Francisco Agudo

Giant's interview with Francisco Agudo, a tatttooer and fine artist currently based in Los Angeles. Recorded in Francisco's guest house in Mid City, Los Angeles on July 5th, 2019.

Topics discussed include: growing up in the East Bay, writing graffiti at 12 years old, playing with freight trains, the late 1990s Bay Area graffiti scene, youth sports, early drawing influences, copying skateboard graphics, Jase, the Upper Playground studio, setting goals, leaving home as a teenager, selling drugs, getting started in San Francisco, local haunts, risk vs reward balance, hassles with police, reputation, Show and Prove, asshole mode, late night transportation problems, evading a house raid, backing out of the drug trade, the college track, taking the right opportunities, storefront studio on Divisadero near Haight, Chad Mooney, Academy of Art, Skullz Press blogspot, Mark Snor, kings, studio assistants, Japanese collectors, monthly studio parties, neighborhood tree panic, city comparisons, Tenderloin studio/apartment, self tattooing, living on Hyde Street, the show outside the window, cracktivity, dead people in public, Dave Schubert, the Baltimore/Philly/DC heads, Felon, integrity, Icon’s loft, East Bay thugs, North Beach, Dolores Park, writing graffiti on Upper Haight, adventures with cops, game-changing beatdowns, daytime MUNI graffiti action, jail time, community service, felony vs misdemeanor, hater judge, the Albuquerque Anti-Graffiti Task Force, the friend in the justice system, good vs bad cops, networking amongst friends, entering tattoo business at Picture Machine, use of aliases, Paco Excel, Jason Kundell, good spots, Fate, Norm, huge graffiti, Everlasting Tattoo, Idle Hands, shop help job, move to LA, cannabis trimming, Midtown Tattoo, skateboard graphics, varying business practices, Marks Tattoo.

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