I’ve never been to Texas, but I’ve heard great things about the city of Austin. Being the curious chap that I am, I decided that hey, maybe Austin’s tattoo scene is worth looking into as well. Well, I wasn’t disappointed. There are numerous great tattoo artists working in the Austin area, one of which is Michael Norris.
Norris tattoos at Austin’s Southside Tattoo, as well as maintaining the Hub Tattoo website. He’s taken his skills on the road since becoming at tattoo artist in 1995, working in locales as diverse as Europe and Asia along the way. His work has also appeared in the August 2008 issue of International Tattoo Art Magazine, and for good reason.
While looking through Norris’ gallery of colour tattoos, I was sufficiently impressed. That is, until I decided to check out his black and grey work and well…wow. Norris’ biography on the Southside Tattoo website states that Michael’s specialty is:
“…versatility, applied in designs that complement the underlying body forms of the recipient.”
Looking at Norris’ work, I agree 100% with that statement. A truly good tattoo artist understands the contours, advantages and disadvantages of the flesh on different body types and uses them to enhance their artistry. Michael Norris is that sort of artist. For me, it’s his black and grey work that really illustrates his smooth and clean style. Unfortunately I can’t place the photo on the blog because it belongs to a Flicker slideshow, but check out the second tattoo on this slide show (the sleeve) to see what I mean.
Gorgeous work, Michael, and all the more reason for me to take that first trip to Texas.