First of all pardon me for my two cents.:rolleyes: And as for being a professional I am not. I am just a women that lives with an incredible artist. An artist that works from my home, he has had no “professional” training and does not possess a license. Yet his art work is all done using the highest of the standards when it comes to sanitary procedures. when it comes to the discussion of the quality of work, I don’t judge some one as being good because they “studied” under another artist. This is not always true. I received a tattoo from an artist in my home town, not only was he licensed he owned four more shops. It was shautty work and the the shop was unorganized. And the “Professional” that did my work scarred my skin so bad that I can never go back for more work on that one spot because of the pain it causes.. I know call me a whip…:obut I think that it is wrong to say some one can’t follow their dreams as an artist because they don’t have a piece of paper. At the same time there are a lot of things to learn if you are working with people’s skin. You should do as much research as you can and try to get all the info before you pick up a tattoo gun, it isn’t always your skin you are working on. And that person will have to live with wahtever you put on them.