History of my brief Apprentinceship

[Ines]

So here is my story,

I took a apprenticeship from a mentor that i thought will teach me how to become a tattoo artist, and after a month of running around on my expense buying small non tattoo related crap for her she placed me in her office where i ended up designing tattoo’s for her customers that she took credit for. This went on for about 3 months and all with out a single sent…

I then left her shop in 1997 and got my self a cheap machine and power supply, thought my self how to make needles ( not easy ) from a book (Tattooing A to Z), never perfected it, lucky never used it on people, lol…

Practiced on fruit and any type of thing at the time that i thought to be like skin… (Leather dose not work well)

Did my first tattoo on my self in 2004, with a friend at the time that opened a tattoo shop, really was a mentor to me in that brief time that he was in the country, but never took a apprentinceship from him due to my past dealings with it.

So here is my question what qualifies you to call yourself a tattoo artist? In my country they call me a “Scratcher” because i am not qualified. But have to repair and fix other qualified tattooist work regular… my customers stay in contact and supports my work to the fullest.

I have a lot to learn and don’t deny it, but so do we all, even the best out there will agree that there is still a lot to learn.
I believe in a sterile work area and equipment, all my stuff is disposable and have a autoclave.

I will like to be a qualified tattoo artist and make it more then just my hobby.

[Lennart82]

Now what country is that?

Hmmm and a Scratcher. Well its a term used for people scratching the skin of people, leaving deep scars, bad colouring, blowouts, just simply turning skin into minced meat. A Scratcher is a person who never took up a book, to just learn something. The person is not willing to learn anything.
Are you doing that? Are you planning on not learning?

And a tattoo artist? When are you a tattoo artist?
I’m not a tattoo artist, I call myself a tattooist. For me, yes, you can complete an apprenticeship, but that dosent make you a tattoo artist. Yes you can have a proffesional tattooist who is your mentor, but if this person is just a plain tattooist, copying other works, not doing original work. Is this person, who have tattood in 20 years, but doing the same every day, all year around, a tattoo artist???

But what I am, is a portrait artist and an artist in drawings. Why? Becourse other people call me that. Before that, I called myself a portrait drawer.

In my world, artist is a title you dont get after 3 years of doing stuff. Artist is the term, your clients/costumers call you, once they do that, you are there.
Mind you, just 1 person calling you that, dosent make you that. It took me 3 years of being called an artist, for me to believe it ;)

But an interesting story, if I stayed with my former mentor I would have suffered same faith. Lucky for me, no one believed my mentor could draw portraits, and that kind of bit her in the be hind.

[Ines]

South Africa,

I love doing my own designs, never worked off of a flash, never used a stencil before… my customers have never had any skin damaged with me, and they always come back for more. but if you are not part of the click this side it seems that you get called names that stick with you.
I really don’t mind it, when there customers come over to me for ideas and fix ups … I have a customer now that wants me to fix up a tattoo that he got over 6 months ago from a tattoo shop that chased him out due to passing out on the table, no one wants to help him fix up his trible on his arm due to bad skin damage… I have agreed to help him, don’t like it but cannot have the man walking around with that looking so bad, he got my number from his girlfriend who i did a cover up not a month ago…

will ad a pick of the customers tattoo and you tell me if you will let the man walk around, damaging the rest of the tattoo nations reputation… ?

[Ines]

Love doing portrait studies and nudes, but no money in it here in SA for drawings.

[Infamous]

I had a guy pass out on me once, and I had to stop. He wanted to continue but he also told me that if he passed out again he might have to go to the ER. So, I told him no, and we booked something for the following Saturday to finish. He never came back, he’s sporting half a Celtic Cross and it drives me bonkers that he’s out there somewhere with half a tattoo

[Ramenuzumaki]

i use the term tattooer but it essentially the same as tattooist. ive just heard tattooer more often in canada than tattooist, and i also have it tattooed across my knuckles :3

as far as your autoclave if you have everything as disposable you dont need it. buy an ultrasonic cleaner for oyur ink cups and sell the autoclave. it is a waste of money if you arent using it as if it is in your shop area you need to do a spore test every 2 weeks to make sure its working properly. these spore tests cost money, and sometimes hospitals will charge you to test them for you. big money sink for no reason

that tattoo doesnt look too bad. granted i cant feel it or anything to check for raised bits or scarring. i assume the black parts are what you have currently fixed. personally if someone gets to the point of passing out then i stop and reschedual. however, most people dont pass right out they get shaking, quiet, and such before hand. get some sugar into them like soda or something, and they are normally fine after a brief break.

i think if you keep going the way you are, clean and such, youll do fine. you can learn a lot on this forum.

[Ines]

Have not done any thing to the tattoo on the pic, will start on it in a month when i am in that area, need to have at least 4 more customers before i can travel that distance, about +-500km away from me, don’t know what that is in miles…

[Lennart82]

Holy Jebediah :o thats a loooooong drive. The distance in my country from top to bottum is only 360 km. Thats the absolute longest you can drive in my country…

[Ines]

lol, that is nothing, to go and visit my brother in rustenburg, i have to drive over 10 hours just to get there… he is about 800 + km from where i live…

Okay, have a question… what is a better why to make gray wash… ??? I normally just use my normal black’s Dinamic or Intenze and just water it down with medical water… but have heard that you could place wight in it to give it a lighter grayish effect … but isn’t it a different chemical mix with your color’s including wight? Please help… need to know.

[Infamous]

It depends on if you are shading or if you are looking for the color gray.

Use white for the color, use witch hazel (or medical water if thats what you’ve been using and it works for you) for shading

[Ines]

Thanks, will give it a shot…

[Infamous]

Anytime

[Author]

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