Tatto apprentice?

WAS WONDERING IF ANY TATT ARTISTS COULD GIVE ME SOME GOOD POINTERS ON HOW TO START APPRENTICING SOMEWHERE. AGE,PRICE, ANYTHING.

I too would like some feed back on this...........i mean i am no spring chicken i am 44 and right now i told the place i get my tattoos at when business picks up and they need a desk bitch and one work for free i am there for them.

Getting a tattoo apprentiship can be difficult to say the least. Also there are a few different way that it can happen depending on the artist who will be apprenticing you. To start out with you need to find an artist who does great work, you can get along with and who is willing to have an apprentice. Once that happens you will need and good portfolio of your art work. This gives the artist an idea of what you are capable of, and if he/she can work with you to hone your skills. Remember just because you can create awesome art on paper or canvas does not necessarily mean that you will be able to create great tattoos. Now is where different artists vary on how they run your apprentiship. Some artists or shops will require you to pay a fee (normally in advance) in order for them to teach you. This fee can vary greatly from area to area and according to the artists skills. I have heard some people complain about this. Saying that money should not be factor in doing an apprentiship, that it should be paid for the "old school" way Basically by starting at the bottom as a floor man/janitor and working your up over time. (Sometime a long period of time) sort of earning your stripes so to speak. My personal opinion, for what it is worth, is that both have their pros and cons. In paying for the service it can be looked at like any type of schooling. After all if you want to go to Harvard to study law. You won't do it free or by cleaning the bathrooms. The one down fall I see in this situation is that there are shops out there that will apprentice anyone who can come up with the cash. 6 grand and six months then poof you are tattoo artist. This floods a great business full of awesome artist with way to many scratchers. One the other hand learning the "old school" way can be good as well there are some fantastic artist out there that can bring a lot to the world of tattooing, but do not have the funds to afford to pay apprentiship fees. They can learn a lot by starting out doing the stuff no one else likes to do (janitorial work) and watching every thing in the shop. They work their way up from there to floor man and dealing with customers, to needle building, sterilization, and so on, before they ever even touch a tattoo machine. This insures that the apprentice is willing to stick it out and really learn the behind the scenes work involved. Showing the apprentice is truly dedicated to learning the trade. Keep in mind, most of the time you are doing all this with out pay if you go this rout. The downfall to this one is that it sometimes takes a very long time before you ever actually put needle to skin. I hope this helps you out. Trot

thank you for the info it was great to get some feed back. Like i said i am willing to be the desk bitch (and clean up gal) for free just to learn the trade.

we need an apprentice at our shop. we are getting busy. -steve

send me a message at [email removed]