Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: Culture

Media Credit: Javier Zamora / Daily Lobo Tattoo artist Dominic Sanchez inks the Virgin Mary on Toney Herrera's forearm on Monday at Full Spectrum II tattoo parlor at 4770 Montgomery Blvd. N.E., Suite 120. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Javier Zamora / Daily Lobo Sanchez tattoos grass around the wrists of Robert Stoppel. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Javier Zamora / Daily Lobo Sanchez touches up Stoppel's tattoo. [Click to enlarge]

by Marcella Ortega

Daily Lobo



Becoming a tattoo artist wasn't Dominic Sanchez's idea.

"I've been drawing all my life," he said. "My friends decided that since I could draw, I could tattoo. So, they made me a homemade tattoo gun."

Sanchez is a tattoo artist at Full Spectrum II tattoo parlor at 4770 Montgomery Blvd. N.E., Suite 120. He started tattooing when he was 12. He grew up in Albuquerque and opened his first tattoo shop in 1995 at the age of 24.

"My first tattoo shop was Otherworld Tattoo across the street from the city limits of Hobbs," he said.

Sanchez couldn't open his shop in Hobbs, N.M., because of an ordinance from the 1940s that banned tattooing. For five years, he tried to get the City Commission to change the ordinance, but was ignored.

"The ordinance was so old the city attorney didn't have a copy," he said. "My personal opinion (of why the ordinance existed) is that it had to do with the churches."

In December 2001, the City Commission approved an ordinance that made tattooing legal in Hobbs. He opened another tattoo shop, Fantazee Ink, in Hobbs the same month the ordinance was

approved.

In 2005, he moved back to Albuquerque to work for Full

Spectrum II.

"I just came in here to buy some tattoo supplies," he said. "Fortunately for me, the owner was here. I decided I would go with this, because running your own business is a pain in the ass."

In the two decades Sanchez has been a tattoo artist, he has learned a variety of styles, such as tribal, illusions and portraits. Sanchez said his work is most challenging when people request tattoos in odd

places.

"I had a girl get her outer labia tattooed," he said.

Kaci Vigil got a tribal design with a rose from Sanchez in February.

"I watched him do some work, and I liked it," Vigil said. "So, I trusted him with mine. Everyone tells me the back is real painful, but Dom was real gentle. He has a real light hand."

Vigil said she would like Sanchez to tattoo an illusion of two dragons that form a female face.

"Not a lot of people can do that," she said. "Dom will definitely be the first person I go to."

Sanchez tattooed the Virgin Mary on Toney Herrera's forearm Monday. Herrera, who has several tattoos, said Sanchez is more dedicated to his work than most tattoo artists.

"You imagine a tattoo, and the outcome is 10 times better than you imagined," he said.

In the future, Sanchez would like to learn the Hawaiian-style of tattooing, which involves hand-tapping ink into skin with a sharpened stick. Sanchez said the method could cause people to die from a fever if not performed correctly, but he's up to the challenge.

"I don't limit myself to a certain style," he said. "I'm the kind of person who hungers for knowledge. I'm constantly trying to figure out how other people tattoo. No matter how long I do it, I still don't think I'm as good as I can be."

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