by Robbie Pangilinan

Eighteen years ago, he had no idea how to tattoo. Today, he inks celebrities and famous personalities and owns his own tattoo studio.

“I was even confused how tattooing works. When my friend taught me how to do henna tattoo, I started to get interested,” says Ryan Dante F. Dayandante, founder and owner of Bloodlines Tattoo Studio in Marikina City. Established in 2004, Bloodlines has welcomes popular people yearning to get inked.

Armed with the conviction that tattoos are part of the Filipino culture, 38-year-old Ryan recalls that his very first tattoo design was tribal. He then studied the macabre design as well as oriental, but says that in his 18 years of experience in the industry, he learned that you can never claim to be an expert of a particular design.

“Every tattoo is different, unique. As an artist, I need to study all the different cultures and designs, and I don’t want to stick to one or a few designs only,” adds Ryan.

The humble artist (he says that humility is necessary to become a good tattoo artist) says he still feels empty and he is always hungry to learn more.

“I think I need to improve in all aspects of how a real tattoo artist works, becouse until now I feel empty, I wanna know more,” he says, adding that he finds all designs challenging because every client has a different type of skin and personality.

“That is primarily my work. To know the skin of the client, and to know which suits him/her best. The design is secondary,” says Ryan who is always in the process of studying new designs in search for his dream tattoo.