hello, i am a graphic designer and i have been working with 98% of all mediums of art, tattoos’ are a new field for me. i have tattoos, but i am very very very enticed to get a machine and do some work. just looking for pointers in the right direction to the right threads. my life goal is to be a full time artist in all forms, i already do paintings, computer graphics, illustrations in all their glory. Tattoos are basically the only thing i HAVENT worked with, and well, to me its the unicorn of art. i must catch it.
i have been told to pick up pig skin, orange peels, and so on. but this advice came from arrogant and irritable sources.
in fact, simple curiosity pushed me to ask questions while watching tattoos be done, i was told “if youre looking for tips how to fuck up your friends skin, look elsewhere” then the room was silent like mom got hit by dad at the dinner table and were all still trying to eat.
i am a noob. i can admit that. but everyone was a noob at some point. and this thread happens to be one of my first stops for some unbiased feedback and opinions. im going to pick up some books in the future, but this site presented itself first. so here i am 😀
When you tattoo somebody you are performing surgery on them. There are many, many factors involved. Cleanliness is paramount.
Personally, I would not go to a tattoo artist that had not been through, or is going through a highly supervised apprenticeship program. (I have a few tattoos that were done by an experienced apprentice in a professional tattoo shop)
An apprenticeship on the average is about three years long. You learn the business from the dust pan & brush to total shop opperations.
Good luck, keep us posted!
(We cannot answer technical questions on this forum)
Agree with Sam, except the 3-year thing, as a lot of those starting out as apprentices these days are insanely skilled artists already, and some now finish in as little as one year, average I’ve seen is about 2 years, depends on the apprentice and their art, those specializing in one type (realism etc) typically do shorter ones now.
But the one who basically told you to fuck off, was right. Do not EVER order a machine online and start tattooing your friends. One way to make damn sure all your artistic credibility goes straight out the window. You could potentially give people deadly diseases, cost them thousands in lasering/cover-ups, and cause some serious harm this way. Oh and depending on your country (it’s getting stricter all around though) it could actually send you to jail! Just happened to a scratcher in the UK. So uh yeah. You’re not going to master tattooing, unless you make it your life and do it for real. If that’s your wish, go get a real apprenticeship with a real artist.
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