THE Tattoo Apprentice

If you've been doing a lot of tattoo designing, a good way to get your foot in the door in the industry is to take sheets of 11x17 cardstock and create sheets of tattoo designs (flash) in sets of 5 or 6. Then take your flash around to tattoo studios and conventions and get people interested in your designs. Submit some of them to magazines, like International Tattoo, Skin and Ink, Savage Ink and Tattoo Flash.

Once you get yourself out there as an artist, ask around about apprenticeships. The average apprenticeship costs about Rs.50,000 to Rs.100,000 depending on the artist that trains you. Some shops let you work it off, usually you will work for free for about 2-3 years. Another good way to find an apprenticeship is to ask around at conventions, however, more often than not, this requires flexibility as far as relocation is concerned.

When looking for an apprentice, a professional artist looks for a person who is eager to learn, an exceptional artist, and willing to be humble during the apprenticeship period. I will say that being an apprentice requires a great deal of humility, simply because working with skin is nothing like any other artistic media. It's not like paper or canvas. Skin moves, people move..it's not easy..the skin varies from person to person in texture, flexibility and moisture, not to mention sensitivity. So you have to be open to everything you are told and taught by your mentor. In addition to open-mindedness, patience is a requirement. Being an apprentice means you get to answer the phone, watch the artists work, take out the trash, do the shop cleaning, clean the equipment and all the other dirty work around the shop that no one else wants to do. But if tattooing is your life's goal, well, it's all worth it in the end.

What you absolutely SHOULDN'T do is order substandard equipment off of the web and start tattooing in your basement or living room. There are many important things to be learned through a legitimate apprenticeship, and they can't be learned on your own. Self-teaching, unqualified tattoo artists (scratchers) don't receive much respect from the professional community, not to mention, it's against the law in every state. It is also a dangerous breeding ground for bloodborne pathogens, no matter how clean you are, since the average at-home artist does not have proper sterilization resources. The industry is already swamped with a large number of underqualified, self-taught artists who don't know what they are doing. They put out horrible work and they still carry alot of "rock star" attitude. It's not the kind of artist anyone dedicated to tattooing wants to be.

I hope this information is helpful to you. Take care and good luck!!