Today we’d like to introduce you to Oscar “Channel” Canal
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Oscar Canal and I am known in the tattoo world as “Channel.” I graduated as an Industrial Designer in 2000 in Bogotá, Colombia. I developed my career for more than 15 years.
In 2013 I started tattooing at the suggestion of a great artist, mentor and friend named Carlos “pipo” Herrera and after practicing both professions for two years, I dedicated myself just to tattooing only, so then I would be able to grow in the industry and improve my skills, technique and knowledge. Today, I have 11 years of experience as a tattoo artist, after being the owner of Piraña Tattoo Studio for 8 years beside Jey Blanko, I decided to move to the United States, a country in which I have been tattooing for two years at Fineink Studios and where I am Co-owner in the South Downtown Orlando shop at 2649 S Orange Ave. in Florida, USA.
I specialize in almost all styles but I rather do Old school, American traditional, Polynesian and Cover ups. Today I am 50 years old and I am grateful to have made this decision that radically changed my life forever. Since I was a child, my life has been linked to art and music, and I think I will do it as long as my mind and body will allow me to.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest issue I always had was to find a way to connect to other artists and get information from them. In my home country it wasn´t easy to find someone who wants to share their knowledge, but you always find a few. Most of my aprendiceships had to be done by video and phone calls, so I had to study watching a lot of videos on youtube or finding some books to learn the most I could. A great example was the Godoy brothers tattoo book.
Another situation was monetary issues. Ten years ago in Colombia, it wasn´t easy to buy good gear or supplies, and if you find them, it wasn´t cheap. So it was a long and expensive road to get what I needed. These issues combine intensely when you also start in this profession “late” like me at the age of 38, and at the end of the day the biggest obstacle i believe in your selfe finally.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My strongest skill is Old school or America traditional. since I started my career I knew I wanted to specialize in that style, I won the first place prize for two years 2018-2019. In 2020 I was invited to be an Old School Category Judge at the Bucaramanga Tattoo Festival, I was the main tattoo artist for two years of the Caro y Cuervo ink, an activity carried out by the Minister of Culture of the Colombian Goberment and the Caro y Cuervo Institute. , this campaign was about to help people correcting spelling and grammatical errors in tattoos in several cities in Colombia and out of the country in Buenos Aires Argentina as well.
I won my first international award, second place in Old school category at the Orlando tattoo Show in 2023.
One of the thing i felt more proud is that part of my job is to help the other tattoo artist to improve their work an share with them the most i can from my knowledge, as the lead artist and tattoo artists manager in two Fineink Studios shops, nothing is better than leave a legacy and use your experience to help your tattoo artist family.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
More than luck i think the discipline is the biggest luchy charm for any carreer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://channeltattooer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/channeltattooer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/channeltatuador
