‘Ink Master’ exclusive: Winner Anthony Michaels on alliances, battling adversity, and much more

Last week on “Ink Master,” Anthony Michaels was officially crowned as the champion of the seventh season, and did so by being consistent throughout, having a strong alliance, and improving and learning throughout the competition. He may have had less experience than the majority of the other artists this season, but he proved that years in tattooing is not necessarily a prerequisite for success in the competition.

We recently had a chance to chat with Anthony about a variety of different subjects including his “Ink Master” win, how his alliance helped get him to the end and what the process was like for coming up with the final winning tattoos; take a look below!

CarterMatt – Congratulations on winning the show! How does it feel to be the “Ink Master” winner?

Anthony Michaels – Thank you very much first of all! its definitely something you strive for coming into this, but for it to actually happen, for me is surreal. once i saw who my competition was from day one, and the vets were coming back in, the end did not seem so close or promising. but, I can confidently say being that the odds were against me caused me to dig deep down and fight. listen, observe and attack. I feel beyond fortunate, grateful and lucky. very lucky considering who i was going up against. I’m sure once things start to sink in a bit ill be jumping on the bed and swinging from ceiling fans!

We felt confident that America was going to give you their vote for final 2: What was it like having America’s support for you to win?

America voting for was insane! haha, i did not expect that being that so many people were upset about Cleen not winning season 5. everybody loves Cleen, I love cleen! so to have people i don’t even know, who don’t know me, decide my chances of survival shows a great level of respect. makes me eager to work harder to become more.

How difficult was it tattooing two 24 hour tattoos and how did you prepare for the task?

I have endured many physical challenges in my life and different career paths, especially being an athlete. this was nuts! I was losing sleep while ripping through massive drawings trying to come up with just a glimmer of something I was happy with to only be disappointed in what I was creating, considering my competition and what was at stake. I did everything i could to prepare, aside from the high demand of my family and personal life, I studied works from Horiyoshi, Horitomo, Mike Rubendall and Shige. Everything started to look the same so I put all material away, poured a rum and coke, and sat. Just listened to myself for a bit, and drew solely based on gut feeling and off the top of my head. I couldn’t have felt better with listening to myself and what I came up with.

The covering up hate tattoos challenge was a really powerful episode to watch – How was it for you when you first met your canvas?

At first, of course one would wonder the true backstory behind the tattoo, all while having the most radical thoughts of how this could pan out. And of course at first hand shake and smile, it was all business so we understood what was at stake and what we had to do. After talking with my canvas, and relating as a father, the ice was broken, fog was cleared, and it was one of the best experiences I had as an artist. Especially impacting someone’s life on such a great level, that’s what I’m striving for in this life.

You and Christian had a very powerful alliance this season: Did you find having an alliance was helpful in getting to the end?

You know, I came in thinking “mind your own and live long, be respectful and just do good tattoos.” After the first day, that was short lived! Haha. Christian caught me drawing day one, and just sat back and observed. After he saw my pen sketches, and I think how I carried myself, he wanted to know more and believed in something. He approached me with the idea, and it made sense after going through day one. Tattooing is one thing, having control of what canvas you get is another, and that is all strategy. From there on, strength in numbers. So, of course it helped me get to the end.

If clients want to book you for a tattoo, what’s the best way for them to go about doing that?

As of now my books are closed. I’m booked into fall of 2017. Though they are closed, I’m still considering taking people in, under certain guidelines. I’m looking to do primarily black and grey, color is cool also in the following: portraits or photo realism, large scale work, or creative freedom work. I can be reached for inquiries and booking at [email protected].

I love and thank every single person who has supported and am sincerely grateful. Be the best you that you can be, and believe. Peace.

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We want to thank Anthony for chatting with us about his time on “Ink Master” as we know that he has a jammed packed schedule. He was a lot of fun to watch this season and someone who was easy to root for. Congratulations to Anthony on his big win!