§ About me
I'm Leo Martínez.
Born in Buenos Aires. Tattooing in Spain since 2003.
I came to the needles almost by accident —or by inheritance, depending on how you look at it. When I moved to Catalonia in 2003 I knew straight away this wasn't going to be just another job. Twenty-three years on, I haven't let go of the machine.
I founded A Sailor's Grave Tattoo Barcelona in Granollers: a private studio I share with artists whose wisdom and other styles feed my own work, in an environment that respects tattooing — good treatment and made-to-measure design as our flag. Being private also lets us give clients more privacy. And even with my own studio, I still collaborate with renowned studios, as I have for many years.
There are 136 years between these two images. And the same craft.
§ How I work
I design each piece on your body. No stencils.
Before touching the machine, I ask for the area. I touch it with my finger. I note how the anatomy moves when you breathe. Then I draw, freehand, directly on the skin.
We work the symbolism together. If you want a Polynesian piece, we first talk about what you want it to say: a birth, a journey, a loss, a sense of belonging. Then I look for the symbols that say that —not the most striking ones, the ones that fit.
I listen to the body before the client. And I care more about the piece making sense than about it being spectacular.
«I'm not in a rush. This is a craft.»
Tattoo Love interview · April 2026
§ Where all this happens
See the studio in depth →
§ Heritage
The tradition isn't mine to have invented.
The vocabulary I work with is over a century old and it didn't come out of my head: it comes from a culture I study and respect. What is mine is the design that comes out of it, and that one is new every time —drawn on your body, and repeated on nobody else.
I work with verifiable sources: Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (a Māori authority), Tricia Allen (anthropologist) and Sébastien Galliot (CNRS, on Samoan tattooing).
I don't invent symbolism. I study it, respect it, and translate it onto a body living in 2026.
§ What I don't do
There are pieces I don't touch.
01 ——
I don't copy designs from Pinterest or Google. If you bring references, I use them to understand the spirit, not to replicate. Every piece is new.
02 ——
I don't tattoo full facial Tā moko on non-Māori people. It's a ceremonial and genealogical piece belonging to the Māori people. I respect it from within the craft.
03 ——
I don't do a full traditional Samoan Pe'a without the corresponding ceremony. The Pe'a is made with a tufuga tā tatau over several days.
04 ——
I don't sell rush. If you come with a half-baked idea, I'll tell you. Better that you go home, think it over, and come back when it's ready.