Our Monster Steel Artist Spotlight shines on Nikko Hurtado, an amazing tattoo artist who is well known for his ability to create breathtakingly life like color portraits.
Nikko's Story
Hurtado was born in the San Fernado Valley in 1981 and states he has been drawing all of his life. At age 16 he started taking art classes at the Art Center of Pasadena but after several years dropped out to pursue a career in construction. In 2002, he was given the opportunity to apprentice in a tattoo shop with an old friend, and has been tattooing since!
As he grew in his tattooing career, his first color portrait was a tattoo of Batman. The client entered his tattoo into a portrait contest and won first place, shedding light on Hurtado’s gift and making him a go-to artist for color portraits in a time when social media was not as prevalent.
At this point in Hurtado’s career, he can be seen on several TV shows, has tattooed for several celebrities, has his own clothing brand with an anchor as his centerpiece and owns two tattoo shops opened in 2009 and 2017 with clients flying in to get work done.
Nikko's new Anchored stencil solution
Nikko came out with his own line of stencil solution, Anchored. After years of development and testing, Hurtado’s solution produces clear, crisp lines that better hold the work of your original design, and last for hours so that you don’t spend time worrying about your stencil fading with your last lines.
What tattoo inks does Nikko Hurtado use?
Hurtado can be seen using Fusion, Intenze and Eternal Inks. Usually, setting up several colors from the 3 brands and mixing them himself while tattooing to create custom colors. He is even featured with Fusion Inks as a signature artist, and has an artist palette sponsored in his name that includes 8 colors available in a set or individually.
Hurtado’s talent can’t be denied, and he has built a following for himself over the years due to his outstanding work and humble nature.
To purchase his stencil solution, Anchored click here or if you would like to see more of his work, click here.