An 18-year-old is dividing TikTok viewers over his challenge to tattoo himself every day for a year — but he has no regrets and says his haters will never get it

• Xander Fisher has amassed a TikTok fanbase by tattooing himself every day as part of a 365-day challenge.
• He told Insider he wants to become a professional tattoo artist — and this is his way of doing it.

365-day challenges are abundant on TikTok, with many people documenting their pursuits to do everything from pushups to a new hairstyle to vlogging every day for a full year.

In a somewhat extreme interpretation of the trend, an 18-year-old TikToker named Xander Fisher is aiming to give himself a tattoo at home every day this year. He's currently on day 93 and plans to continue until he hits 365 days (and 365 tattoos).

Fisher started tattooing himself in March. The Omaha, Nebraska-based creator told Insider he was inspired by the TikToker @bijan888, who started the challenge before him (he's on day 194).

Fisher said he wanted to teach himself how to tattoo and figured he would learn by practicing on himself.

"I remember sitting in my room and tattooing on fake skin. I looked down at my leg and I was like, well, why don't I just try on my leg?" he said. "I did a silly little smiley face, and I was like, well this is a lot easier, I enjoy doing this a lot more."

How Fisher decides what he'll tattoo every day

Fisher said he has no special setup besides a tattoo machine, cartridge, and ink. His videos are often short — anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute long — and feature frenetic clips of him making the drawing on his body and setting up his equipment.

After receiving 1.8 million views on a recent July 21 video, he decided to make a longer one showing how he tattoos himself step-by-step. He stressed to viewers who might be inspired to try it themselves that the area must be properly sanitized before you start. He draws his designs with a Sharpie first and always wears gloves.

At one point, while making the design (a transparent star on his leg), he messes up, but he decided to roll with it and fill the rest of the star in with black ink.

"Oh shit, I just realized that I wasn't paying attention and I did the lines on the inside that I said I wasn't gonna do," he said. "You can really see how being distracted while you're doing tattoos can be a really bad thing, so take this as a lesson."

Fisher told Insider that his favorite tattoo so far is his most recent and biggest endeavor: a foot-to-nipple flower design that snakes and swirls up his leg to his chest. "It was big, it was ambitious," he said. He said he has no tattoos that he regrets yet; and if he does come to despise any of them, he'll "just cover them up."

"I'm kind of just having fun with it, and it'll take me where it takes me," Fisher said. "I don't think tattoos are as serious as a lot of people make them out to be."

Fisher said his design ideas come "off the dome" or on the spot. Some are meaningful, but many of them goofy.. In an early video, he recorded himself tattooing the McDonald's arches on his leg while sitting outside the fast food restaurant. Sometimes he'll take viewer requests if they resonate with him.

Not everyone is thrilled by his pursuits, but the TikToker said he doesn't need their approval

The comments on his videos, especially the recently viral clip, are polarized. Many viewers have cheered him on and praised the project as "cool" and innovative, while others seem baffled and are worried he's acting too rashly ("the regret will come quick," says one top comment in a video from last week).

"The people that say my parents won't be happy or that I'll regret this in the future don't quite see the full picture," he said. "My parents are nothing but supportive of all of my decisions."

Fisher said he's noticed an "older crowd" in particular who are the most vocally critical. "They think tattoos are pretty sacred, and they're things you should think out really thoroughly then get things that are really important to you," he said.

He's grateful for his younger viewers, who he said seem much more understanding and supportive of his unabashed passion and dedication for tattooing. One positive comment predicted he's "gonna look like the coolest grandpa with all those tattoos."

His long term goal is to become a professional tattoo artist. He also wants to tattoo his entire body, including his face at some point, though he's wary of putting himself in a position where it might jeopardize potential employment opportunities.

"I do plan on covering just about every square inch of my body," Fisher said. "I really want to embrace everything that tattooing is."