Some artists create because they crave attention, status, money, or connection. Others bend to the magic of their muse because it is the entire animating force behind their best being, and they would cease to exist on some level if they did not, much like breathing. Mikhail Andersson, owner and founder of First Class Tattoos in New York City, is not just this second kind of artist but a defining force in his field of tattoo art for his incomparable style and meticulous attention to detail.

An avowed student of the great painters, their practices, and their ideologies about any kind of art’s placement in the world, Andersson’s every elaborate piece could be fairly labeled a Sistine Chapel of the skin, and for more than his Michelangelian mastery of scope and perspective on large pieces.

Throughout all of his work, he is recognized for his hyper color ink concoctions that conjure celestial geometry and visionary nature in a way all his own, he is equally adept at abstract styles, neotraditional Japanese elements, and precision with portraits. He is regarded as one of the best in the business for his color realism, watercolor work, and trash polka designs. The one thing Mikhail Andersson does not do is an artistic limitation.

This freedom from barriers also extends as a common thread into the ethos of his business. Having now tattooed government workers, owners of banks, and other high-end clientele who sought him out wanting large, visible pieces of his permanent pen strokes on their persons, he reminisces about how he would have gone to a military commission had he been found with tattoos in his native country and how the crude looks and commentary he routinely received from strangers when he first arrived in America have ceased.

“I used to be asked if I had been in jail if I sold drugs, and all sorts of other ignorant, presumptuous questions when my tattoos were noticed.” The great irony of such stereotypes ever having been applied to anyone become even more laughably antiquated when juxtaposed against one of the premiere reasons for Andersson’s placement at the forefront of the current renaissance that the tattooing world is undergoing: his unfailing desire to educate himself at every turn, every day.

Andersson attributes his art’s interest to his commitment to constant improvement and is big on continuous learning in every capacity, way beyond tattoo capacitors. He is deeply interested in building relationships and even began his tattooing trajectory by willfully conscripting himself to more than a year of empty pockets and an oft-empty belly when he decided to transition his drawing skills over from the graphic design he had studied in his college years to the graphics impervious to all years he would soon come to specialize in providing his tattoo clients.

Apprenticing under-established artists helped him learn his trade and his comrades’ innate value in ink. To this day, despite the viral success of his shop and the increasingly popular demand for his skills, he is still motivated only by the possibility of further honing his abilities to the next level, the chance to learn more about this history of his art, and the ability to move forward in his applied knowledge that he realizes can only be provided via communal conversations with his creative colleagues throughout the tattoo industry. “The fastest way to learn is by being around people,” he states with surety. “Having my shop now, I share the same idea with the tattoo artists that work for me.”

Andersson is likewise notable in his field for his seriousness regarding his shop’s name integrity, cleanliness, organization, and bespoke customer experience. Having worked hard both personally and professionally to help bring an end to the social stigmas that once plagued individuals with tattoos, Andersson is adamant that First Class be friendly and open the door to all types of clients, as well as a high-level home for the best in the modern-day tattoo art of every ilk.

Pointing out that some tattoo artists are now making equivalent salaries to those of medical doctors, he is proud that his profession is finally being recognized for its cultural importance and rare blend of eclecticism mixed with extreme rigor.

Despite being a celebrity skin art savant now, Andersson brings it back to the power of discovery. When asked about his vision for the future, he offers only hope for the next higher level in his art. “I think it’s booked, education, seeing how people work, understanding color theory more deeply, and then understanding that there are laws in nature, light, and shadow. I’m still learning. I listen to and study painters and what they talk about all the time. I hope to continue evolving and growing.”