Meet Keana Sangalang | Tattoo Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Keana Sangalang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Keana, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
People should research their artists/studio. Even for something small that could be a walk-in. You may want a more traditional style tattoo with thinker lines but come to a fine line studio. Or vice versa. And not to say that we won’t do a great job. We are your artist, we will make sure you walk out with a great tattoo. But it may be a better experience for you and the artist if you come to them with an idea in their style. I’m still figuring out my style and slowly putting my work out there, but my best work has come from my friends who’ve given me full creative freedom. And coming from a client perspective, I’ve gotten the most compliments on the tattoos where I’ve researched the artist, booked months in advance, and let them do what they want to do.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Through out my life I’ve been so indecisive about my career, but I always knew I wanted something in the creative field. I am one of three sisters (triplets), and growing up I was known as the “artsy one.” High school was when I started exploring my career options. I was always in an upper fine art class (AP art), entered many art competitions and I tried everything from graphic design, architecture, animation, 3D modeling, even culinary. They all seemed like great options (and still do), but I couldn’t stick to just one. This exploration continued in college, I changed my major almost every semester, still on a creative path, of course. In the beginning my parents were hesitant (Filipino household), but they never stopped me from pursuing art. It was a slow progress growing up, showing them that art can be my career, proving myself to them. It took a couple months before I told them I was doing this. But now they’re so supportive and always asking me questions about tattooing.
I do want to finish my degree for them, but I’m scared to commit to something for so long only to find out later that there was a better choice. Not that there a wrong choice. I’m amazed by those who knew what they wanted to do early on. I want to pursue something where I can put my best work out in the world, tattooing could be just that. I appreciate that I can continue tattooing if and when I decide to go back to school, or I can really hone in on my craft and make this my career. I believe you have your whole life to figure out your line of work and I’m so lucky to have the resources that let me explore mine.
I’m still very new to the tattoo industry. I’m very thankful to my friends and especially my sisters who have supported me and even let me experiment on them when I first started at 6 Tattoo.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Grandscape in the colony is a great place to check out. Everything is new and there’s so many things to do there. They have movies, arcade, shopping, great food and drink options, and sometimes you can catch live music. I live in Frisco and we just got a new library next to the Frisco Discovery Center. That would be a great place to get work done when I’m not at the studio. Next to that we have the square and FC Dallas.
Every time someone comes to Frisco I take them to Nerdvana. It’s a place where you can play video games while dining and drinking. Always a fun time.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m very grateful for the people I work with at 6 Tattoo Studio. They are so welcoming and driven. They have helped me every step of this process and taught me everything I need to know about tattooing. I love that everyone here has their own unique style. I get to see new, amazing pieces every time I come into work. I am constantly inspired by other creatives around me. Even at my other job I get to see stunning work from people like KAY (singer/song writer) or Sam Olaniyan (photographer/filmmaker).

Website: www.6tattoodallas.com

Instagram: keana.6tattoo