Before Oleksandr Mazharskyi became a tattoo artist, he tried more than a few different directions.
He studied psychology, worked with children at a school, pursued photography, boxed, coached, and even spent time working a corporate office job.
That last one made something especially clear: spending his life behind a desk wasn’t for him.
Oleksandr wanted something creative, personal, and entirely his own. Surprisingly, the thing that finally pushed him toward tattooing wasn’t a career plan at all.
It was a bad tattoo.
We caught up with Oleksandr so you can get to know a little more about the artist behind the work.
How did tattooing start?
It actually started because of one of my own tattoos.
I went into a shop wanting four small numbers on my wrist representing my son’s birthday. It was supposed to be extremely simple and clean.
Unfortunately, it didn't turn out very well.
I remember looking at it afterward and thinking, Honestly, I think I could have done this better myself.
Then I thought, why don't I actually try?
A few days later, I found someone who could lend me a tattoo machine. Within a couple of weeks, I tattooed another person for the first time.
Surprisingly, it came out pretty good.
One bad tattoo on my wrist accidentally started my entire career.
Why did you go all in?
Once I realized tattooing could combine art, freedom, and working directly with people, I knew I wanted to give it a real chance.
The biggest risk was leaving a stable job to pursue it full-time.
My son was only around six months old, so I wasn't making that decision just for myself anymore.
What gave me the confidence was my family, especially my wife.
She believed in me before there was any proof this would actually work, and having someone that close to me say, "I believe you can do this," made it easier for me to believe it too.
Where did anime fit in?
Anime was still pretty niche when I was growing up.
It wasn't as accepted or mainstream as it is now, and being into anime could definitely make you stand out.
By the time I started tattooing, everything had changed.
There was suddenly this huge community of people who wanted to express their love for anime through tattoos, and naturally I started attracting those clients.
For me, though, anime wasn't something I chose because it became popular. I'd already been connected to that culture long before it became mainstream.
I think that still comes through in how I approach the work.
How did you learn?
I was mostly self-taught.
I learned anywhere I could: YouTube videos, TV shows, articles, tattoo time-lapses, and studying the work of other artists.
Sometimes I would break videos down frame by frame just to understand what someone was doing.
I even reached out to artists and asked if I could come into their studios just to watch them work.
A lot of it was trial and error.
Because I wasn't taught one person's exact system or style, I had to experiment and build my own approach from all the different things I learned along the way.
What matters in your designs?
For me, anime tattoos are really about personal connection.
People don't always choose a character just because they look cool.
Usually there's a memory attached to them, a certain period of someone's life, or something about that character they personally relate to.
I want to understand that connection and then translate it into my own visual style.
If I had to describe the idea behind a lot of my work, it would probably come down to nostalgia and personal meaning.
When did things feel real?
There have been a few moments.
One of the first was when one of the top tattoo studios in Ukraine noticed my work and invited me to become a resident.
Later, after moving to New York, I was invited to work at one of the top studios in the U.S.
Then came my first convention award and my first sponsorship.
But creatively, one of the biggest moments was much simpler.
It took me almost four years to make a tattoo that I could look at and genuinely think, This is really good. I'm proud of this.
That meant as much to me as any outside recognition.
What keeps clients coming back?
I don't think there was one single interaction that confirmed I was doing the right thing.
It was all the smaller moments.
Seeing someone genuinely excited when they saw their tattoo. Having someone come back for another piece. Watching a client travel a long distance specifically because they wanted me to tattoo them.
Those moments showed me that I wasn't just putting images on people's skin.
The work could actually mean something to them.
That's a big part of what keeps me doing it.
What piece makes you proud?
One of my proudest pieces is actually pretty recent: a Reze tattoo from Chainsaw Man.
It was an extremely technical and challenging piece, and I was really happy with how everything came together.
I entered it into a tattoo convention where it won first place in its category and later received Best Tattoo of the Day.
That meant a lot because it wasn't just about winning an award.
It felt like recognition for the level of work I'd spent years trying to reach.
What keeps you improving?
The more I learn, the more I realize how much there still is to explore.
I've built a career I'm proud of, won awards, and had the opportunity to work around incredible artists.
But I don't feel like I've reached some finish line.
There are still techniques I haven't tried, styles I haven't explored, and ideas I haven't figured out yet.
I'm proud of how far I've come, but I'm probably even more curious about how far I can still go.
Recognition at Anime Ink
Outside of his work with clients, Oleksandr has also become a familiar name at Anime Ink, one of the biggest gatherings in the anime tattoo community.
He has served as an Anime Ink tattoo competition judge for multiple years, helping evaluate work from artists across the industry.
At Anime Ink 2026, Oleksandr stepped into the competition himself and earned Best Tattoo of the Day on Friday, adding another major milestone to an already award-winning career!
Meet Oleksandr in the Chair
Oleksandr's path to tattooing wasn't exactly planned, but once he found it, art, independence, and connection with people finally came together in one place.
Today, he brings years of experimentation and growth into every piece while still approaching the next tattoo like there's something new to learn.
Want to Get Tattooed by Oleksandr?
If you haven't booked with Oleksandr yet and his work feels like the right fit for your next tattoo, we'd love to hear your idea.
