liam

[liam]

congrats on the apprenticeship man. ive seen plenty of pretty good tatts done in bali being from perth. quick story though; my 19 yo cousin and 15 of her mates went to bali a bit before christmas and all got tattoos and when they got back and got tested, 8 of them were h.i.v. positive! lucky my cousin wasnt one of them. me personally i wouldnt get tattooed in bali even before i heard that story cas of the saftey issue but still i was gobsmacked. and she was really blase about it despite having to wait to see if she was clear.

[liam]

hi rob im liam from perth australia. im studying art at tafe (then uni) to one day hopefully get an apprentiship. havent tattooed anything yet, more focused on my drawing and painting atm although ive got 2 machines.
just regarding the tattoo industry in australia: heaps of ppl tell me beware bikies run the industry and i dont wanna end up having to rob a servo(american=gas station) in some bikie gang initiation shit to get myself a apprenticeship either. haha. i keep my ears open for any tattoo industry news on this subject hey and apparently the industry in perth isnt as bikie dominated anymore. ive been told of a few shops that supposedly arent run by bikies. ive heard of plenty more that are but still at least theres some that are not. ten years ago it was a different story though. ill try find the link to this interview with a perth tattoo artist ‘shrume’ who talks about the industry in australia a bit. anyway the only reason im trying to get an apprenticeship is cas apparently the industry in perth isnt totally dominated by bikies anymore soo.. come to perth man. haha. if i find that it is still bikie dominated then ill try overseas for apprenticeship. anyway love to know what you think man.
like to see some of your work, drawings or tattoos.
not as much info as i thought but still here you go, shrume interview http://www.australianedge.net/cities/perth/tattoo-artist-shrume/

[liam]

thanks dreamer. will post more stuff when i get a chance to. shouldnt be too long. its mostly stuff along similar lines

[liam]

hope i didnt discourage you that much. though i know i can get a bit tense when talking about my goals. drawing portraits is one thing im ok at but i cant do designs or draw from my imagination for crap and its not stopping me (hopefully lol). anyways when tattooing a portait you use a stencil so that might help.

[liam]

thanks canvas. yeah that one i got a really good likeness to my referance also. happy with how it turned out.
thanks for the book. still reading it but im learning so much its really great!!

[liam]

great concept. how do you think of this stuff! the tenticles are like his brains being blown out. i think it would be a better drawing if the gun looked more 3d though. it looks flat whereas everything else is going back on an angle. maybe some fire or smoke coming out of the barrel might be good too. anyways good job

[liam]

yeah i love them. i think they’re cool. ive just started trying to do pen and water colour paintings myself to do some flash. if im being really harsh i would say i think the blindfolded punk rock girl could do with a bit more of a forehead but i love your line on her face and neck and how you emphasize areas with your tone. your a better water colour painter than me. maybe you could try make some of your designs more complex? by inter weaving things more or adding more colours or extra elements. anyway i had fun looking at them thanks for showing

[liam]

sorry i put this in the wrong section

[liam]

pics are pretty small. in real life they are all a4

[liam]

hey razak.
i think i can relate to you cas i also wanna be a tatt artist but dont think im ready. lets face it, being a tatt artist is being a professional artist which means you should be really freakin good. i didnt think i was ready dispite having natural talent so i quit my full time job and started working part time so i could try draw everyday and study art part-time. i took a part-time course in drawing and watercolour painting (cas water colours and pen are great for doing tattoo designs). i am now starting a years course in visual art full time. once i complete that im going to go back to watercolours so i can get good at designing tatts in water colours and after that id like to go to fine art college if i still cant get apprentieship or i feel like i can still improve. im also studing drawing online (cas drawing is a absolute fundamental of any good artist) at http://www.drawingtutorialsonline.com thats a great site its really helped my drawing a lot. i think if i learn more diciplines of art (like painting, charcoal etc) it will be better for my tattooing one day.

anyway before i quit my job and started drawing more i used to sell portraits anyways so i wasnt a bad drawer but cas ppl liked my work so much theyd pay for it (in beer usually) and i hardly practiced, thats what gave me the confidence to give up my job and pursue this career.

anyway thats how im dealing with not being ready yet, cas ive seen this route be successful in my city with a couple of tattoo artists. i thought saying where im at with not being ready might help in some way.

[liam]

thanks jordan and dreamer. ill def scour ebay and craigslist now on in case something comes up (no luck so far). yeah i really wanna apprentice, im studying fine art first to increase my chances of getting one also got some money saved while i was working. in the meantime it cant hurt to familiarise myself with the tools of the trade.

[liam]

hi ricoh65 and welcome.
i just wanted to ask jordan(or anyone else really) about getting a kingpin machine cas ive also got a kit and would love to “see how a real machine runs”. i checked out kingpin on the net and you had to be affiliated with a tattoo shop to buy anything. im not in the industry so is there there anyway around this so i can get my hands on a kingpin machine?
ps hope your looking after yourself man

[Author]

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