Jose Perez Jr, a Chicago native, began his tattooing career in 2002. During his career, his inspiration for his craft comes from both old and new masters and many other forms of art, craftsmanship , architecture and nature. Knowing that tattooing is a vast industry, he had to push himself to learn and recreate realism — to be able to stand out amongst great tattoo artists. Jose strictly tattoos in the realm of black and gray realism that pushes the limit on texture and detail. He says it's all about getting the right reference and he has always been a very visual person. He strive to achieve something that other artists were not doing at the time and he continues to work hard to perfect his craft. Jose also enjoys teaching and mentoring fellow tattoo artists, offering one-on-one seminars, group seminars, and live on-line webinars.

You can find Jose at Dark Water Studio in suburban Chicago.