The tribal can be easily cleaned up. It’s only black lines. I’ve seen some incredible cover-ups and addition work to existing tribal.
You should tell your friend to go see the local butcher and get some pig skins. They are cheap, and great for practice. I was doing about 30 – 40 hours a week on pig skin and was able to get those practice hours up before I permanently marked anyone.
On the flip side, I’ve see a lot of horrible tats come out of studios.