Ink slinger

Paul Saitowitz

Mike Spasbo spent his class time in high school doodling. The teacher

would lecture and he would doodle, first in his notebooks, then on

his friends.

Eventually one of those friends decided to take the next step. He

liked Spasbo’s work so much that he wanted it to be permanent.

“He asked if I could tattoo my drawing on him, so I got a tattoo

machine and just did it,” Spasbo said. “I didn’t really know what I

was doing, but it came out pretty good.”

From that point he began tattooing his friends on a regular basis

-- including most of the Yucaipa High School football team -- and

when he graduated from high school, his mother realized this was more

than just a passing fancy and bought him a full tattooing kit.

The 26-year-old Spasbo, replete with a fully inked left arm,

sideways hat and silver chain, operates out of Costa Mesa Tattoo. He

is now one of the most sought-after tattoo artists in Southern

California, and has literally put his mark on everyone from

professional motocross riders Jeremy “Twitch” Stenberg, Seth Enslow

and Mike Metzger to rockers the Kottonmouth Kings and Thrice.

“It basically spread by word of mouth, I did a couple of the

motocross guys and they showed their friends and it just grew from

there,” he said.

The soft-spoken Spasbo only works by appointment, and has clients

fly in from as far away as Seattle to get inked by him. In the eight

years that he has been working as a full-time tattoo artist, he has

noticed the socialization of the tattoo from sinister gang types to

grandmothers.

“I had one parent come in with her son to get me to tattoo over

some of his gang tattoos,” he said. “She was really against the whole

thing at first and hated tattoos, but once she saw what I did she

became interested and I ended up doing a lot of work on her.”

He once tattooed an 80-year-old woman because she wanted to know

what a tattoo felt like before she died, and he even gave his own

father, who had one small tattoo when he began, a full sleeve.

He does draw the line -- or actually refuses to -- when it comes

to any type of racial, gang, facial or demonic work.

“I personally don’t like that type of stuff, so I won’t do it,” he

said. “This is an art form to me and I don’t want to ruin it with it

things like that.”

He is known for his color, but is adept at portraits and all types

of graphics. No matter what the piece, you’ll always know if it was

done by him.

“Some people come in with very specific ideas, and I’ll always

work with what they want, but at the same time I’ll put my own touch

on it,” he said.

Spasbo is now a regular at industry events such as the Inkslingers

Ball and Artistry and Ink. He took third place in the color category

at the latter.

“It’s been great, I really love my job and I guess the next step

would be to open my open shop, and hopefully that will happen in the

next few years or so,” he said.