Dustingormley

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is. 

Ive been told in order to stay original we must copy the original. I've also heard if you're not referencing a traditional design, then you're not doing traditional "right." SO to be a traditional artist then we must have a lot of good reference to put spins on and make unique. I know there's many books out there and lots of legends to look at. I have a Coleman design on my arm that i thought was a Stony and maybe Cap got it from somewhere else. I enjoy tracing this stuff to the roots and always looking for more.

What do you guys reference? Which sources do you go to?

I drew this today. I realized I haven't participated much lately and my apprentice tattoos don't totally fit the style of the site, so I don't share those often. Figured I'd show y'all what I get down on in the 2 minutes I have that aren't occupied with work. Had to get a second job to fill my days off, so life is intense. If the apprentice life were easy, every jerk would do it ; ) [ATTACH]12986[/ATTACH]

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Dude I know what you mean. Spare time is few and far between.

Looks like my first tattoos were total crap. Luckily most of them were on myself. The good that came of that was having a slight understanding of what those needles were doing, so watching my mentor afterward was more beneficial. I've done a few more now and am really trying to buckle down and get this technical stuff down. 7 days a week working, drawing, reading, tattooing, and asking questions.

I would say that technique aside I'd be really bummed if any of those were on me, but the truth is if you showed me your drawings I'd refuse to be tattooed by you so it's a moot point. @CultExciter offered you excellent advice above. Those people would be a lot better off with some simple Sailor Jerry flash because at least it would be drawn correctly. Trace classic flash. Take up drawing from life to understand how things work and go together. Always use reference. Traditional style should be about taking objects and distilling them down to their essence: look at Scott Sylvia's roses. They're simple but they fully capture the elegance and beauty of a rose. Work hard to draw like that.

Thanks for the input everyone. I know my drawings are not top notch yet, but i'm working on it everyday. After 6 months of being in my apprenticeship I've been able to tattoo a few friends, myself, and a pof. I've noticed after doing these tattoos I understand what i'm watching a lot more when i'm leaned over my mentors shoulder. It's a struggle everyday to draw and get better, but it's worth it. I can see the progression of my linework and my understanding of using a shader.

I freakin love being at a shop and doing the damn thing. I think what I actually like most about it now is the pushing of the machine and just actually working on the tattoo. It's a great feeling. Anyway if you guys have any critiques i'm all ears! :cool:

Awesome tattoos man! You're dedicated

Looks like a lighthouse to me. Nothing to worry about.

I totally get where you're coming from about the physical/emotional stress. I did my first tattoo on a friend not too long ago (at a shop) and I was blown away with emotion. I knew I was going to be nervous, but I didn't anticipate my reaction. After I was done I felt amazing, but during I was stressing hardcore. The entire aspect of dealing with a living breathing canvas is a whole different ballgame especially since I'm not particularly a "people person." I relaxed a bit more on my second one, and with time I hope I can chill out completely.

As for the no call no show; every street shop deals with that. It's usually people who make appointments over the phone that don't show up. In general people don't think of tattoo shops in the same way they think of other professional offices. Once an artists girlfriend came in and was bugging him about something and he was drawing for an appointment. She got pretty steamed because he wasn't giving her his full attention. He said something along the lines of; how would you feel if I came to your office and tried to talk to you while you were busy working?

I've been drawing up some smallish designs. I'd be interested to see what other apprentices are drawing and planning to tattoo.

It would be hard to read if you blocked it in with color. Congrats on your first tattoo and welcome to the forum.

Yeah for some weird reason we don't have a camera. They didn't show.

I think we've never been messed with before because it's well known that we a couple of our artists are gun fanatics.

@RoryQ is right though, everyone will be much more vigilant now.

One of my coworkers was robbed in our shop. I was sketching in the front room and another artist was with me. The guy who got robbed was downstairs doing a tattoo. One of our rooms close to the front door had his toolbox with a lot of his equipment in it. 6 people came in and asked us to draw something up. The other artist started drawing and they sat around in the waiting room. One of the dudes was trying to tell us which needle groupings to use "use a single needle to outline that heart." Well apparently after 20 minutes they decided that they didn't have time and left. All six of them piled into a rusty geo metro.

About an hour went by when we noticed that something wasn't right. They stole 15 bottles of ink!

They scheduled an appointment for the following day. I doubt they will show up, but if they do ill let you know what happens!

so here is my input,this is a "discussion" forum,as long as the thread is put in the appropriate forum or sub forum IMO it should be ok,but unfortunately some people think they are mods when they are not,and feel they need to police the boards,if a rule is broken then a "moderator' will let you know,otherwise,as adults in a public discussion group we should be able to post ANY questions or thoughts without fear.Threads don't take up much server space and if anyone doesn't like a topic then they shouldn't look at it.

Unless thus thread is related to specific techniques which should be taken care of immediately.

I don't see many Thai mythological tattoos out there. And the ones I have seen look like crap. I have Japanese(not traditional) and Egyptian. So I think a mix of a little Thai might just fit right in. Thai art is so beautiful. I'm surprised it has not been tatted more often. I just finished a large piece though. So I probably won't start it till next year sometime. Time to start putting it together.

I'm totally going to line draw that

You shouldn't know how to tattoo going into an apprenticeship, in fact it's frowned upon.

Next session with Kore Flatmo is 2 weeks away! Then I start stomach/rib pieces with Thomas Hooper a few weeks after that! Super pumped!

Kore's studio is mind blowing and he works with really awesome people. Hoopers work is amazing too. Great energy, have fun.

The image Synesthesia posted is a great way to go. Any tattooer would be really excited to tattoo it and you'll end up with something that will look good for a long time.

I walk over to the station shaking and see a grapefruit sitting on the chair.

Haha classic

Scratchers gonna scratch. I think a lot of people get butt hurt because they had to go though a lot of crap in their apprenticeship (or pay a lot of dough.) In the end a home artist will never gain the respect of tattooers or get a job at a respectable shop without an apprenticeship. They definitely won't get any real advice or training without one.

@squirrel If you want to become a professional artist, get an apprenticeship. If you plan to keep doing home tattoos at least do a lot of research on blood borne pathogens and how to prevent the transmission of deadly diseases.

Facial tattoos are going to impact your life a lot more than just eating at a restaurant. I think the rule should be that you have to be covered from chest down and wear a fake tattoo on your face for a month before getting one.

They're not accepted by most sheeple, and that's kinda why they're cool.

Well that was a brutal last session but damn the result is worth it:

Duuuude. That's crazy lookin!

So I recently got a job at a coffee shop (Tim Hortons for all you Canadians out there) as a baker. Lots of lifting, water, sanitizer and possibly burning. I have an appointment for a large forearm eagle (wrist to elbow) in May, and I'm a bit worried about its healing. I know I'm going to have the first 5 days of the healing process off, since I have to travel for it, but for the rest of the time I'm going to be working.

They told me I was aloud to wear any long sleeve, black shirt under my uniform to protect it and keep skin flakes out of the food, but I'm not sure what kind of shirt would be ideal. Any idea? I was thinking some sort of athletic underarmour shirt, sinse it would be light weight and breathable, but I have no idea.

I'd say something a little more baggy would be better. If you have the first 5 days off you should be fine.

Do you have a picture to show us?

Sure man.

I'm an apprentice in Dayton Ohio and I'd like to meet more people who are into tattooing. I talk to people I know, and the more I talk the more they get bored. I just want to talk shop with some fellow tattooers! If you're in Ohio or the surrounding state lets paint some flash or grab some drinks and talk tattoos!

Four days in a row, each 5-9 hours. Rushing to finish big work in Thailand. Fortunately there was a pharmacy next door so I was popping pills for days. Miserable to say the least.

Forget that dude. OUCH