Rob is the owner of Rob The Original Barber Shop in San Antonio, Texas. He doesnât just cut hair but makes the hair his canvas (carving designs like the above image of Cardi Bâs WAP album). Along with his artistic barber skills, Rob is known for a variety of art styles and testing different mediums.
âI consider myself an artist before a barber, I actually consider barbering as one of my hobbies and as an art mediumâ says Rob. His barber career is just one of many outlets for his creativity. You can often find Rob the Original creating sand art, painting celebrities (literally, see his work on Jailyne Ojeda Ochoa), carving wood and concrete walls to display portraits of famous celebrities. From Selena Quintanilla to Tupac, Rob can do it all.
We asked what his first portrait was to which he responded, âthe very first portrait that I did on a haircut was a Tupac portrait, it wasnât the best because it was a concept back in 2008 but it was just an ideaâ he continued with âwhy shouldnât I try to do a portrait? A lifelike image and that helped my career in ways where Iâve gained respect from barbers all over the worldâ. We then asked what inspires him to create and he responded âI get inspired by other artists that I see online, recently I started doing art on burnt toast, which I saw from another artist so I thought that was super amazing, and I wanted to try itâ check out his work of Kylie Jenner on toast.
Occasionally, Rob will use his art to make a political statement, from a portrait of Donald Trumpâs hair blowing, George Floyd, and Post Malone smoking a joint. Infringe interviewed Rob and asked if it ever bothered him that his art only exists temporarily, to which Rob responded âit does not bother me that my art is temporary, I always take lots of pictures and videosâ which he shares with his 1.4 million Instagram followers and 450K+ followers on TikTok. Find his art on Instagram @Robtheoriginal and TikTok @officialrobtheoriginal.
Robâs social media presence landed him Barber of the Year at the Star-Studded American Influencer Awards. The nominees for the award was âbased on public input, an advisory board, the creative content produced and engagement it garners, growth rateâ and according to the American Influencer Awards, must have âthe ability to positively influenceâ. Rob possessed all of these traits and won the 2020 Barber of the Year Influencer Award. He told MySA after winning the award that this was âanother huge accomplishment for a Mexican that started cutting hair on the Southside of San Antonioâ.
Not only does he work with art, he is covered with it too. âAll of my tattoos are from different people. A lot of my tattoos I got done here in San Antonio, Texasâ. He also pointed out his newest tattoo which, is a portrait of 2Pac done by tattoo artist David Vega in Austin, Texas. Rob told us that David â is a world renowned tattoo artist and his work is amazing.â We asked about where some of his work has been done and he told us that âwhenever I go to other countries, If I can find a tattoo artist, I like to get tattooed, Itâs kind of like a souvenir on my body instead of buying giftsâ and continued with âI think that tattoos are cool because it has a story behind it, I actually want to become a tattoo artist, 2021, I want to start practicing and taking it seriously. I love tattoos and I have always wanted to be a tattoo artistâ.
Although he has many pieces that he loves, there are some early tattoos that he would like removed. When asking Rob the Original about the tattoo being removed, he mentioned âI really like the meaning behind it, but it was done really poorly and when I was 18 years oldâ referring to the large âSan Diegoâ SD on his chest. Rob got the tattoo after he had moved from San Diego to San Antonio as a young adult. He wanted to represent where he was from and show respect to San Diego by getting the SD tattooed on his chest. Now that he is older and has more art, Rob has decided to remove this tattoo and replace it.
We asked Rob if he has any plans to cover up his tattoo and he said âmost definitely, I love tattoos and I want to get tattoos over the area that I will be getting removedâ. When asking if he had a plan in place, he stated âI still havenât found the right piece for my chest but I want it to be one whole piece, I donât want to get little pieces anymore. I want to get one big piece.â
For Robâs SD tattoo, with the ink density and scale, it is best for him to laser remove his tattoo instead of opting for a cover up. With laser removal, Rob can completely remove the tattoo and replace it with another work of art. We asked Carmen, the VP of Clinical Operations for Removery what she thought on Mr. Originals tattoo.
âThis is a very heavily saturated tattoo. Iâm assuming given his other work he wants black and gray, which almost always has a lot of negative space, so this is why heâs looking for full removal. His cover up is certainly doable, but we will have to clear more ink for him, than if he wanted to put any other type of tattoo on top. To prepare for black and gray we have to completely clean the canvas. Removal is possible, it just may take some additional timeâ.
Rob visits Removery in San Antonio, Texas right off of Blanco Rd. If youâre like Rob and have some work you would like faded or removed for a cover up, book a free consultation. Learn more about our San Antonio, Texas location here.
Weâre on a mission to give you the most straightforward, easy and efficient laser tattoo removal experience. Your estimate will be entirely bespoke to your tattoo; the size, the colours, the ink. It wonât take long and afterwards youâll have a plan to finally get rid of your unwanted tattoo and get back to being you.
1-300-820-407
