We recently connected with Michael Asfour and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I first wanted to get in tattooing when I was in high school. I had a lifelong interest in drawing, but never really saw myself as becoming a traditional “fine artist” in the popular sense. The counter culture aspect of tattooing really fascinated me as a teenager, and I started to follow the work of tattoo artists I started to look up to. The detail of these artists were accomplishing inspired me more than any other form of art I had ever engaged with. I knew I had to be part of that community. I also saw in the late 1990’s that tattooing was starting to grow rapidly in popularity and become more mainstream. This made the ambitions of tattooing for an actual living seem realistic and something I could work for. Becoming a tattoo artist became my absolute goal from there on out.

Michael, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Tattoo artists generally start their careers at two different spawn points: either practicing in a house or taking an apprenticeship. While at first I began saving money to obtain my first home tattooing kit, I decided to take the more educational path of taking an apprenticeship after advice I had received online from tattoo artists I had reached out to about getting into the business.

I began my apprenticeship out of high school, and have been working in the tattoo industry full time nearly my whole adult life.

One thing about me above anything related to art is I am very much a people person. I enjoy being around people, talking to them, hearing their stories and being able to put their life experiences into artistic decorations they wear on their bodies forever. I’ve noticed throughout my career that sometimes tattoo artists take on this persona of being a cynic that is constantly at odds with clients that seem to always annoy them. Perhaps this is something that many artists who work on commission feel on a certain level. I feel as a tattoo artist, it is incumbent on me to create a bridge between artist and client. Given the high permanent stakes we work in, it’s always important to take your client’s feelings into consideration.

I enjoy the strong connections I make with some clients. I get fulfillment in what the art I do on them means to them. Art takes endless forms, but to me tattooing has something a little special over other mediums. A tattoo is alive, it’s literally a living piece of art. If you cut it, it’ll be bleed. It’s forever connected to the person wearing it. It’s also something that can never be taken away from the person who wears it. Even if someone is thrown in an empty cell, all worldly possessions taken from them, they will still have the tattoo. The tattoo’s existence is also dependent on the life of the person wearing it. Once the person is gone, the tattoo will join them. That unique bond in our art is what keeps me constantly inspired to make new connections with people.

A tattoo artist has to be honest with the fact that they need another person to do their craft. We can’t simply paint or draw on a “different kind of canvas”, we need another human to do what we love. Otherwise it’s not truly “tattooing”. And like any painter who.likes to work on canvases they are familiar with, I like to work with people I am mentally connected to. It makes for the best experience for both parties.

As far as my artistic style and brand, I have always in my career have been a very detail oriented artist. I began in my early years working with biomechanical and macabre black and grey imagery. However, in my more mature years I have taken my love for detailed and elaborate images and transfered it to working in decorative and ornamental styles. I have developed a particular interest specifically in mandala tattoos, which now currently make up about a third of my projects. I’m very inspired by art cultures of places like India and the Middle East, and enjoy blending some of their traditional artistic elements within my style.

I take placement of designs on my clients very seriously. I enjoy detailed in person consultations with my clients, and working with them to find that special design to fit their body perfectly. I often tell my coworkers that I think of my tattoo style as creating permanent jewelry on someone’s skin. I want my tattoos to help my clients feel confident and strong, especially if they’re burdened with insecurities about themselves that maybe a tattoo can help with. I believe everyone deserves to feel appealing and confident, and I feel tattoo’s can open those doors for some who have felt them close on them in other ways.

I enjoy also creating a comfortable and relaxing environment for my clients. I feel I work great with tattoo first timers, as well as those who may have had unpleasant experiences with other artists before me. I like my sessions filled with laughter and thoughtful conversation as opposed to screaming and loud buzzing.

Although I do have a love for every elaborate tattoos, I do also enjoy simple and minimalist tattoos for those looking for a more subtle or downplayed look for their tattoo. Sometimes the most simple designs become the most charming.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Honestly, it’s really to reveal of a tattoo for my client after it’s finished. I still feel a rush of fulfillment when I see a client’s face as they collect their reward of enduring hours of pain by seeing their tattoo reflected in a mirror. Sometimes the reveal of a particularly meaningful or emotional tattoo will bring my client to tears, which I am not above joining them in. Those are moments that truly stick with me forever.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I honestly would be lying if I said I wasn’t at minimal a little jealous of the resources young tattoo artists now have at their disposal that weren’t available to my generation when I started. The first tattoo shop I worked in didn’t have internet, and in smartphones were not a thing. We couldn’t just Google design references. We had to usually find them in actual books outside of the shop. I definitely wish Social media was a thing when I was apprentice. I would’ve excelled so much faster with so much information available.

For the last year, I have actually began teaching tattooing to my very own apprentice I have taken on. One of the main things I tell my apprentice is to fully use the near endless amount of resources available to new tattooers. I basically made it clear that where I was in experience at 5 years tattooing, I want my apprentice on that same level in less than one year.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mikeas4tattoos