo made his maximum dream come true and opened his own tattoo studio on Frederick Street, Port of Spain, to which he has completely dedicated himself to.

However, the restrictions for opening his business have not stopped him from continuing to progress and, in his house with his family, he has dedicated himself to perfecting techniques and expressing his art by painting.

"Right now I am doing a portrait of my son, Salvador, in pencil, he inspires me and helps me to improve."

Salcedo is a fan of portraits, large-scale tattoos, large compositions, sleeves with one or more concepts, but he is also open to simple tattoos.

“The tattoos are works of art on the canvas of the skin. The most important thing for me is to express that idea the client is looking for or has in mind for that tattoo, that is why a previous talk is very important for me to understand what they want to express."

The ideas of satisfying the client added to Salcedo's desire to learn in each job are excellent tools for improvement.

Salcedo acknowledges that the main taboo with the Trinidadian clientele is the use of colour in the tattoo.

“Normally the local client has doubts with the colours due to their dark skin, and certainly there are some colours that cannot be worked with, but there are also others with which (it can be done) depending on the skin tone, the point of the colour is in knowing how to apply it,” he explained.

Salcedo said most Trinidadians seek to get tattoos according to the period.

“There have been special moments in recent years for certain types of designs such as tribal, Chinese letters and others in the 90s and currently animals are in high demand, watches, compasses, bands around the arm, and especially in women, the flowers."

Leanjor Salcedo said he is an artist who likes to talk about tattoos and paintings and does not hesitate to provide any recommendation.

“For the person who wants to tattoo, the first thing to do is look at the work of the tattoo artist, it does not matter if he is a tattoo artist who is starting or is already a professional, but you should always look at his work to know what type of tattoo you can get with that person,” he said.

Salcedo recommends simple tattoos designs are excellent opportunities for new talents.

“If you are looking for something bigger of better quality, it is time to go for something more professional, and when saying professional, it should be understood the artist has his experience and he will know what he can do for you, how he can do it and where he can do it in the best possible way."

He also makes some recommendations to new artists: “Draw, paint, create your own content, don't just go and copy a tattoo because the client asks for it, take the idea and create your own version. If anyone is interested in entering this world of tattooing or in perfecting the technique, I offer seminars on learning and improving the technique in general,” Salcedo said.

Salcedo, who is known in the tattoo world as Leanjor, has countless displays of his talent on Instagram and Facebook.