Opie Ortiz

Opie's Website: OpieOrtiz.com

Opie's American Beauty Tatto Parlor - http://www.americanbeautytattoo.com/

American Beauty
16860 Pacific Coast Hwy
Sunset Beach (Huntington Beach), CA
562-592-9317

Opie Ortiz is the man responsible for creating the large "Sublime" tattoo (which also serves as the Sublime album cover and primary band logo) stretched across Bradley Nowell's back. "I wanted to tattoo my friend's and thought of the places it would hurt the most," says the 27 year old Ortiz. "So I told Brad to get it on his stomach, really big. But he was too chubby and tattooing through fat is hard, so i conned him into getting it on his back - it was easy and he was stoked. We were drinking beers and he didn't seem to mind." Ortiz also created the "Brad memorial piece" tattoos for Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh, which depicts an old mic stand and a winged guitar with Brad's name on it. These identical pieces can be found on Eric's right arm, and covering Bud's back. For their album covers, Sublime has relied on Ortiz's inspired artwork. The glowing sun on the cover of 40oz's to freedom, for instance was originally an airbrushed t-shirt design, and the drunken clown on the inside cover of Sublime was originally a sketch doodled during a stoned-out conversation about how they had spent their summer vacations. Ortiz is dissapointed that MCA wouldn't let him do something "really wild" for Second Hand Smoke, but says he is nevertheless pleased with the album's result. Currently Ortiz has taken off from his tattoo artist job at Sharky's Tattoos in Sunset Beach, California, to sing in his first band, the Long Beach Dub All Stars, though he'll return to his first love soon. "I've been doing this since I was 15," says Ortiz. "I love it, especially the pyschedelic stuff with bright colors. My mom always wanted me to be an artist."

Maximum Guitar, Jan. 98'