Meet Juan Diego Espinoza of Rita Studios in Central Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Diego Espinoza.

Juan Diego, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hi, my name is Juan Diego or how many others call me “JD”. I am 23 years old and was born in Mexico. I was brought to the United States as an infant. My mother who was a single mom at the time raised me and my two older siblings Fabi and Cesar. My mother, as well as my two siblings, are an enormous inspiration to me. I have been here in the U.S. my entire life so this pretty much feels like home to me.

I was about four years old when I started drawing. I had never thought too much about it, but I truly enjoyed it. As my curiosity increased, I would spend most of my time drawing and practicing still life drawings. I would essentially draw anything and everything around me from family sitting at the kitchen table to video game characters that were on magazine covers. When I was ten years old, my mother, who was battling cancer for three years, lost her battle. Drawing became a form of therapy. It was a coping mechanism for my life. A couple of months after losing my mother, both of my siblings ended up back in Mexico and I stayed alone in the U.S. Art felt very peaceful and I naturally was patient, so it allowed me to continue making art.

By the time I got to high school, I noticed a big change in myself that I would eventually see in my work. I felt a deeper connection to drawing, which allowed me to gravitate towards drawing portraits of musicians, celebrities, athletes, etc. Everything I drew derived from an energetic connection to it. I never realized the impact of my ability as an artist until I met my high school art teacher. With everything going on in my life, my art teacher who was like a mentor, would guide and believe in me.

After graduating high school, I never thought I would get into tattooing. I explored a semester at college. Which at the time, I thought I would become an activist. I didn’t know fine artists could make a living until I found tattooing. Tattooing had never crossed my mind, but I do retain going to a shop by my house in which they completely discouraged me to even try. Kinda funny right?.. but that gave me fuel to become a tattoo artist.

I knew I would continue to pursue my tattooing career when I realized it was all or nothing after deep thinking, sacrifices, and hardships. I put school aside, quit my full-time job with only $500 in my pocket. I invested my savings into tattoo equipment and that’s when my year-long apprenticeship began. After my apprenticeship, I decided to go my own way and four years later, I would come to meet my now mentor Andrick Aviles, which is one of my favorite tattoo artists. I’m honored to work alongside him. I’ve worked so hard to get here despite the circumstances and obstacles that I have faced. I just want to make my mother proud and inspire many. I know this is just the beginning for me.

Has it been a smooth road?
It definitely is not easy and that’s probably why 7% of the world is self-employed. I think balancing life and work was a struggle. Also finding the right people to surround myself with. Nowadays, it is really hard to find someone on the same wavelength. I had to grow up really fast when I was young, but I later learned that you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to grow.

We’d love to hear more about your art.
I am a tattoo artist who specializes in fine line black and grey and I am mainly known for portraits. I really love doing portraits of animals, statues, people, etc. I feel what sets me apart from others is my work ethic and intense passion for the universe of art. I have a big obsession for it and its what interests me the most. For me, tattooing corresponds with photography, graphic design, architecture, fashion, fine art, etc.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think our city is a wonderful place. It is a great place of business. We can make it here. We don’t need to move anywhere to be successful because we can be successful here. If you are starting out I would recommend you start where you are because you can be successful there too.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rstattooclub.com
• Email: jd@rstattooclub.com
• Instagram: @jdespinart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jdespinart

Image Credit:
@jdespinozaphotography

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