I just finished my apprenticeship. I went about it the right way. You’re going about it the right way. This stuff totally infuriates me. The fact is that it happens all too often and the people doing it will use any excuse to make it right in their heads. You’ll see it more and more because you’re in the industry now. The only things you can do are call the authorities on the offenders and educate the public.

I don’t talk shit about other artists or other shops as a rule. I make one exception. There is a shop down the street owned by a guy who went to a two week tattoo school. He has even tattooed his 14 year old daughter. The shop is called East Coast Ink. He also employs a guy who has been scratching out of his house for a few years. The “tattoos” coming out of their shop are actually raised up scars with pigment in them. I tell every person that mentions that shop to avoid it like the plague. If you want to see the owner’s failures of tattoos you can find him on Facebook. His name is Jim Leair. Blow up his page. Tell him what a piece of shit he is.

Make scratcher’s lives difficult. Smear their names. Pressure them in to quiting. That’s my two cents.