Meet Cinar Topakli

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cinar Topakli.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I became enthusiastic about tattooing when I saw a friend of my father’s tattoo in Turkey in 1996. It seemed incredible and wonderful to me. Since I was young and there were very few tattoo artists in my country at that time, I wanted to make a tattoo for myself with my own efforts. I made a hand poke-style tattoo on myself with what I heard around. Then I heard that tattooing can be done by machine. Since I am already very interested in mechanical tools and I always make inventions by myself, I imagined how a tattoo machine could work and I made a few prototypes. Some of the first machines I built were crazy, like one from an old doorbell and another from an aquarium pump. My friends and who saw the tattoos I made on myself with these machines started to ask me to get tattoos from me, so I started to improve myself with them. Over time, I started to earn money from this job. However, I never thought of tattooing as a profession. In 2000 I studied at Turkey’s most well-known and oldest university of fine arts, so I improved my drawing and design skills. In this process, the interest in tattooing has increased over time in the world and I started to know more people who are interested in this subject. I worked in many studios and traveled. I have become a very well-known tattoo artist in Turkey. I opened my own studio and over the years I witnessed the development of tattooing in the world. I met my ex-wife, who is American, in my studio. First, she was my apprenticeship, then we started a relationship and got married there. Then I came to the states in 2016, thinking that coming to America would be more logical and a good opportunity to improve the art of tattooing.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not smooth at all! Especially the period when I started and the possibilities for tattooing in the country were very limited. For example, when a customer wanted a design he saw in a magazine, I had to redraw it in the size he wanted since there was no copy machine. There have been many days when I soldered my own needles and tattooed until morning. I had to do a lot of tattoos while learning the profession just to improve myself, which was not my style. I had to train myself because there was no one at the level to train. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to learn compared to those who are learning now 🙂

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a part of my character, I think that if I want to learn something, I must learn from every aspect. I did the same with tattooing, and I learned and applied almost every style of tattoo style. This is how I found my current style, which I can call abstract. I make free designs that I can combine every style I know. I use the muscle and bone systems in the body very well and make my designs accordingly. Although I usually like dark themes, I love almost everything about nature. The trust of the people who choose me makes me very happy, and I do it to the best of my ability as if I were doing that tattoo on myself.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I have never seen tattooing just as a means of making money. I have a job that I love and I feel very lucky about it. My self-improvement never ends. I can feel a new excitement every day. I do the best tattoo I can by showing the respect they show me to people who come to me to get tattoos.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cinarts/