Apprenticeship/Portfolio Questions

[LikeOhLikeH]

So, I’ve been an artist my entire life and have always considered myself artistically adept. I wanted to get an apprenticeship forever ago, and have pretty much always wanted to be a tattoo artist. I guess the honest reason I’ve put off going to shops and presenting myself to other artists is because of rejection. It terrifies me. Probably because I went to an arts high school and constantly had my work critiqued. I am more emotionally mature and while it will sting; I believe that I can handle it and I know that I can find someone to apprentice me. So, I’ve been putting together a portfolio and am going to start going out next week (by the by, I already have a machine and know the basics, but I believe in the long standing tradition of learning by an apprentice/mentor set up.) Also, I realize that there are other posts that are similar to mine, however I did not receive sufficient information so alas, I am creating my own. I really appreciate the help! So here are my questions/etc:

1. What kind of work should be in my portfolio ? I’ve always been a mixed media artist; but I am very strong with color work. I understand I should have an array of things, but could you be more specific? Ive been doing some flash lately, because I’ve heard that you should have some – I’ve also heard that when you do flash (and you add color) you should also have a copy of what it looked like before the color (like the outline). Is this true?

2. Does the fact that I am a girl put me at a disadvantage? I don’t see as many female artists out there and I wondered if there was a reason for it.

3, Are apprenticeships where you pay the artist standard? Should I avoid them?

4. How should I approach a shop? I have quite a few tattoos, but I’ve gotten them done all over the place. I don’t plan on getting tattoos just to build a relationship with a shop (I put great thought into my tattoos… and I also have a 2 year rule. Where I put a two year time period between when I think of something and when I get it put on my body). So how should I ask for an apprenticeship?

— I’ve included examples of what is in my portfolio. These are just things I am considering… and I want input on which ones I should leave or keep in my portfolio

I really appreciate the help, guys.

Here is what I’ve put together so far… it’s everything I’ve been able to find (from old sketchbooks) and everything I’ve done FOR my portfolio. There is one link to an image hosting website.
Some of the pen doodles are examples of my fine line work ability…
You can refer to each piece by the order on the page. Again, thank you so much for helping me out.

http://imageshack.us/g/443/60381527.jpg/

[tat2theEarth]

Seems like a few of those arent finished yet, which is a no-no when showcasing your work.. you want to show that you are committed and by leaving a piece unfinished at not at presentation-condition, it shows that you either gave up cause it was too hard or got bored, neither of which you can ever do when tattoing, so i would work hard at making all your drawings look”ready” to present for critique..

[LikeOhLikeH]

I mean a few aren’t totally finished…. But I heard you should
leave a few like, not colored or shaded – just outlines.
But if that is the case, do you have any suggestions on how
I could make them look more presentable?

[tat2theEarth]

If you want to showcase line drawings use linework as yhe shading. By crosshatching or dotting. If u have black and white drawings, put some shades in it to add depth as well as some shadows to show more than 2 dimesions. Highlights are also very useful in giving shine to your work’ though its a little hard on white paper. I use the paper itself for a little negative contrast . But as far as leaving drawings unfinished, i would do 2 copies if you want tio show outline work, one copy of the outline, then another completely finished.. that shows that the unfinished one is like that intentionally. Your drawings arent bad i think you will find an apprenticeship easier once you can show you can bring life to them and make them stand out from what tge other schmo next in line can do..

[a.phillips949]

I would also recommend including only original works of art in your portfolio. I think I’ve seen a couple of those designs elsewhere and I know I’ve seen the anchor one before because I just used that as a reference (found on tattoomagz.com) for my first practice piece on practice skin. I would think that it’s fine to use someone else’s work as a reference in practice but a portfolio should contain only original pieces of your own. Even using someone else’s work derivatively may be okay depending on how far you take it . . . but that anchor is an exact copy so you should probably avoid implying that it’s your own work.

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