BIOGRAPHY OF CHRIS NUNEZ
Chris Nunez is an American tattoo artist, television personality, and entrepreneur from Miami Beach, Florida. He is the owner of Handcrafted Tattoo and Art Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is also a judge on the Paramount channel’s reality competition, Ink Master. He was one of the featured tattoo artists on TLC’s Miami Ink reality show.
Chris is also a partner of Love Hate Tattoos, a tattoo shop located in Miami Beach. He is also a partner in Ridgeline Empire, a media company that operates affiliates Ink Skins and Upset Gentlemen. The partnership also has an animation studio that produced two animated series released in 2014: Hoodbrats and Toothians.
CHRIS NUNEZ AGE
Nunez was born on April 11, 1973 in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. He turns 46 in 2019.
CHRIS NUNEZ FAMILY
Chris is of Cuban descent and grew up in Florida. His parents died when he was young. At the age of 16, he got his very first tattoo which included his parents’ names.
CHRIS NUNEZ WIFE
Chris was married to Carole-Anne Leonard but they divorced. He is in a relationship with Marguryta Anthony.
CHRIS NUNEZ KIDS
Chris is the father of two children: a daughter, Andreanne Núñez alias Kali, and a son, Anthony.
INK MASTER CHRIS NUNEZ
Chris served as a judge on the American reality competition television series. It aired on Paramount Network. It features tattoo artists who participate in various challenges. This is by evaluating their tattoo and other related artistic skills. They are then judged by renowned and successful tattoo artists and enthusiasts. One or more contestants are eliminated each episode. The last entrant standing each season receives a $100,000 prize and an Ink Master title. The show is produced by Original Media, which is also the producer of the Miami Ink reality show. He was introduced by Dave Navarro .
CHRIS NUNEZ MIAMI INK
Chris starred alongside Ami James , Chris Garver , Darren Brass , Yoji Harada, Saru Sammyr, Tim Hendricks, Kat Von D in season one through four, and Eric Kessingland.
It is an American reality television series on TLC. It follows events that previously took place in a tattoo parlor in Miami Beach, Florida. It premiered in July 2005 and finished airing its sixth and final season in 2008. It then led to several spin-offs, including the shows LA Ink, London Ink, NY Ink and Madrid Ink. Some of them also air on TLC.
NET WORTH OF CHRIS NUNEZ
The famous American tattoo artist has a net worth of $7 million.
CHRIS NUNEZ HEIGHT
Chris is 1.75m / 5ft 7in tall.
CHRIS NUNEZ TATTOOS | CHRIS NUNEZ TATTOO DESIGNS | CHRIS NUNEZ WALLET
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View this post on InstagramINTERVIEW WITH CHRIS NUNEZ ON HIS JOURNEY TO BECOMING A TATTOO EXPERT
Adopted from: bigtattooplanet.com
Tell us about your background before becoming a tattoo artist.
Chris Nunez: Well, I was a graffiti artist, I finished high school and went to do some college while I started my apprenticeship. I am of Cuban origin, my father was Cuban, my mother was French. They were pretty much all the time when I was growing up. That is just about everything.
So while you were growing up, did you have any preconceptions about tattoos and tattooing?
Chris Nunez: I’ve always loved tattoos as long as I can remember. I have always been drawn to their looks and also loved the mystique attached to the tattoo scene. I liked that it was a low brow, rougher and tougher scene.
But those associations and perspectives are changing these days, don’t you think?
Chris Nunez: Yes. The whole way the tattoo looked back then compared to now has gone full 360 degrees and although it has lost some of its edge it has probably improved the quality of life for people with tattoos and it definitely raised the standards as a lot of scratchers and people who don’t really belong in the company are definitely going to have to find a way out. People are now so much more educated about the quality and standards of work that can and should be achieved.
So while it’s so much easier to access higher quality work, which is obviously good for the industry and the tattoo community in general. Do you think the fact that tattoos are less marginalized has taken some of the advantage of tattooing?
Chris Nunez: It’s true. As tattoos have become more acceptable it changes the face of what they are, but there will always be some sort of benefit as the personality has to adapt. The interior should go with the exterior, but it’s not as intimidating as it used to be. And when it comes to people with heavy coverage, it’s a lifestyle that requires a huge commitment, which not everyone would want to take on.
There is currently a lot of emphasis on the fact that many tattoo artists come from fine arts, middle class backgrounds, especially in this country.
Have you had any formal art training?
Chris Nunez: I went to a semester of art school because I hated regular college. I thought art school would get me a degree. But that was bullshit and I just found it awful. For me it was just a waste of time.
But you were already doing graffiti so you obviously had a talent for art anyway!
Chris Nunez: It’s true. I had been doing graffiti for eight years at that time. I started when I was ten or eleven.
So you don’t think formal training is really necessary provided you have a natural aptitude for the art?
Chris Nunez: In my opinion, training comes from practice and wanting to tattoo and no matter how good an artist you are, you have to know how to draw when you tattoo. You can’t do a classic render and then think you can just pick up a tattoo machine and imagine it’s going to work. There really is no other medium quite like the flesh!
How did you become involved in tattooing and how difficult was it for you to achieve the status you have now achieved?
Chris Nunez: I was actually painting one day and Lou Scriberras, the owner of a studio called Tattoos By Lou, came over to see what I was doing and asked if I wanted to come into the studio and hang out. . I ended up working at that store for a year and in that time I only got seven tattoos, but I learned how to do needlework, clean up, take care of customers, open and close the shop and do the paperwork. At the time, I was 18 years old.
So learning was quite difficult?
Chris Nunez: There aren’t a lot of people doing an apprenticeship like that anymore and that kind of took away the luster of the business, but at the same time there are a lot of natural performers.
So how long did it take you to be satisfied with the quality of the work you were doing?
Chris Nunez:About five years. It was hard. What happened was that I put in all the hard work of my apprenticeship from 1991 to 1992 when Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida and destroyed one of four stores that Lou owned . All the guys from that store had to come to the beach store, and that store was tiny, almost like a closet, but all those guys had to eat, and there was no room for me. So eventually they let me go and I met Frank Lee who was a very good friend of mine and he took me under his wing. He took me with him to Ohio, sat me down and we worked at his mom and dad’s house and he and I hung out together for about five years. We decided to open a shop together and nine months after our opening, we met Claus Ferman from Vienna. He was at the Fort Lauderdale convention and he offered us the opportunity to go to Europe so we left the store with a friend of ours. The store went bad but once I lost the store I was free to travel so basically from 1994/95-2001/2 I was traveling and it was probably the best thing I’ve ever done .
So what’s the vibe at Miami Ink, the studio featured on the TV show you’re here to promote?
Chris Nunez: The store is exactly as you see it on TV. Not a single thing is different now, except that there are only walking customers. Due to the success of the show we ended up being pre-booked for a year and that was crazy so we had to cancel the whole thing because with all the filming and all the traveling we’re doing now we couldn’t commit long-term. reservations. We’ve had people from all over the country, all over the world in fact, and it’s not fair for people to show up if we weren’t available to tattoo them. So rather than let anyone down, we decided to only offer a service visit. If I arrive at work that day, I tattoo and that’s fine.
For readers who may not have seen Miami Ink, what was the idea behind the show?
Chris Nunez: He tends to focus on the clients and our artwork and how the two fit together, if there’s an emotional thing going on and we’re related to what the client has going, it’s all together, but we don’t have a lot of drama or arguments in the stores, we just go in there and get tattooed. We’re a fun bunch of guys and we’re having a great time. A lot of the show is focused on customer stories, that’s the format, so it’s often a little more dramatic, a little sadder than the studio can be on a day-to-day basis, but you know that tattooing is like being a bartender, people do it. open up to us.
As tattoo artists, are you in competition with each other?
Chris Nunez: Not at all. What we do is help each other. If there’s anything I’m not sure about, I’ll bring it to Chris or I’ll bring it to Ami or Darren and vice versa. We’re all working on sketches for each other and we’ve all been true friends for almost fifteen years, so we’re not just guys who were chosen to do the show.
How did the studio initially get involved with the series?
Chris Nunez: Actually Ami met a producer in New York at a nightclub and the guy told him he had this idea for a tattoo show and he was trying to find the right guys to do it but didn’t have much luck and Ami said, ‘Well, if you want to try it with us, I can put you in touch with the guys.
So what did you hope to gain from your involvement?
Chris Nunez:As a team, we were very afraid to do it at first because we thought people might hate us for it. There’s jealousy in the tattoo community, but when it comes down to it, if we hadn’t done it, someone else would have done it and done it, from what I heard there are two more shows coming up. But on the positive side, we have raised the standards of tattooing. Whether people like it or not, we have changed the face of tattooing, and as a result, every tattoo shop in our country has become busier. The day after our show aired, there were queues outside the doors of all the good stores. We do high quality work on demand in no time and people are now aware of what is possible. We don’t have a single piece of flash in our store, so whatever we do, whether it’s a tiny background piece or an entire piece, it’s all up to us!
Did you have any issues with other studios resenting you for getting this opportunity?
Chris Nunez: 99% of other tattoo artists who aren’t into what we do will come up to shake our hands and tell us how happy they are with what we do and then talk badly about us behind our backs. So a man has to be a man about it and take it on the shoulder. But for us, the experience was positive.
What other worries did you have about the show?
Chris Nunez: I’m not too worried or I would never have become a tattoo artist. What matters to me is the way we are represented and the care we take for the company. We wanted to elevate it not exploit it and that’s what we pushed for.
How many tattoo artists actually work in the studio?
Chris Nunez: Right now I have about eight guys there.
Are there particular styles of work that you prefer to do?
Chris Nunez: We all pretty much try to do what the customer wants. Basically, I like to do things that are challenging.
The show’s apprentice seems to be having a pretty tough time. Is it real or is it a game played for the cameras?
Chris Nunez: Actually, we can’t show too much of his learning on the show because if we did, we’d be teaching the world to tattoo, we’d be revealing secrets and that’s not what we’re here to do. We’re here to show off a fancy tattoo, to show people what’s available, not how to do it. We fought very hard not to become a teaching class. But if people really want to learn, they will, but we don’t give lessons.
Yoji’s learning is therefore real, but it is real when he is not in front of the camera. But all the drawings and stuff he does on the show and on camera are all valid. But when he does a tattoo and we all stand over him, telling him what to do, it’s not shown to the public.
Have you been happy with how the show has been put together so far?
Chris Nunez: It’s hard because you always expect to be portrayed the way you see yourself and someone else will come in and create your character.
So do you think the character that was created for you, due to the edits, is a good representation?
Chris Nunez: I’m pretty happy with what happened. I’m like crazy, drunk, women. I don’t mind, it’s okay, anyone who knows me knows I’m a pretty crazy guy.
How did you adapt to day-to-day filming?
Chris Nunez: You go from being a normal guy to being on camera fourteen hours a day, five days a week, for twenty weeks at a time, so it’s a little tedious but it has its advantages.
Are you just getting used to the cameras being there?
Chris Nunez: Yeah, I don’t even see them anymore.
What about clients, are they specially chosen for particular reasons?
Chris Nunez: For the show, customers have to sign up and then go through a process because the production team wants to know that anyone who gets a tattoo has a legitimate story, whether it’s happy, sad, good, bad, it must be entertaining. You’ll see each of us doing a really good job and then you’ll see us doing a little awkward tattoo and you might wonder why we’re doing this, but it all depends on what we have to do to adapt to the customers. whose stories are featured on the show.
Before deciding to do the show, did you have any preconceptions about reality TV?
Chris Nunez: I never really liked being on TV or being famous. I never wanted to be an actor, I just wanted to be successful in what I did. But you know, funny things happen for funny reasons and this might have been the thing that saved my life. I’ve had my share of shitty things, but life takes you down a path, so maybe it was time for me to improve a little something.
How about your own tattoos, what were the inspirations behind the designs?
Chris Nunez: Probably 98% of what I have is totally meaningless in the sense that I never got a tattoo because of this event or event. I got tattooed because I love tattoos, I love tattooing, and I loved the artists who did the work. I respected them and said; ‘Do what you want’.
Many different artists have worked on you?
Chris Nunez: Yes, I have tattoos from Brazil and all over the United States. Most of my work is done by friends, that’s a great memory.
And the style of work you wear?
Chris Nunez: I have a lot of Asian, Japanese, and New Skool stuff.
And you prefer color work?
Chris Nunez: If I could go back and do it all over I’d have black and gray you can read it so much better you look at that piece on my arm and you know it’s a face and it’ll be like that until the day of my death. That said, if you have a big chunk of color on an arm, a massive thing, a solid color, it might look amazing. It’s just that I wanted to get tattooed by as many people as possible so I could learn, so I kept getting tattooed for four or five hours and then tried to tie it all together.
Aside from tattoos, what else do you like?
Chris Nunez: Definitely my dog. I have a pit bull, not your ordinary type of pit bull, more of a teddy bear really!
So what about the future?
Chris Nunez: I look to the future as if it were an open door. I just want to walk through it and see what’s in each next hallway, that’s my philosophy now!
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