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Hey everyone, My name is Jake, I'm an apprentice (since March 2016), out of Red Deer, Alberta. My main focus right now is traditional, while I would love to be competent in all styles of tattooing I would really like to branch out into Neo-Trad and big Japanese pieces. I've only been lurking around the forum for a few hours now, so I hope I'm not out of place by sharing my flash on this post. Always looking for critiques so please feel free to do so! I'd also like to mention that I'm now taking on painting commisions. Right now I am charging flat rate per size, regardless of time or detail, please message for inquiries! You can also find me on Instagram at jake.loucks. ***EDIT: sorry for the black border on the photo, their duplicates from my Iphone***
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I read this earlier today and loved it! It highlights the reality to wannabe apprentices compared to the Kat Von D ideal of living like a rockstar. Can't see that it has been shared already... hope this isn't a duplicate thread! I am looking to gain an apprenticeship at present, and I know how difficult it is to get someone interested in my work! It isn't easy but would be worth it! If you are thinking about getting into the industry, give this a read and a lot of thought! Those of you already experienced and in the industry, it would be awesome if you'd like to add your thoughts along this subject too. Click out the link / or continue reading below... Brandon Collins: “So you wanna be a tattoo artist?” | TAM Blog "With the invention of tattoo “reality” shows, the average un-tattooed or mildly tattooed person is led to believe that tattoo artists are superheroes: they can draw an entire back piece in 15 minutes, go out to the clubs all night and still come to work on time, able to tattoo whatever you want, wherever you want it. That sounds awfully appealing to some kids–but it couldn’t be any further from the truth. Anyone who has spent time in a tattoo shop knows that most tattooers are your average hardworking dads and moms with mortgages, car payments and phone bills,not prima donna rockstars that get VIP everywhere and drive Lamborghini’s. Those TV shows make a mockery of our profession and because of them, our trade has been diluted by half-ass, mediocre tattooers. Not only have these hacks not paid their dues, but they pump out crappy $20 tattoos that the average joes doesn’t even realize are shit. Before deciding you want to be a tattooer, think about this: Say my appointment for the day doesn’t show up, so that $400 I needed to pay rent and put food on my table will just have to wait. If YOU go to work and no one shows up, YOU still get paid and so you can afford to sit home home and watch “TATTOO SCHOOL” and say to your stoned roommate “bro, I can totally do that shit!”. You get breaks and paid holidays, insurance and an guaranteed paycheck every week. We don’t. We work 50-60 hours a week tattooing, drawing and painting with no medical benefits and no retirement funds. Don’t listen to your family. That skull with the lightning bolts and a joint in its mouth you drew in the 8th grade ISN’T amazing. Your parents, close family members and friends are always going to tell you that you are a natural artist. Their biased encouragement will only give you the false confidence to go into a tattoo shop and get your feelings hurt. Tattooing isn’t a hobby or something just to pass the time. It is a profession and a sole mean of income, so if you think we will welcome you and your “tat guns” into our trade with open arms, you are sorely mistaken. Apprenticeships are meant to be hard–to weed out the undeserving. If you are lucky enough to get one (and I do mean lucky) you will be taught a skill that can carry you for the rest of your life and you are forever indebted to the person who taught you. There are those dip-shits that don’t have the balls to go into a tattoo shop and try to get an apprenticeship – or they did and were tossed out, just order some “guns” online and “do tats” out of their house. Not only is this completely disgusting, unsanitary and unethical, but also illegal. Don’t even think about doing that. Those fucktards can do some real and irreversible damage to someone not to mention potentially spread disease. Most tattoo artists don’t make a lot of money. Tattooers get paid by the hour but that money isn’t dumped right into our pockets. We have to give a percentage to the shop and pay for supplies and what-not. In reality we only get a fraction of what we charge for your tattoo. So when you tell me, “Dannnng $100?… Thats a lot, you must be rich!” and I want to run a steel spike through your head, you will understand why. As I mentioned before, if an appointment doesn’t show up or you don’t have anything scheduled, you don’t get paid. Imagine going to your job at Home Depot or where ever and working a full day without pay. So next time you have the urge to be like Kat Von D or whatever rockstar tattooer is the flavor of the week… remember this: Countless hours of work for minimal pay and no benefits is the life that we have chosen and will defend with extreme prejudice. Do yourself a favor: keep your day job, and leave our profession alone." Written by Brandon Collins Brandon owns and works at Nightmare Studios in Reno, NV. Welcome to Nightmare Studios
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My failed apprenticeship I apprenticed at a shop that was an original in my state. The guy who owned it opened in 1991 and in 09 singed the shop over to another guy an has half ownership. Ill start like this ive been a scratcher since high school I never took on big tattoos nor got my equipment from ebay an never made money. My mom is a nurse so cross contamination is common sense and bbp and also layers of skin. After 3 years of tattooing in my house I decided I should get an apprenticeship so I can make money and also be respected. My cousins boyfriend is a tattoo artist who has been tattooing for 15 years professionally very well known in my state, he as well taught me some things and recommended to get an apprenticeship. Ok so minus the 8 months of looking for an apprenticeship I find one and as I did mention I got my apprenticeship at a cool shop (cool as in a what I thought would be a knowledgable old school place). It was what I expected clean and keep quiet and in my down time draw. This goes on for months and I finally learn cleaning tubes breaking down and setting up. In this point in time me and the old owner are very good friends smoking cigarettes all the time, drawing, and busting the big bosses balls. I like to think my apprenticeship was old school pay nothing an work like an animal an take shit from everyone I signed up for this I can't complain about how I was treated. So moving on to my point we had a Christmas party 2 or 3 weeks ago (2013). And my boss (the guy who owned the place in 09) tells me "fuck you I hope you hit a tree and die", all because I didnt give someone a ride home due to no gas because I work for free every day. Now I said hey there's a line you don't cross I can handle the your a retard, you suck, you'll never be anything, you will never tattoo bullshit apprentices hear but wishing death upon someone is morally wrong also I pretty much was held down to get a tattoo I did not want. These are my 2 reasons I quit. I'm still tattooing and yes my work has improved over 8 months of apprenticing. I need advice I want to be working in a shop but with no license for tattooing I have to be an apprentice all over again and I wouldnt mind but im not paying to be treated like shit and used when half of the people who work in a shop (locally) started in a kitchen, like my boss. I have all my own professional equipment and dont know how to approach a shop about a job I do have a portfolio of drawings and tattoos I have done and have a few good references of artists in my state. Any advice would be awesome. - Rhode Island is where I am from in case you were wondering
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Hello everyone! My name is Lee, Although most call me Bunk. I though I'd introduce myself as yesterday was the first day of my apprenticeship at Dragstrip tattoos (UK). It was pretty much the best first day ever. I did a lot of hard work cleaning the entire shop top to bottom, learnt loads about the cleaning and sterilisation processes and how rigorous everything has to be. Also got to watch one of the main artists Duncan do a seven hour session on the start of an amazingly detailed realism sleeve, he then gave me a machine to rebuild and tune, then one of the other tattooists gave me a small tattoo on my leg :D I'll be learning under the amazing artists there Alex Bowron, Duncan Whitfield and Marcelina Urbanska. I feel pretty damn honoured to be given the chance to learn there so will be working as hard as i can to learn about technique, tuning and anything else related to tattooing. The studio has such an amazing atmosphere and all they care about is doing good tattoos so I really feel like I've fallen in with the right bunch. Please feel free to check out my page (i'll be putting my colour works and the stuff i've made specifically with tattooing in mind up shortly on my page) and the studios page, i'm sure i'll be on here a lot more from now on! Bunk! www.facebook.com/bunkink www.facebook.com/dragstriptattoo
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Hi there everyone, Tattoo apprentice here from Arizona! I'm looking to get advice, talk to experienced artists and others who are going through the same thing I'm doing... My portfolio is here: ARTIST ;:. dani.alexandra .:; ARTIST and here: la-morte-amoreuse on deviantART :) nice to meet yaaa
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Apprenticeship vs. Schools vs. Self-Taught
Jaycel Adkins posted a topic in General Tattoo Discussion
Hello, I posted a reply to Joe Capobianco's thread about schools being Bullshit that I thought some people might be interested in discussing, refuting, adding to, etc. Mike H. mentioned a few artists who were self-taught, rather than having gone through a traditional apprenticeship, let alone a school. My question: if you were going to go the route of teaching yourself, what would be your rules of the road? This is what I came up with in my reply post: 1. Educate yourself about the history of tattoos, world-wide, spending hours a day just reading and studying the work of various tattoo lineages and cultures from true tribal up to present day. 2. Buy two tattoo machines: one to take apart and learn how it is put together, the principles behind it's construction, the craftsmanship involved, etc. The other to use on yourself and for #4. 3. Learn how to make your own needles, and any other pieces of equipment that is necessary. 4. Call up a butcher and see if s/he will let you buy a 40 pound case of frozen pork skins, use that to teach yourself to lay down a straight line, etc. Spend hundreds of hours to teach yourself to put down CLEAN lines. I have no idea if pork skin will work, but it's better than nothing for a newbie. And better than learning on someone elses skin, given what I have seen on this school website is profoundly unethical. Turn your work into chicharons, when you are done....if you're brave. 4. Educate yourself about all the health concerns involved in tattooing. Find classes at local colleges, university, online, whatever. Be able to pass any of the tests with 100%, no wrong answers. 5. Umm....learn how to draw! Take classes, buy books, dvds, youtube videos, whatever to make yourself a good illustrator, to be able to put what is in your head down on some paper exactly as you meant it look. 6. Learn human anatomy, not just for drawing, but since the skin is your ultimate canvas, be aware of what is beneath it and how that can effect for good and bad your tattoos. Study the bodies of old people, see how age and gravity affect the flesh, plan the tattoos of your clients, accordingly. 7. Buy the book, Talent is Overrated and The Outliers, learn what the 10,000 hour rule for Mastery is, plot your self-education and career based on that. 8. GET TATTOOED BY GREAT ARTISTS!!! That has been the biggest takeaway for me from reading/watching interviews of great tattooers, whether it's Shige of Yellow Blaze or Tim Hendricks, you want to learn how to tattoo....then get tattooed! edit: 9. Find a good tattooer who is willing to look at your drawings, etc. and give constructive criticism, i.e. please leave your ego at the door, appreciate that someone, who is probably busy and dubious, is taking the time to give you some bits of education/advice. And when you do start tattooing other people, and you do get some recognition, make sure to have a category on your blog titled "People I Want To Thank," and (with their permission) list them and the contribution they made to your craft, while taking responsibilities for all 'fuck-ups' as your own: Give Thanks, Take Responsibility. If tattooing is your passion, your craft, your livelihood and how you are going to spend nearly half of your actual total hours on this earth doing, then don't listen to anyone, twiddle your thumbs hoping/wishing/praying/begging for an apprenticeship, just put a plan together, put your head down, and GET TO WORK!! -
So as many of you know my wife was studying under a local tattoo artist. Actually, to be exact, she was travelling 100 miles round trip to tattoo people unsupervised, but I will get to that... A family friend has been tattooing for 20 years. Nice guy, easy to get along with, lots of awards, very busy studio,booked out a couple of months in advance. He seemed like the perfect person for her to learn with. She approached him and stated that she simply wanted to do the donkey work, cleaning toilets, making coffee, going to the store etc, that she was in no rush and for now simply wanted to spend as much time as possible getting to know the ins and outs of a tattoo shop. After seeing some of her art, he tells her that its pointless wasting here time cleaning, and that as soon as she has people to tattoo, he will teach her - stating that practice skins and pig skins are completely different from human skin and that the only way to learn is to start. At this point both myself and more importantly my wife are concerned, but we guess he knows what he is doing, we trust his experience and I suppose, speaking for myself, I allowed my love for my wife to influence my instinct... I wanted to believe she had some type of superhuman artistic tattoo ability and that she was going to be a natural. I wanted to encourage her. She spends a day watching him, and she is let loose on me, doing two tattoos on my leg. Both of which were "ok" but he spends no time watching or guiding her, stating that she will learn as she goes. So then he tells her that she should bring any customers she can find and he will offer her a split of the cash.Which again seems strange, but we guess he knows best. We bring along two friends, and the first tattoo is great. But the second one is not so good, she makes a simple mistake at the start, which she points out to him. He tells her "that she knows what she is doing and to fix it". She tries, it gets worse, he tries to fix it, it gets no better, he tells her to bandage the tattoo and charges the guy half price. When the customer leaves he states "what does he want for £40.00" Then he says that he sends clients out all the time with bad tattoos, but he does not have the time to fix all his mistakes. He then tells her that it was time she bought her own tattoo equipment and that she needed to tattoo faster because it was a business. Needless to say my wife spent the journey home and the rest of the day in tears because she messed up the guys tattoo, but also because she realised that she could not stay there and would have to give up her "apprenticeship". She called the guy the next day and said she would not be coming back, and he genuinely seemed shocked? She said she would clean toilets for a lifetime before picking up a tattoo machine, rather than mess up someone skin, but I know she is hurt and deflated. I think she did the right thing. Did she?
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Hey, everybody. My name is Nathan and I'm a professional tattooer in Chattanooga, Tn. I've been tattooing for five years, beginning as an apprentice to two very honorable mentors. I've spent the entirety of my career so far at that same shop. I love tattooing pretty much more than anything...ok...definately more than anything period. My goal is to, throughout the entirety of my career (hopefully, my entire life), always improve, always reach for more and maybe even achieve relevance. Basically always just earn my place in the craft. And above all, satisfy my clients and make them feel happy they got with me. Have a great night and Cheers!
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Hey all My name is Josh Martin. I am out of mid Missouri and i have been tattooing for about 2 years now. i am just now picking up watercolors as well. I have checked out the forum and it seems like there will be a lot of information and good threads on here soon and i hope i can be a part of that!
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Hello, how are you people? Well, sorry didnt post here before, i'm registred here but as i registered my account at my work kind of i couldnt be seen visiting sites and foruns there... anyways hello, my name is mauro, some might know me from facebook or myspace, i'm from brazil but i'm not a tattooer yet (i'm currently just an apprentice) cuz traditional tattoo style isent a "money maker" thing around here and its really hard to find tattooers to teach me how to tattoo this kind of stuff cuz, well, no one wants to waste time with something that dont sell so... but i know some things, i'm always studying, i have three different jobs around here and i just draw in the free times between one work and another, and the times that i use to rest or sleep... well, thats it i guess sorry for my english, i had to learn by myself so i can contact people outside my country to learn about traditional tattoo so my english kind of sucks (i dont use google translate and nothing like that by the way) c ya! and thanks for the attention ...
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