2023 Annual Holiday Toy Drive at Old Rose Tattoo

On December 2nd and 3rd, Old Rose Tattoo hosted our annual holiday toy drive flash event. To participate in the event, clients had to bring a toy to donate to the Temecula Fire Department’s Spark of Love Campaign. We appreciate everyone’s continued support and are grateful to be able to host events to help serve our community. Check out some of the tattoos that we did below and keep an eye out on social media for our next flash event!

Tattoo by David Flores, ATC

Tattoo by David Flores, ATC

Tattoo by David Flores, ATC

Old Rose Tattoo in the Temecula Christmas Parade!

On Friday December 1st 2023, Old Rose Tattoo had an entry in the Old Town Temecula Christmas Light Parade. The Old Rose van was decorated with lights and garland. Aaron Mason drove down Front Street while Pialla and our shop helper passed out stickers and temporary tattoos to kids along the parade route. Aaron’s dog Darby sat up front and greeted parade-goers along the way. The team had a great time- check out some pictures below of the van’s decorations!

Pialla, Aaron, and Darby waiting for the parade to begin

Anime Tattoos at Old Rose

Wondering about getting an anime or anime inspired tattoo? We can absolutely help you out at Old Rose! Several of our artists have done anime tattoos and we would love to do yours next! Check out the gallery below for some examples. If you would like to book an appointment, stop by the shop or fill out the booking request form on our website.

Tattoo done by David Flores, ATC.

Tattoo done by David Flores, ATC

Flash available by Jade McKenzie

Tattoo done by David Flores, ATC

Tattoos done by David Flores, ATC

Tattoo done by Sterling Barck.

Tattoo done by Jade McKenzie

Dominique Graduates From Her Piercing Apprenticeship!

On Saturday, November 4th 2023, Dominique graduated from her piercing apprenticeship under Mike Cuervo.

We now have two piercers in the shop full-time. Dominique is available Saturday-Wednesday all day and Mike is taking piercings Thursday and Friday all day. All piercings are done on a walk-in basis. If you have any questions regarding availability or pricing, feel free to contact the shop at (951) 699-1981.

Dominique has also been busy ordering tons of cute jewelry to choose from for all types of piercings. Stop by the shop any day to take a look at all the available options!

Nostril piercing done by Dominique. We have plenty of options available for piercings- come by the shop to see!

Nipple piercing done by Dominique.

Industrial piercing done by Dominique

Nostril piercing with a stud

We now offer septum piercings- come see Dominique to get yours done!

8TH ANNIVERSARY FLASH PARTY

On October 21st, Old Rose celebrated the 8th anniversary of the shop opening with our annual costume and flash event. We designed a flash sheet especially for this event, and discounts were given to customers who came in a costume. Piercing apprentice, Dominique, even did a $40 piercing special all day. Our own crew all wore Lord of the Rings costumes. It was a fun day for all and we look forward to celebrating again next year!

The flash sheet that was available for our 8th anniversary party.

Group photo of everyone’s costumes, including Gollum (Jade McKenzie) photoshopped into the corner.

Flash tattoo done by Tony Cruz

Flash tattoo done by David Flores ATC.

Gimlee, Aragorn, and Gandalf (David Flores, Tony Cruz. and Aaron Mason) enjoying some Mead after the party.

Flash tattoo done by Jade McKenzie.

Piercing apprentice Dominique did a $40 piercing deal to celebrate the anniversary. This customer upgraded to a spiderweb piercing- just in time for Halloween!

Still Not Asking For It Fundraiser 2023

On May 27th and 28th 2023, Old Rose Tattoo hosted our annual Still Not Asking For It flash event to raise money for the Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center. All proceeds raised over the weekend were donated to RARCC. This year we also sold raffle tickets for original artwork designed specifically for the event, prints, and t-shirts that were donated to us by Servando at Branson Screenprinting. The total amount raised was $12,800 and we are thankful to our community for participating in such a great cause.

SNAFI Tattoo by Max Aguilar

SNAFI Tattoo by Tony Cruz

SNAFI Tattoo by David Flores

SNAFI Tattoo by David Flores

Jade McKenzie graduates!!!

After three years of hard work and dedication, Jade McKenzie graduated from her apprenticeship under Aaron Mason and David Flores on April 15th. A graduation flash party was held in her honor with special flash sheets and BBQ catering for all.

If you would like to book with Jade, you can send her a message on her instagram, @jademckenzietattoo or come by the shop to set something up. She is in shop Sunday through Thursday and does walk-ins on Mondays.

Jade’s sheet for her graduation flash party. These designs are all available to still be tattooed.

The shop watching Jade do her very first tattoo on herself.

Tattoo #1

Some tattoos that Jade did during her apprenticeship.

Book with Jade through her instagram: @jademckenzietatoo or come by the shop to set something up!

Salt Lake City Tattoo Convention 2023

This past weekend, David Flores, Tony Cruz, Max Aguilar and Sterling Barck worked the Salt Lake City Tattoo Convention in Utah. They had a great time tattooing, eating fun foods, and Tony even bought nunchucks. We look forward to heading back next year!

Above are some tattoos that Sterling did at the convention!

Above is a tattoo Tony drew on and tattooed at the convention of a Quetzalcoatl ankle band.

Interested in Getting a Backpiece?

A backpiece is often times the most important and time consuming tattoo a person will get in their lifetime. Here at Old Rose, our artists are well equipped to take that idea you’ve had rummaging around in your head and transform it into the backpiece of your dreams!

It all starts with a consult. Once your desired artist has been chosen, feel free to call the shop or email the tattooer directly about setting up a consult for a potential backpiece. At the consult, the artist will often take a tracing and draw out a rough sketch of your ideas to get everything started. See below for some of the initial sketches and concepts of different backpieces our artists have done.

The first session will usually take the longest, as it will take some time getting the stencil on and then to line it. Many times, our artists will have to make adjustments to the design so that the overall composition and drawing flows well with the body. Sometimes the lining may take more than one session as well and will be broken up accordingly.

Once the lines are done, several sessions will be required to finish the tattoo. This is where a lot of dedication and trust on the client is required as it takes a lot of time and effort to finish a back piece. See below for some process shots!

The journey to a completed backpiece is often a long one, but just know that it is worth it! If you are thinking of starting a backpiece, look through our portfolio section to decide on which artist’s style matches the design in mind and give the shop a call at 951-699-1981 to schedule a consult!

Get To Know Your Artist Series: Tony Cruz

In this new series, Jade will be interviewing each of the tattooers here at Old Rose Tattoo. We hope this will give our customers a little more insight into who is tattooing them and provide helpful information for what each of our artists is looking to tattoo more of! So without further ado, here is the interview with Tony Cruz.

Tony Cruz and David Flores working on back-pieces simultaneously.

Jade: Tell us a little bit about how you got your start in tattooing.

Tony: Well I always loved drawing and originally wanted to be a fine arts painter, but art school wasnt an option for me. Instead, I started getting tattooed by Max Aguilar at Skullhaus a whole bunch and fortunately got an apprenticeship there. Max and I both work here at Old Rose now that Skullhaus has closed up. It’s been about ten years since I started tattooing.

J: What and who has influenced your career?

T: I never really used any color growing up; I was always drawing in either pen or pencil, and my uncle had this black and grey body suit that really inspired me to work in black and grey and fine line. Tattooers like Adrian Lee and Chuey Quintanar are pretty influential to me. Their scale of work, both in quantity and size, is something I strive to achieve.

J: You said you wanted to be a fine arts painter growing up, has that been a defining aspect of your style at all?

T: Mostly in the imagery and composition of fine art. I look at a lot of Alphonse Mucha and John w. Godward for reference.

J: When it comes to style, how would you describe yours?

T: I wouldn’t say I have a defined style, just that I primarily work in black and grey. I gravitate towards a more realistic look, although since I draw mostly everything by hand there is still that illustrative aspect to my tattoos. I tend to do a lot of portraits, religious, and geometric themes.

J: What sort of projects have you been working on or would like to do more of in the future?

T: I’ve recently been into a lot of Mesoamerican artwork, things featured in ancient Aztec and Mayan stonework. I finished up a Kewpie doll a couple of months back that I covered with imagery from those cultures. On the other end, I often lean towards classical imagery, symbols that come from Catholicism and Christianity. One of the last back pieces I finished was of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I would say both types of projects allow me to study and bring to life part of Mexican culture.

J: How would someone book with you?

T: The first step would to be to fill out my waitlist, [linked here] . At the moment, it’s taking me about 6-8 months to get back to people. I look through it in order, and will have the shop call people when I have time in my schedule for new projects. I put a lot of time and energy into each design, and drawings take me anywhere from 16 to 20 hours on top of the whatever research I need to do, which is why I have to be more selective with what I choose to take on. At the moment, I am prioritizing only large scale work, things like back pieces and full sleeves. I would just prefer that my body of work be larger projects in the grand scheme of things.

J: What would you say is the best part of working here at Old Rose Tattoo?

T: The 80’s music for sure, but in all honestly I like working alongside people with a strong work ethic. It forces me too keep trying new things and striving to make each tattoo better than the last in order to compete with everyone here.

Tony works at Old Rose Tattoo Friday-Monday. To see a larger body of work from Tony, please check out his instagram linked here @tony.cruz.tattoo.