Bulacan tattoo artist is gaining many online fans for his hand poke method and baybayin designs

[ASEAN NOW News]

Tattoo artist Roel Garcia from San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan has become quite a celebrity gaining popularity on social media due to his unique way of tattooing.

 

Instead of using a typical tattoo gun, Roel’s method is achieved by hand poking, and his images are inspired by baybayin, the Philippine script used in the country even before the 16th century. Roel’s method is achieved by hand poking, and his images are inspired by baybayin.

 

In Roel’s version of hand poke tattooing, the pigment is entered into the skin manually, creating an image through an accumulation of single dots.

 

Unlike the batok way of inking flesh, Roel is hand poke, where the needle and ink used are modern, but the method is only by hand, not with a machine.

 

Photo from @baybayin_handpoke on Instagram

 

Roel learned hand poke tattooing four years ago, thanks to YouTube.

 

“Perhaps most influential among those he watched was a video on Tebori tattoos, a traditional way of hand tattooing in Japan associated with the craft of woodcarving.

 

It is a reminder to himself that every tattoo session must be imbued with love for the work, especially because he is representing Filipino culture through what he creates. 

 

A tattoo by Roel usually takes at least an hour to complete depending on the design of the client’s picking.

The hardest tattoo he has done took all of seven hours. His price for a session starts at Php 800. Some of his clients travel from Manila just to avail of his service. 

 

Garcia’s tattoo shop is located at #32 Liana Road, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. 

 

Visit his Facebook page here.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063746978563