Hello Mr.Krizsán! To speak about your art is a real joy. There are so many styles that you do and all of them speaks about your dedication, your talent and your creative energy. Awesome, indeed.

I bet your art journey is full with a lot of interesting experiences but let's start with some basic info ...

Q: What made you to become a tattoo artist?
A: It’s a good question. I was 20 years old and I didn’t really know what should I do with my life. I was very young, I did a lot of stupid things when I realized that I had to learn from life to become somebody. I mean to become a man like my father and my grandfather, who were breadwinners in hard times. The communist regime came to an end in those days, tattoos were not that usual. I didn’t know much about tattooing either. Then I hooked up with a girl who had got small tattoos and her idea was that I should make tattoos, too. Later the love ended but an other one came and it seems it lasts for life, the tattooing. Besides the girl’s younger brother, who was 10 years old then, also became a tattoo artist. I am very glad. We haven’t been in touch but I always keep tabs on his work.

Q: How long have you been tattooing?
A: I have been tattooing for sixteen years.

Q: Like I said, your tattoo art is amazing. How much time was necessary for you to get into this great level?
A: Thank your very much but in my opinion I don’t deserve this kind compliment. I often have the feeling that I am only at the beginning of this. The first twelve years of my work was an aberration. The real motivation arrived with the birth of my son, Levente. It happened four years ago and since then I have been feeling that I can give something new to the people. I cast aside everything I thought I knew about tattooing and I started over. You can see the result of this now, but I think I am still far from the level I will be able to reach.

  

Q: Some people say that it is possible to be self though artist. What are your thoughts about this? How did you learn the tattoo skills?
A: As I mentioned it was hard to start this whole thing in Hungary. Moreover, I live in a town with less than 90.000 inhabitants. That’s the difference from Budapest where a lot of talented artists and potential customers live. I had to learn everything on my own, find out the tricks of the profession. I still haven’t got to the end, I constantly have to learn. I train myself in which the biggest help are my 4-year-old son, my wife, Anikó and Kaid Nabil who is a friend of mine and also a great artist.

My opinion about learn ability is that you definitely have to learn. The person who was gifted with talent can’t rest on his laurels. Self-taught art is good but if you open up to new things and mediums, it can help you improve yourself. Talent is only a chance that we must know how to use. Not everyone gets that, so the responsibility is even bigger. That is what we owe to us and the ones who believe in us. Then again how can an untrained ’artist’, who doesn’t even intend to learn, become an intellectual ’leader’ or an authentic ideal of the new generation.

       

Q: Through your portfolio there are a lot of styles that you do. Is there any tattoo style you find as your favorite or your specialty?
A: I am interested in every style but what I really like is a mixture of steampunk and realism. But I also enjoy making portraits. I can’t really emphasize anything, because once I am interested in this, then I get excited about that. It’s often difficult to keep my thoughts on one thing.

Q: You seem to be passionate in doing color tattoos. Maybe the most impressive think about your color work is the shading in layers. Seems like there is 3d work in some of them, correct me if I'm wrong.
A: You’re right, I like color tattoos. I am trying to come up to the tattoo artists who represent the Eastern-European style. I hope I can manage that sometime. I am working on it.

       

Q: What can you say that is most difficult in doing some color piece?
A: The most difficult is always the composition. It doesn’t matter whether it’s black, grey or colored, the basis is the most important.

Q: You are an incredible portrait artist. How did your professional tattoo art journey lead you in this direction?
A: I don’t really know. I am not sure I am, but of course others decide that. Anyway, the word ’artist’ is only a word. I like creating, improving, struggling for new aims. This also guided me when I started taking classical realism lessons from Kaid Nabil. He represents a school that is characterized by great medieval European masters. I try to incorporate his instruction in my tattoos, with more or less success.

I constantly struggle to become better, not only in portraits but in other things. I believe that only an emotional person is able to depict feelings and life in a portrait, so apart from the play of light and shadow I pay attention to the emotions of a face.

Q: Tattooing is very creative work. How do you get inspired for all you do?
A: My wife and my son inspire me the most. I can’t describe how much strength a child gives to its father. I think I was going through the motions before his birth. Now I am full of energy, everything changed, the colors, the lights when he was born. This feeling is my ’spiritual nutrition’.

Q: Do you agree with your customers when they choose a readymade tattoo from the Internet or do you try to persuade them to create their own idea or a personal symbol?
A: Yes, I persuade them to create their own ideas. The tattoo should be the figurative image of ourselves. That’s all there is to say.

Q: Everyone who’s got a tattoo says that they haven’t stopped at only one. Can you become addicted do tattoos?
A: Yes, sure. If the experience connected to our first tattoo is great, we can get addicted. I definitely am! But if the first experience is unpleasant or traumatic because of a bad choice or a crappy execution, it can cause the opposite effect. I think this is the profession’s responsibility, too.

Q: To be an artist is a real joy, right? What are the most interesting experiences with the customers? Any crazy stories in your mind you'd like to share?
A: In my opinion it is a great feeling of success for an artist if the customer is satisfied and happy. Many of them become friends who accompany us for a long time. Yes, it is a joy to be an artist, but this joy is also a responsibility and we should never forget that. There are lots of stories, both good and bad, but I don’t want to emphasize any of them. They are all special.

Q: Which is the strangest request you have ever had for a tattoo?
A: There was a request I will never forget. It was rather tragic than strange. I was once asked to make a nice portrait of a boy. The kid looked a lot like my son. I started working on the tattoo when it turned out that he suffered from a terrible genetic disease and had only 1-2 months to live. I felt sick and dizzy and I was on the very edge of crying. I had a lump in my throat while I was listening to the parents telling me about the things happening at home. The three-hour work took six hours and I became psyched out. When the tattoo was ready, it turned out that the mother wants one, too. I was carrying the burden of these two tattoos for months before I was well again. I learned a lot from it.

   

Q: What would your "dream piece" be to work on if someone came to you and completely let you choose the design?
A: By all means I would like to highlight beauty and harmony in such pieces of work. I don’t want to emphasize any of my projects because, thank god, several are in process and I receive more and more requests like that.

Q: Art could be a great influence on someone's personality. What is the best lesson that you've learned from your art journey?
A: Our biggest enemy is ourselves. I mean if someone believes his environment that he is a great artist, everything is over. The most important lesson is to stay humble. We have to be independent but humbleness is substantial in this profession. This also applies to other parts of life.

Q: What are your goals for the upcoming year?
A: There are a lot of things to do in 2012. I have to comply with a lot of invitations. In line with this I developed a rotary tattoo machine that I would like to put on the world market. It will be available from about March. More information will be released on the www.hikonrotary.com homepage soon.

Please feel free to share your feature plans about your work and your work info(web site).

I am very happy about this opportunity. Thanks for your and the readers’ time and attention. My permanent plan is to improve. Please, visit my facebook page and my official homepage (www.szolnoktattooexpo.com) which is under construction at the moment but soon available with all necessary information. Greetings!