A little back story about myself. I’m 45, married with a 7 year old son. I have a pretty good job as a graphic artist . I work the second shift so I pretty much have my morning and early afternoons off to draw which is my absolute passion.
So I took the plunge and got my first tattoo hoping to get as much information as I could and how to start out. I got a star, heart and four leaf clover together with some pin stripes in the background holding them together on my right shoulder. For my first tat it was very pleasant. I thought it was going to hurt but it didn’t at all.
While my artist was working on me I told him I wanted to be an tattoo artist. I told him my situation.
I was going to try an be a scratcher and start working on myself. Well I got an earful from the artist.
First he said the only way to become a tattoo artist is to become an apprentice. And with my situation I would have to quit my job, take out a loan and apprentice which is out of the question for me. There are health risks like Hepatitis C and I could wind up killing someone. I’m also breaking the law.
If I became a scratcher and then went pro I would have to unlearn what I taught myself and relearn everything the right way. I need to stand in front of a committee to get a license to practice tattooing or I could get into a lot of trouble. But if I was an apprentice I would be protected under the umbrella of a professional shop. He told me I could go around and get tattooed by other artists and try an develop a relationship with them to get apprenticed. But he said professional tattooing is like a secret society and most artists are very stand offish.
So my hopes of becoming a tattoo artist are just about extinguished.
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