Gustavo Valbuena

Connect What inspired your most recent tattoo?

The one on my right thigh of a decaying raven. It’s in memory of my late uncle. Above the raven it says ‘memento vivere’ which roughly translates to savor every moment in the present, no matter how small it is. Below the raven, ‘memento mori’ which is the culmination of the other saying above, we’re mortal and everything comes to an end. Life shouldn’t be measured by time, it should be measured by moments shared with special people in your life.

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

That I should drink more water and sleep better hours lol. Well, I have 2 anime related tattoos and they’d be speaking Japanese so I have no idea what they would say. The 2 on my thighs would agree they need more air time in shorts so they can take a look at the outside world. And the ones on my chest and back would agree that even though the other pieces are smaller they still mean a lot to me.

What would you do with the $25,000?

My family and I opened a small business in 2022 that needs a bit of help so I’d put $20k in that to help it stay up-float. I work there full time and it’s my dad’s retirement plan so I want to help so he can quit his current job. With the last $5k, a final raven tattoo on my calf. I’ve spoken to my main artist and she said the piece would take ~10 hours to complete and it would cost around $2k and because she puts in so much work and care into her art, I’d surprise