apprenticeship advice

[dougbennett]

hey my name is Doug Bennett, im 16 from melbourne. Ive wanted to be since i was 12. I draw every single day and ive started my portfolio and i went to Australian Tattoo Academy (basically a pre apprenticeship) I draw lots of Traditional, Japanese Oriental and Lettering

I was wanting some advice to get a hard working apprenticeship or any tips of what to do as i am only 16

thanks

[Duffa]

Hey Doug, welcome to LST. There are heaps of great resources here to check out and to soak up if that's your goal. Check out the newbie guideline section and do a search for anything that interests you :)

First of all, I'm not a tattooer. I do have the privilege of knowing some amazing ones, and of having learnt a lot from them, this great site and other places. If they where answering the question, I'm sure they'd say - draw & listen. Your still young so spend the next few years drawing your ass off, maybe TAFE or Uni for art, and once your old enough find a great tattooer who's stuff you like and go and start getting tattooed by them. DON'T go to a scratcher or let some friends do it. Think ahead, work out your plan and then attack it. Get reference books and build your library - both tattoo and non-tattoo related and study your ass off.

Once you've started getting some sweet tat-zaps (sorry small joke) from your soon to be mentor (they won't know this yet) start making yourself indispensable around the shop and show them that you have a real and honest desire to learn the craft, respect it and above all give as much as you can back to it. "If you look after tattooing, tattooing will look after you". Plus by this stage with hard work your drawing and painting will be off the hook and they won't be able to say no to you.

And check out Scott's interviews, you'll learn a lot from them ;)

One question - WTF is the Australian Tattoo Academy? And why does the thought of it scare me?..

I'm kinda glad I got in before you potentially got roasted (not supposed to ask about apprenticeships etc... but you asked for advice, not for one I guess) The fact that your 16 and trying to get your hustle on I had to respect, so I hope this helps and I hope some actual tattooers will chime in and give you some sage advice.

[Stewart Robson]

You'd get more luck asking at the places where an apprenticeship could happen. Hint: it's not the internet.

But first, you need to get tattooed.

I guess that means you need to wait.

My honest no-bullshit advice would be to get a real job first. You'll learn more about people, money, hard work and responsibility there than at a 'Tattoo Academy'.

That 'Tattoo Academy' just swindled a chunk of money from a child. I'm sorry, but you wasted your time there.

Good Luck.

[Kev]

My friend and I were looking over Google Analytics and noticed there was a huge surge in the search term "Traditional Tattoo" in February of this year, especially in Australia and New Zealand. I expect to see more of this soon...

[Our Endless Days]

since i use wordpress for my blog, i can see which search terms have brought people to my blog. traditional tattoos or tattoo flash are usually really high on the list.

[Stewart Robson]

since i use wordpress for my blog,... traditional tattoos or tattoo flash are usually really high on the list.

This is the exact reason I stopped being so descriptive with posts on my blog.

I'm not trying to fish for hits from people who will print my photos, I'm trying to show my work to people who want to get tattooed.