PEARL AND RALPH San Ramon are allergic to the word “temporary.” Whether it pertains to their relationship as a married couple or in their individual careers as artists, permanence is an important aspect. And as people in the tattoo business, indelible ink is not only the medium for their art but possibly the one thing that keeps their life together intact.
For Pearl and Ralph, there is forever.
Pearl is a professional makeup artist and cosmetic tattoo artist while Ralph is a tattoo artist and runs a tattoo shop on Gorordo Ave., Cebu City. This shared interest in ink has been a foundation for their growth as artists, where they feed inspiration to each other’s work.
Pearl put up her studio Dolled Up Makeup Studio and Supply in 2011 with the intent of selling makeup items and occasionally holding makeup tutorial classes. But over time, she focused more on her makeup services and continued to level up her skill set. Eventually she got inspired by her husband’s work and took a leap in learning cosmetic tattooing.
“Basically speaking, permanent makeup is just a deviation of what I already do, albeit with a different medium which is ink. I guess I got the inspiration of taking on tattooing from my years of exposure to Ralph’s line of work,” she said.
Admittedly, there is more pressure in perfecting the craft because what she creates is not just a tattoo but a tattoo on the face. That’s why Pearl made it a point to get formal training. She studied eyebrow microblading in Kuala Lumpur in 2014 and spent a year practicing and perfecting the craft before officially offering the service in her shop. And just recently, she finished an advanced training in California and can now add eyeliner and lipcolor tattoos to her roster of services.
On the other hand, Ralph’s tattoo career started when he was still 17 years young. He learned how to tattoo in Boracay and has been doing it ever since. It was in 2005, after years of learning and tattooing professionally in Boracay, that he decided to make his dream a reality and open up a tattoo shop of his own in Cebu—Needlepoint Tattoos.
Tattoos have always fascinated Ralph not only design-wise but also the personal aspect of it.
“Tattoos, I think, are the most personal art form out there. People pick out a design and put it on their skin to carry for the rest of their lives. I thought it’s a very unique way to showcase my artwork rather than to just
hang it up on a wall,” he said.
For Ralph, he does not only improve his craft aesthetically but he believes that his clients’ say on the design is gold.
“I’ve always put a great importance to understanding what they want, what story they’re trying to tell or what they’re trying to remember when they decide to get these tattoos, and from there I try to incorporate a design that I feel matches their style and personality and we work together to arrive at a piece that we are both happy with. Even now that I have artists working with me at the shop, I always remind them to never compromise the client’s ideas in the design,” he said.
Being artists has only made their relationship stronger, especially when they both got into inking. “We get to share a common interest where we can both learn from each other, and support each other,” Ralph said. “It’s really a give and take between the two of us and I think that’s what makes us such a great team,” Pearl added.