{"id":85269,"date":"2025-03-25T11:40:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T18:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=85269"},"modified":"2025-03-25T11:42:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T18:42:00","slug":"artist-profile-longtime-local-tattoo-artist-to-display-paintings-mixed-media-work-at-solo-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/artist-profile-longtime-local-tattoo-artist-to-display-paintings-mixed-media-work-at-solo-show","title":{"rendered":"Artist profile: Longtime local tattoo artist to display paintings, mixed-media work\u00a0at solo show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Local tattoo artist Sonny Daniel with one of his works. Photo courtesy of Sonny Daniel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From an early age, art was the driving force in Sonny Daniel\u2019s life, ushering him away from violence in his childhood into a well-established tattooing career \u2014 and now, a solo art show displaying his paintings and other pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This weekend, the longtime local tattoo artists\u2019 passion will be displayed in a 50-item multi-medium exhibit at Altar Society Brewing and Coffee Co. on Saturday, March 29 from 5 to 8 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likely best known for his tattooing, Daniel\u2019s path led him through local spots like Sharky\u2019s Tattoo in Sunset Beach until he started managing his own shop in Signal Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before that \u2014 growing up as a youth in Long Beach during the \u201880s and \u201890s \u2014 Daniel said his job was to protect his younger brother from the same gangs he was trying to escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack then, my job was to hurry home from school before my little brother got dropped off,\u201d Daniel said. \u201cI watch him and keep him from getting jumped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel said he quickly learned to protect himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got so good at fighting that at one point I wanted to pursue a career in boxing, but my father did not want me to because we didn\u2019t have insurance,\u201d Daniel said. Instead, a talent his grandfather first noticed when Daniel was 3 years old ended up helping define his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe told me that my drawings weren\u2019t like the typical stick-figure drawings of other kids my age,\u201d Daniel said. \u201cThat encouraged me to draw more, and art became my escape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Daniel credits his art for getting him through high school and for the diversity of friends that he made along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe best thing about growing up in Long Beach is the diversity. I made and have friends from every nationality, religion and socio-economic status,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what was in the water, but it seems like everyone I hung out with had talent in some capacity or another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mario De Laura befriended Daniel before high school and took notice of Daniel\u2019s talent then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe met in junior high school where we had a seventh-grade art class together,\u201d he said. \u201cEven back then, he was already one of the best artists in the school. He designed a lot of our party flyers back then, and he was always doing some kind of art to hone his skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by Sonny Daniel (@tattoobysonny)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n