From an early age, art was the driving force in Sonny Daniel’s life, ushering him away from violence in his childhood into a well-established tattooing career — and now, a solo art show displaying his paintings and other pieces.
This weekend, the longtime local tattoo artists’ 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.
Likely best known for his tattooing, Daniel’s path led him through local spots like Sharky’s Tattoo in Sunset Beach until he started managing his own shop in Signal Hill.
But before that — growing up as a youth in Long Beach during the ‘80s and ‘90s — Daniel said his job was to protect his younger brother from the same gangs he was trying to escape.
“Back then, my job was to hurry home from school before my little brother got dropped off,” Daniel said. “I watch him and keep him from getting jumped.”
Daniel said he quickly learned to protect himself.
“I 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’t have insurance,” Daniel said. Instead, a talent his grandfather first noticed when Daniel was 3 years old ended up helping define his career.
“He told me that my drawings weren’t like the typical stick-figure drawings of other kids my age,” Daniel said. “That encouraged me to draw more, and art became my escape.”
Daniel credits his art for getting him through high school and for the diversity of friends that he made along the way.
“The best thing about growing up in Long Beach is the diversity. I made and have friends from every nationality, religion and socio-economic status,” he said. “I don’t know what was in the water, but it seems like everyone I hung out with had talent in some capacity or another.”
Mario De Laura befriended Daniel before high school and took notice of Daniel’s talent then.
“We met in junior high school where we had a seventh-grade art class together,” he said. “Even 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.”
There were setbacks, however.
“I got into some trouble and had to go to jail in the eleventh grade,” Daniel said, but that experience led to an unexpected opportunity: “When I got out, I had to go see my probation officer Downtown, and [a] tattoo shop was located across the street.”
Daniel spent as much time there as he could. Whenever Daniel had free time while waiting for his probation officer, he befriended the staff and started to volunteer at the shop.
Eventually, through the interactions and willingness to help out, Daniel managed to get a job at a different shop: Sharky’s Tattoo in Sunset Beach where he did an apprenticeship in 1993.
From then until 2010, Daniels worked for various tattoo shops around Southern California. In 2010, an opportunity came for him to manage his own shop in Signal Hill, which stayed open until the pandemic caused the business to shut down.
“We spent many hours in the tattoo shop in Signal Hill,” Opie Ortiz, another one of Daniel’s friends and fellow tattoo artist, said. “He had a large variety of clients due to his distinctive style of both traditional and fineline with soft shading, Polynesian style and Hawaiian motifs.”
Daniel’s art exhibit is now coming amid some life-changing struggles that descended on him after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“First, my grandfather and uncle passed away unexpectedly, and my baby brother got shot and killed,” he said.
In addition to the sudden deaths, Daniel started to experience health issues, but his circumstances only motivated him to find some other means of artistic expression since he no longer had a tattoo business.
“Since I was struck at home like everyone else, I started to paint,” he said. “In late November of 2023, while I was painting, I started to have a sharp pain in my side, which brought me to my knees.”
Soon after, Daniel was diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cancer which spread to his lungs. He’s still undergoing treatment. And this latest experience has not dissuaded him from diving further into his art.
“I always told myself that if I ever got the opportunity to have my own art show, I’m going to have so many paintings, I can’t be denied,” he said. “I’m going to come hard and strong, and I’m going to represent my family and the city where I laid my roots.”