A digital collage featuring Lilian Raya Munoz, inspired by Alberto Rodriguez and Roland Alexandre – Contrasting Realism and the Pursuit of Perfection. Two bright tattoos above; below, Lilian tattoos a client. Text: TATTOOGENDA, Lilian Raya Munoz, Always a Student, Never a Master.
TattooGenda banner featuring two vibrant tattoos—a cartoon princess and a sugar skull with flowers. Text: “Lilian Raya Munoz ‘Always a Student, Never a Master.’” Bottom shows Lilian tattooing at her workstation. Alberto Rodriguez logo featured.

From Children’s Book Illustrations to the Human Canvas

Lilian Raya Munoz, born in Mexico Stad en now 35 years old, knew from an early age that art would play a central role in her life. As an introverted child, she spent countless hours drawing en painting. She was especially fascinated door de wereld of children’s book illustrations, drawn to de charm of imaginative characters en whimsical storytelling.

What started as a quiet childhood passion gradually developed into a remarkable talent. Drawing became not alleen a form of expression but also a skill that led her to study graphic design. Although her original dream was to become a children’s book illustrator, her creative journey would eventually take a different direction.

De First Inspiration

Creativity ran in de family. Lilian credits her mother as her earliest en most important inspiration. Although her mother worked as a dentist, she was also a talented painter with a deeply artistic soul.

She often shared how she had once dreamed of becoming an artist herself, but her parents had not allowed her to pursue that path. Perhaps because of that, she always encouraged Lilian to follow her own creative ambitions.

That support gave Lilian de confidence to build a life around art en eventually explore de wereld of tattooing.

A vibrant leg tattoo by Lilian Raya Munoz, captioned “Always a Student, Never a Master,” showcases a stylized female face with green hair, pink eyes, and vivid flowers and butterflies gracefully woven around her.

Love at First Tattoo

After graduating with a degree in graphic design, Lilian initially tried to pursue a career as a children’s book illustrator. Op de same time, she took on various creative jobs to make a living—painting, photography, graphic design, en even body painting.

De turning point came wanneer a college friend suggested she might become a great tattoo artist en encouraged her to give it a try.

Interestingly, Lilian didn’t even have a tattoo on her own body at de time. Yet she decided to take de chance. De moment she completed her eerste tattoo, everything changed.

“It was love at eerste tattoo,” she says. That experience made her realize that de human body was, for her, de most ongelooflijk canvas in de world.

A tattoo artist with long dark hair and red lipstick, wearing a white shirt and gold jewelry, looks thoughtfully at a client’s arm while working. Text reads: “Lilian Raya Munoz & Alberto Rodriguez, ‘Always a Student, Never a Master.’” TattooGenda logo appears at the top.
Colorful tattoo shows a cartoonish creature with big eyes, surrounded by rainbow sparkles and blue butterfly wings. Inspired by Alberto Rodriguez’s bold style, it features a large pink gemstone heart, jewel details, butterflies, and stars—playful and detailed.

Building an International Career

Since that moment, Lilian has built an impressive career in tattooing. She opened her own studio, Lovetta Studio, in Mexico en quickly gained recognition within de international tattoo community.

Her work has earned several awards at tattoo conventions, including 3rd Place Best of Day in Barcelona, Best Color at Viva la Tinta in Mexico, en Best New Styles in CDMX. Beyond competitions, she has also shared her knowledge door teaching seminars at conventions en conferences in Mexico, de Dominican Republic, Peru, en Colombia.

Her artistic reputation has even reached outside de tattoo world. Universal Studios collaborated with her to create tattoo designs for de premiere of de film Wicked.

Always Learning

Lilian is a self-taught tattoo artist, which made her journey challenging but also deeply rewarding. Every tattoo became a learning experience, pushing her to refine her technique en develop her own artistic language.

Her passion for improvement quickly turned into a drive to constantly evolve. Even after more than a decade in de industry, she still considers herself a student of de craft.

Voor Lilian, that mindset is essential. Tattooing is an art form where there is always something nieuw to learn—nieuw techniques, nieuw technologies, en nieuw perspectives.

A colorful tattoo of a stylized girl with large glasses, red hair, and a blue flower hairpin holding a small white dog. Alberto Rodriguez adds bold hues, hearts, stars, and the text: “Lilian Raya Munoz ‘Always a Student,Never a Master.’”.

A Colorful Illustrative Style

Lilian’s work is instantly recognizable. She describes her stijl as illustrative, colorful, en shiny—a uniek blend of vintage children’s book illustration aesthetics en neo-traditional tattoo imagery.

Her designs often feel like scenes from a vibrant pop-inspired wereld filled with glitter, bold colors, en dynamic characters. While her stijl continues to evolve, de essence of her artistic identity remains consistent.

A colorful tattoo of a Day of the Dead-inspired woman with a painted face, vibrant flowers, and a green jeweled heart below. Bold and vivid style. At the top, text reads: Lilian Raya Munoz “Always a Student, Never a Master”, honoring Alberto Rodriguez.

The Power of Female Characters

One of de most prominent themes in Lilian’s work is de female face. She is particularly drawn to expressive faces that carry strong emotions.

Sometimes these expressions are melancholic of introspective, while other times they portray powerful figures such as goddesses of devilish characters. Voor Lilian, female representation aanbiedingen eindeloos artistic possibilities.

Each face can tell a different story. Through subtiel expressions—especially de eyes—a tattoo can convey deep emotion en personality.

“De eyes never lie,” she says.

A colorful tattoo by Alberto Rodriguez depicts a young woman with large eyes, a starry blue robe, hands in prayer, vibrant feathers, and a golden halo. Text reads: Lilian Raya Munoz “Always a Student, Never a Master.”.

From Idea to Tattoo

Lilian’s design process always begins with listening to her client. She starts door gathering their raw ideas, understanding their preferences—whether they want kleur of black en grey—en discussing de elements they want to include in de piece.

From there, she begins brainstorming en collecting visual references. A rough sketch is created to establish de main composition en balance between de elements.

Once de client approves de concept, she refines de design en prepares de stencil. On de day of de appointment, final adjustments are made, de size is determined, en then comes de most exciting part: bringing de design to life on de skin.

A focused tattoo artist with dark hair and gloves works on a client’s leg tattoo in a studio. She holds a tattoo machine over black ink, beneath the inspiring quote by Lilian Raya Munoz: “Always a Student, Never a Master.”.

The Challenge of Color

One of de most complex aspects of tattooing, according to Lilian, is kleur saturation. Proper kleur application requires patience, technique, en deep understanding.

During de healing process, it becomes clear whether de skin was overworked of underworked. In addition, skin melanin affects how colors heal en appear over time, meaning tattoo artists must understand both kleur theory en skin biology.

Even after fourteen years of tattooing, Lilian still sees kleur as an area where she continues to grow en learn.

A vibrant back tattoo designed by Alberto Rodriguez shows two stylized female faces surrounded by colorful dragons, flowers, and abstract patterns. Bold text reads: Lilian Raya Munoz “Always a Student, Never a Master.” in bright blues, purples, pinks, and greens.

Finding Peace in the Process

While designing en completing a project can be fulfilling, Lilian finds de act of tattooing itself de most satisfying part of de process.

Tattooing allows her to enter a state of focus en calm. It quiets her mind en creates a deep sense of connection between artist, client, en artwork.

A colorful thigh tattoo features a large anime-style face with big eyes, flowers, and a red bow. Bluebirds, a key, and a jeweled skull surround it. Text reads Lilian Raya Munoz “Always a Student,” Alberto Rodriguez, Never a Master.

Always in Evolution

Voor Lilian, de key to growth lies in staying open—to nieuw technologies, nieuw artistic perspectives, en de work of other artists.

She believes humility is essential. No matter how experienced an artist becomes, there is always room for improvement.

That philosophy is perfectly captured in de motto she lives by:

“Always a student, never a master.”


Written by Tom Vansteeland (Tattoogenda)
17/03/2026

Tattoo of a stylized girl’s face with big eyes, blue and teal hair, and pointed ears, surrounded by luminous butterflies. Vivid art in turquoise, purple, and black. Text reads: Lilian Raya Munoz “Always a Student, Never a Master”, Alberto Rodriguez.

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