Tattoo Apprenticeship

General tattoo discussion

Moderators: buttwheat, sidelvar, kohlhaas, EvilJay, Sphenoid, SharpTattoos

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abbyful
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Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:20 pm

carolinacrackah wrote:
BadWolf wrote:There is no such thing as a thorough "self training". You may think you have a grasp on what you need to know and understand...but that isn't even scratching the tip of the iceberg.
No excuse is valid. No reason good enough.
Tell you what then...how bout you point me in the direction of someone that will train me.
I would say that's your responsibility to find your own apprenticeship.

Do you go to Monster.com forums and say "someone find me a job"? No. You may ask for advice about your resume or such, but nobody is going to do your legwork for you and find you a job. The same goes for apprenticeships.

If you want it, you gotta do the legwork and look for it.
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EvilJay
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Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:20 pm

Thats no-ones job but your own. Like I said, YOU need to go out and work the streets. You are not going to get an apprentiship walking door to do saying "you lookin for an apprenice". You get in tight with a few artist, they know other artists, sooner or later, it will click. It's not gonna happen in a day.
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Aivanne
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Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:22 pm

I ve been offered one without asking because I spent so many hours getting tatted by the same guys. we are pretty good friends now.
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carolinacrackah
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Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:23 pm

BadWolf wrote:How do I know you are worth training???
If you already gave up and bought a "gun" then that tells me you have nothing to offer. Perhaps everyone you talked to saw the same thing.
If you cut corners in their shop, as you have in this endeavor so far, then they lose their asses. Why trust someone like that? Would you?
already? You are assuming I made no effort then caved and bought a gun. That would be an incorrect assumption on your part. Secondly I'd bet I could draw circles around you I just dont have the technical know how at this point to be a great Tattoo artist....so am I worth training? I dont know maybe maybe not.
I have had the misfortune of it not being quite so easy to break into the industry as have others.
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BadWolf
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Wed Sep 12, 2007 7:32 pm

carolinacrackah wrote:
BadWolf wrote:How do I know you are worth training???
If you already gave up and bought a "gun" then that tells me you have nothing to offer. Perhaps everyone you talked to saw the same thing.
If you cut corners in their shop, as you have in this endeavor so far, then they lose their asses. Why trust someone like that? Would you?
already? You are assuming I made no effort then caved and bought a gun. That would be an incorrect assumption on your part. Secondly I'd bet I could draw circles around you I just dont have the technical know how at this point to be a great Tattoo artist....so am I worth training? I dont know maybe maybe not.
I have had the misfortune of it not being quite so easy to break into the industry as have others.
Oh, tell us how you've suffered! Tell us of your pain! Tell us of your enduring trials!

No self respecting artist would think about training a fucking pussy who pounded pavement for a few days, and felt like a victim.
Fuck directly off!
You know how many nights I spent on park benches waiting to talk to people?
You really have no clue.
You said in the origional post this began "In the past couple of years".
Suck it up, Sport. Quit crying, and try a new city. Then a new state. Then a new country, if necessary. Anyone who truly DESERVED IT would.
But I forgot! YOU ARE fuckin' SPECIAL!
YOUR instant gratification is FAR FAR more important that any mere mortal's health and well being!
It would be an HONOR to be a guinea pig for a fuckin' COMIC BOOK artist to scratch all up and infect!
How could I have been so naive????
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Butterfly9319
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Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:24 pm

carolinacrackah wrote:Oh and BTW I checked out those two images on your profile. I would definately suggest taking more time sketching. Draw Draw and Draw some more until you get more comfortable with your freehand. Dont worry and be patient it will come more natural with time.
There are plenty of How to Draw art books at Borders at a relatively good price.
Stop being pissy already and just READ through and find the advice that has been given to you here. There are quite a few apprentices roaming around this site, and they busted hump, pavement and a lot of other shit to get to where they are. You probably are a great artist, but as I said before, and as you are proving around here, you are too cocky and full of yourself for any tattoo artist to want to take you under his/her wing. Apprenticing is more than "here's a MACHINE go tattoo on somebody", it takes a lot of their time and knowledge and effort, and they want to KNOW you want it as badly as they did before you. I have no artistic talent and no drive to be a tattoo artist, but I'm good at what I do, and I won't accept medocrity or a holier than thou attitude when I'm training someone new, WHY in the world would a tattoo artist be any different? So get out there, meet artists, talk to them, get to know them, see if they might know anyone who would be willing to apprentice you, and if not, then accept you might not be tattoo artist material, and just enjoy doing what you do, but for petes' sake, DO NOT attempt to do this to someone without training, you really could end up screwing someone for life and YOU have to live with that at the end of the day.
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Butterfly9319
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Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:35 pm

And no one here will dissagree with that. A shit tattoo is a shit tattoo. The difference is a shit tattoo artist MIGHT be an awesome artist, but didn't learn the proper technique so his tattoos look like shit. He might be a shitty artist and didn't learn proper technique so his tattoos look like shit.
Yes you need to be a brilliant artist, but you also need to know how to properly create a tattoo, or the point is moot.

edit to add:
you mentioned earlier that you have been practicing on pig skin...but in the long run, a pig skin won't squeal, kick your ass and or sue you if you maim it, a human will. A pigskin can't tell you if you are injuring/damaging it. A trained tattoo artist CAN tell you what you are doing wrong.
Last edited by Butterfly9319 on Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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niqua95000
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Mon Dec 17, 2007 12:59 am

After reading this thread, and about people who think it's okay to just skip over that whole bothersome apprenticeship thing and teaching themselves, while it's probably no use to try to convince future scratchers, I think Chris Rock said it best:

"You could drive a car with your feet if you wanted to, that don't make it a good fucking idea"
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jds_truck
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Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:10 pm

ok read most this but started to get ridiculos with people bickering back and forth i was simply wondering what are ways to find a good artist to apprentice under? ie what are signs that the guy u gonna ask to apprentice under isnt a hack and actually cleans stuff properly and what are some other things i should look for when lookin for a good artist to apprentice under since i wanna look for an artist that will teach me the proper ways to do things instead of ending up doing things wrong
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CxCx
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Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:13 am

As I've said 150 times : The artist that you're going mto learn from doesn't have to run a full-on custom shop. A solid street shop is fine. Make sure that the guy/gal there is both reputable and knowledgable. Established shops are also a good place to start. mind you, not every shop that been around 10+ years is a safe and clean shop, but Most (key word) are, and the fact that they've been around for awhile will provide a bit of stability.

I know of a kid that was "apprenticing" in a shop that one day, without warning, closed down. He showed up for work, about 6 months in, and everything was GONE. He was out 5 grand, with no forwarding number, and only the smallest thimble full of knowledge to go on. I actually felt bad for him (he's since move on to another apprenticeship, and is doing reasonably well with it)
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johann
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Sun Jan 20, 2008 1:56 am

Hi.

I'm a newbie, found these forums searching for shops in my area looking to take on an apprentice. Here's a question some of you might be able to answer:

I work a full time job right now, and have about enough money to pay my rent, utilities, internet, food, and some work on my own tattoos every so often. I get by on what I make, but I'm miserable working retail and ready to get serious with my art and find an apprenticeship.

How the hell do I afford to live and eat if I'm paying for a job, and subsequentially unable to have time for a job that pays me? How has everyone else done it? Any advice is appreciated, really, because I need an apprenticeship like... plants need sun. :\
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spideytat
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Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:02 am

johann wrote:Hi.

I'm a newbie, found these forums searching for shops in my area looking to take on an apprentice. Here's a question some of you might be able to answer:

I work a full time job right now, and have about enough money to pay my rent, utilities, internet, food, and some work on my own tattoos every so often. I get by on what I make, but I'm miserable working retail and ready to get serious with my art and find an apprenticeship.

How the hell do I afford to live and eat if I'm paying for a job, and subsequentially unable to have time for a job that pays me? How has everyone else done it? Any advice is appreciated, really, because I need an apprenticeship like... plants need sun. :\
work nights. if you cant find a way to commit to an apprenticeship fully then you shouldnt be there sorry if that came off a lil harsh wasnt my intent and good luck with finding your apprenticeship
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Aivanne
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Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:06 pm

johann wrote:
spideytat wrote: work nights. if you cant find a way to commit to an apprenticeship fully then you shouldnt be there sorry
That's why I'm here :wink: I'm trying to find a way. Right now, I'm an assistant manager in a retail environment - I usually work 1pm-10pm shifts 5 days a week and make a sweeelll 10.50/hour. I'm thinking right now that I might be able to take an overnight stocking job and still be able to afford my apartment (I pay 375 a month w/o utilities for a 1bed WITH a roommate :lol: )

Anyone got stories of what they did during their apprenticeships?
right now I dont work aside cause I have enough money to survive the rest of the month but I will be lifeguarding.

the shop opens at 2 and closes whenever it needs to be. closed on sundays.

I am gonna lifeguard every mornings until probably 2 or 3 pm and then run to the shop. I plan on doing that for the entire time..so about a year.

I don't plan on having any day off for the next few months. It sucks, but hanging out at the shop is awesome and it doesnt feel like work at all.
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yorvo
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Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:35 pm

I'm making sacrifices. Like riding a bicycle. I have three vehicles but I've cancelled insurance and registration and I don't need gas. Oh yeah and my chick makes good money.
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EvilJay
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Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:49 am

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