Hey.

I have been new to different forums and I understand that such a question and attitude can bring a shit-storm. But please bare with me, and if you can help me decide if I should get involved with the tattoo community I will be really grateful.

 

So, to start with, I have been an artist as a child. Gone to some child competitions and scored among the first, or first in my town, like 5 or 6 times. Those are like 50 – 100 contestants – best of each of few schools. Not that much big of a deal, really. But I really loved painting and was good at it. But I became frustrated with the attitude of my teacher and the organization behind all this. The art teacher I had was a true artist and had gone to an art vacation to Africa to paint (I don’t know if you are familiar with what I’m talking about, but art teachers in Bulgaria get the opportunity to get a 1 year long unpaid vacation, during which time the position stays reserved for the teacher) she never came back though. The replacing art teacher on the other hand couldn’t draw and had negligible attitude. This resulted in a 2nd place on an exhibition that was not given to me because the particular painting I haven’t signed and she didn’t step in to argue, though it was hers mistake, and yet worse, a complex sketch I was working on was given to a 2nd grader(I was 5th grade at the time) or something to paint shit on the back, because she didn’t care to look at it, or know which of her students have what in which cupboard. That, and I became a teenager.

As a teen I was heavily into the underground culture, and unsurprisingly, I became a graffiti artist. This was also the first time I crossed paths with the tattoo culture. I am still more than a decent graffiti artist to this day. But, at least for me, graffiti lacked originality, at large. So, I gradually found myself leaning towards more expressive art forms.

Eventually, I was 20 and was growing increasingly disappointed with the declining underground culture around here. There was no more acceptance and glamour, at least not from people I cared about anyway. Most of the artists I’ve known, including few tattooists, have gone abroad and the remaining people of this declining culture (declining around here, to say again) were becoming drunks and drug addicts, and few skinheads to add to it. Something I’ve never valued in people, just disgusting.

What I was painting is mystical erotic and horror art. I will not go to details. My point is, I know my art was good, I have given paintings to friends as presents that will beg me for months. I have sold few pieces to friends too. They will hang those, and on few occasions I have seen my paintings hanged and proudly displayed years later. Of course this can be deceiving, as people with little idea of art are easily impressed. But I thought that I need to be relatively rich in order to have the peace of mind to live decently and travel, and not having to work, because 9-5 work is the agonizing death for an artist. At least it is for me, and I thought I can’t achieve that by selling painthings(In today’s age of patreon and social media I would rethink my decision, but it was quite different then – 10 years ago).

So I get into computer programming – the thing I was studying in high-school. I got a job as an engineer, then got my bachelor degree in informatics. I also end up disappointed with programming stupid stuff for US companies outsourcing their shittiest jobs to East Europe. I end up quitting and in deep debt.  But I guess it can be expected from a libertarian artist that can’t care less about money and stuff – though an engineer I always held to this mindset. Probably I was too arrogant, thinking riches are around the corner – months away, from my next scheme or project. Though I work on my projects I value I am forced to work on shitty jobs to pay my bills – like a factory worker, a construction worker, a window cleaner etc.

So, this morning it hit me – why don’t I become a tattooist – something I have been dismissing for years. I lookup online and find a nice starter kit with 2 coil machines, 10 needles, artificial skin and 24 ink bottles for about 90$, selling locally. I’m sure those are not great. But look at this – I haven’t been drawing for like 3-4 years now, and this will get me drawing again, fastest. It will also give me another project to work on, and I like very difficult challenges people think impossible I like to prove them wrong. I can probably make very simple designs well in few months and get some cash for it, and I don’t consider making mediocre tattoos, but making great simple ones – like silhouettes and text. And there are so many shitty tattooists around here that it can surely be beneficial to customers. I already have 2 projects done on people well before. And my art is mostly pen or inc on paper – as close as it gets to tattoos. And there is another thing – I want to tattoo myself – I have few symbols on me, but I want something like a slave and stuff – a true art, a colorful frenzy I imagine. And I will never have something not designed for myself only. But the problem is, from what I’ve seen from artists – and I mean no offense but most are so mediocre that only the best would do, and those have a year long wait-lists and cost a small fortune, and since I’m broke I can design it myself, and a deeper understanding of tattooing will come in handy with this.

So, what do you think, should I get involved?

 

P.S. Sorry for my shit avatar. This is automatically applied from gravatar. Used that picture on freelance programming websites, not me though 🙂