Anyone here a tattoo artist?
What's everyones opinions on tattoos here?
What are the necessary steps and skills needed to becoming a tattoo artist?
oh god burn it with fire. Not a tattooist but I do respect those who are. I'm not a fan of them myself, though I do like what some people can create. The steps? Draw. being able to draw 1 for 1 is most important, especially if you want to tattoo photo-realism and such. Go to college, get in the business and get good is really all I can say.
>>2243511
don't go to college, you need to use your money on an apprenticeship, and thats really just a way to stay in the shop without being thrown out. Just keep drawing every single day and don't be a flakey asshole
I was an apprentice for about a year and I sucked at it. Yeah my art was up to par but my social skills were too shitty. You have to be confident and be able to sell yourself. Tattooing has a lot to do with reputation and popularity, at least when you are first starting. I knew a lot of skilled artists because they were either assholes or didn't know how to market themselves.
>>2243511
please, you don't need to talk about something you don't know about just for the sake of expressing your vague opinions
>>2243467
tattoing is a ritual in which your body will be wounded in a sppecific way. the lines on your skin tell a history of your life.
The maoris for instance, believe that the lines on your body will stay throughout the death and decay and still exist in the world.
A maori also gains his tattoos in the progress of his living, so young maoris often don't even have tattoos at all.
nowadays, in the times of tattoo equipment being available to nearly everyone in the industrialized places,
a lot of 'privileged' people see tattoos as decorations on their skin to make them feel more interesting and passionate about their often mediocre lives.
just keep in mind that people in commercials are plastered with finger tattoos etc nowadays and tattooing is very trendy right now.
the wisest you can do is go to a Studio and ask if you can have some training there.
>>2245066
continue..
If you start tattoing diy anyway,
proper hygiene is important for not giving you or your friends teh hep or worse, you don't want to be responsible for that.
desinfectives should have 99,9% of bacteria ownage, don't use booze.
also desinfect the area you want to work on. wearing gloves while tattoing other people is obligatoryt, also the
hygienical condition of your equipment is important to keep it as sterile as possible.
(sterile needles/ ink and inkpots, the ground you put your equipment on short everything which has contact with the wound.)
aside from the fact that you should try on pig skin/watever first anyway before you start practicing on humans, if your finally tattooing someone,
DON'T dig in too deep!
be careful, especially on areas where tendons lie under the skin.
if they inflammate things can get really fucked up.
It's always better if you've been too careful at the beginning and you need to redo it another time, than to have it fucked up from the start.
you will get a feeling for it.
also learn with what you are working, how the machine exactly works etc.you need to assemble parts for cleaning purposes
you really should go to a studio and ask there.
there are way more things you need to know but this is the basics so you don't fuck up other people if you bought that cheap tattoo gun from ebay.
the skill is not really relevant, but you should have a steady hand and passion!
The tattoo industry is such cliquey bullshit. The whole thing about being a shop bitch for a while and having to earn the right to be a tattooist during an apprenticeship and having to earn the right to be a tattooist is ridiculous. Why aren't their tattoo schools? Why are most tattooist elitist assholes?
>>2245685
because its a subculture that caters to a lot of dumb assholes, this is very apparent. How many skull or spiderweb tattos have you seen? Would you get one? No? why not? Oh because its ugly and gaudy and retarded. Now think about the people who DO get these and are proud of them. These are the people you are trying to market yourself to so you cant act like an, ahem, "dum faggit".
>>2243656
If a shop charges you for an apprenticeship, you're doing it wrong.
>>2245066
>>2245068
thx for posting, that maori stuff is pretty cool.
>>2245685
I kind of agree with this. I wanted to start an apprenticeship, built a machine from parts bought separately, wound the coils myself. My work is definitely good enough. But the whole "spend 3 years cleaning before you learn anything of substance" is crap.
80% of people with tattoos and the tattoo "world" are insufferable. The last 20% are alright, but are a silent minority.
>>2245685
I'm currently an apprentice and that whole "shop bitch" is so cliche. Every member of the shop is expected to contribute equally, it's up to the apprentice to watch, learn and eventually step up and perform like everybody else.
Tattoo schools are terrible, as evident by the ones already in circulation. Tattooing is currently a "niche" in the sense that it is difficult to get an apprenticeship and many artists don't have time to teach. This means that those who do get apprenticeships are serious about what they're doing, show skill and promise (there are exceptions to this though, I've seen it first hand). The schools are rushed and push people through quickly and are generally just people who can't draw stick figures but want to get a job and think tattooing is "cool" and don't want to treat it as a serious art form.
Sorry if I made this sound stupid, it's late...
tattoo school? I hope you don't mean a semimar in which people who can pay >2000 $ are leraning how to use a rotary machine.
there are lots of 'courses* where anyone who pays can get a 'certificate'
>>2245728
yeah... the idiots are always the loudest
