Jack

[Jack]

thanks guys!

[Jack]

@embajadores8 wrote:

if your talking about the newest one. the ems 400, i own one and i love it. has all the features you can ask for and also a touch screen.

love mine too!

[Jack]

i just got a new pair of workhorse irons (SOBA designed) got a mini rusto, and a pilot shader. amazing machines, a lil better than the sharpz imho (atleast the new shaprz that is)

[Jack]

@jtdaltonsr wrote:

of coarse i need advice, or i wouldnt be posting, but I recently did a tat on a guy, it was his name in block hebrew. I actually used full disposable that a friend provided, I used 7liner and 11mag for shading. anyways, after the forth day, the thing looks like a dried up bowl of oatmeal, if u can understand. This is the first tat that ive done that has done this, Im woundering what could it possibly be. My machines are tuned the same as ever, needle depth was not too deep, i actually use my tip as a guide. I barely can even see the tip when it is running. The same for shading, the needles are barely noticable when running. I dont run the amps that high at all, liner was set at 8, shader was at 9.5. He is taking care of the tat, I see him on a daily basis, and his other tats that ive done healed and peeled fully around 2 weeks. what should i consider as the factor of the results of this? Was it me? could it possibly be him? Im scared now, because it looks terrible. Fixable, but for now terrible.

SO MANY details left out. im just an apprentice, but some questions come to mind.

1. sterility – steril environment? steril tools, setup, needles, machine, etc?
2. old ink? where is your ink kept?
3. disposables are tricky, is this your first time with one?
4. tracking with disposables is tricky, did you use a loope to check the performance of your needle, how its tracking, etc?
5. the mag could have been your issue, going over and over and over try to pack that ink in will cause a chumming of the skin, which will scar, and also look like hamburger or oatmeal as you say. shading and filling should be done in 1-2 passes anymore will result in dangerous results
6. proper aftercare – did you inform your client to use noxema on their tattoo? haha i hope not. hopefully you used industry standard disinfectants throughout the tattoo, and taught them how to take care of their new tattoo.

so many factors, and i hate to say, but if you have these concerns, which is a lack of confidence, you probably shouldn’t be tattooing. no pun intended but this industry requires confident, competent, and responsible people that take all these things into consideration for each client. please seek an apprenticeship. your probably a great artist, so think of it like that. great artist, tons of potential, but lacking technical skills like safety, application, and care. best of luck!

[Jack]

Apprenticeships. dont worry about flash, do your best drawings, paintings, and watercolors. dont copy other tattoo work. you should show a diversity of styles, trying to incorporate form, dimension, and figurative aspects. i would NOT show up with sketches, loose pencil crap, or unfinished work. 25-50 pieces should be sufficient. be humble, expect to take a lot of shit, work hard, keep your ego out of it, be prepared to be broken down (and then built up), expect to pay (even though you might not have to), go to a shop, get tattooed there first, hang around, show your art, get advice, take the advice, show you can take direction, keep going back, keep getting tattooed, show persistence, improve your art, dont stop, head up, you’ll get what you want if you have these skills. hope that helps. oh and get a fucking contract.

[Jack]

thanks for the support guys! really awesome.

Soooooo, i wish i could post some of the dialogue that has gone on to further prove this fucker is nutso, but anyways the short and sweet of it is, after stonewalling me and refusing to clarify the status of our agreement, i was forced to seek council and make a list of demands which i thought was fair to both parties. so i did, stating the pro-rated return of the apprenticeship fees and the money for the machines for which i was buying from him. he obviously got heated and refused, threw some slander in there for good measure and proceeded to harass me over the phone and through text with threats and finally court. unknown to him i have a great group of lawyers friends and have been in legal wars before. So trying to stay as robotic as possible and keep emotion out of it, i got some juicy bits in txt and voicemails that will prove my case. Something happened where he obviously sought council and tried to settle. i had a few things at the shop, iphone chargers, stuff, etc and i had some ink and various shop bullshit in my car. he offered to settle and reimburse me for the 600 on the machines and that was it. so i agreed to meet last night. the coward doesn’t even show up, sends his grandfather to meet behind the shop. i went with a witness and made sure to see the check and what was written in the for field. and low and behold he tried to snake some jargon in there to the affect of “this sum absolves all previous contractual obligations etc”. upon reading i was unable to take the check out of principle. so thats that. time to turn on the heat and get whats fair and just. im not a mean guy and im sure everyone can see there are two sides to this story as there always is. but instead of getting vindictive and putting tons of energy into this, its got to be factual, precise and something the judge wants to see. its clear, and fucking concise. pro-rated return, machine costs, and nothing more. im aware a judge doesn’t give a shit about right and wrong, emotions and feelings. he wants nothing more than to expedite his day and move the cases right through. so i will do just that, and let the other bastard flail around and make an ass of himself.

in other news, went to the bay area convention last weekend, and got some good council from some artists i have been tattooed by and other old timers. bright future ahead, and this is the oldest story in the book. time to get busy and get strong.

if anyone out there is going for an apprenticeship and has good intentions to serve and learn in a healthy environment, please set these things as “go” and “no go” criteria. No matter what, always i mean always start with a contract, its formal and yada yada, but man even when you think you trust someone, back the fuck up and check yourself, the only person looking out for you is you. so contract up. no exceptions. secondly, do not i mean do not sacrifice your morals, family, and personal duties for anyone. thats a biggy for me in this lesson. this trade isn’t about getting inked up or coming to terms with “this is the only trade i can get into because of my tattoo’s”. its about freedom, living your life by your design, and being empowered to walk down the road of expression and service. this artform is half artisan and half artist, its also not a masturbatory artform, or at-least it shouldn’t be in my eyes.

well shit thanks for reading and sorry for the preachy shit. good luck to everyone! best, Jack

[Jack]

Well, that was a ride. So a little catch up. I Progressed recently to doing some tattoo’s out of the shop on friends and a few walk ins, 75% happy with the results, tons to learn with wielding a machine, and tons more technique. its funny, before i thought i knew all the questions i wanted answers to, now all my questions have changed. That being said, i am on my way, with about a dozen clients lined up, got my lil magic show put together, etc. Then it happens. also a lil back story before we get wet. The shop has progressively been going down the tubes, in its 20 something yrs of existence, the last 5 yrs have basically equated to everyone leaving the shop, all apprentices bailed and on average lasted around 4 months, and now the clients are bailing. with antics of showing up late to every appointment 1 hour late, yes 1 hour, and taking breaks every 20 min for 30 min, and finally the ghostly disappearances, where he gets up in the middle of a session and drives away, no words, no instructions, just gone. for like 5 hours. obviously the client bails and never comes back. work ethic is in the dumpster, who knows maybe this is what happens when you get burnt out.

either way all this being said, dude recently ended my apprenticeship over somethings i cant roll over on. my wife and family. since he does not have one i can see how he might not see the gravity of a concept like that, but ignorance isn’t an excuse in my book. so in short he put a ultimatum before me “the shop” or your family. (i had an obligation i couldn’t bail on and out of the 45 days straight i worked, 1 day off to escort my wife was unacceptable and insulting in his words) yes this seriously did happen. i picked a crazy one. well that’s that. im about a month short of my apprenticeship finish line and ive been locked out of the shop, my brand new machines and some old ones gone, no contact, and yeah. i saw an unsavory exit a long way away, but not this cheap, and without honor. i guess some part of me being naive or hopeful, was almost expecting some level of old school respect and civility, not childish behavior.

well, ill prevail, going to do some clients out of the house till i find a shop to go to and hopefully become the walk in guy. its a bright future and thanks for reading!

[Jack]

@Viper65 wrote:

your a better man that me bro…hang in there. 8-)

thanks buddy, i refuse to be a statistic. Hopefully some of this can help someone else. ill keep the board updated. cheers!

[Jack]

@TexasPT wrote:

I can’t speak for everyone but I think an apprenticeship is a great thing. In that relationship there should be a teacher and a student. Not an asshole and a servant. It’s basic human 101. you don’t treat people like animals.

One of the first thing taught to my son in martial art was RESPECT. It goes both ways.

I completely agree. the door has to swing both ways and double standards dont work. if you talk the talk, walk the walk. don’t ask someone to do something you too wouldn’t do yourself.

So updates!

Still trucking with my apprenticeship, got out of the dunce cap by responding to the “how’s the cap coming along?” while he was on a trip. My response after careful reflection was, the cap is great! i didn’t do it, i finally got your lesson. stand up for myself, never let someone else especially customers walk all over you and be steadfast with your morals. thank you for this lesson i really do appreciate it. so with that, he was unable to turn down a opportunity for his ego and absorbed the newly laid grounds. a couple weeks have passed now with a lot more respect in a generally friendly environment (just took a turn for the worst, ill elaborate later). that being said, there is a giant lack of teaching going on, i’m there at the shop everyday, cleaning, already talking to clients and setting up possible consultations. in that area, we are moving right along. but in the actual learning of machines, needles, autoclave and general duties to maintain the shop and support the artist, its lacking. patience is the word of the year here. cheers for reading, more updates later.

btw thanks again!

[Jack]

@Tarantula wrote:

Is he asking you to make the dunce hat and THEN draw the disney figures on it? If so that’s an awesome idea, you get to learn to draw on a curved surface that varies in size. Being able to draw on a flat surface is one thing, drawing on a curved surface is something else.

As far as the rest of the stuff he’s asking you to do: Are you paying for your apprenticeship? If so I think anything outside of working in the shop is asking too much and I’d have to question whether they were good enough to warrant me binning my self respect. Cleaning toilets, breaking down and setting up cleaning the shop these are all perfectly acceptable as cleanliness is the most important part of the business, getting a crap tattoo is one thing, getting a crap tattoo and Hep is something else…

Most importantly: Keep your chin up :) deep breaths and count to 10.. it’s not so easy to get an apprenticeship but it will be worth it in the end.

Cheers Tarantula, this sounds like you’ve heard this one before. Yes disney characters. how ironic, and im guessing this is an old school tradition. i get the curved surface thing, and thanks for the chin up. oh and yes i am paying for the apprenticeship.

[Author]

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