Tattoo School Vs. Apprenticeship, 20 Years Experience Vs. Talent and Drive

Ok. A disclaimer, because is this is going to get controversial...

 I have several friends in the tattoo industry. All of them are very talented and MOST of them very supportive of what I'm doing. I respect them all. I don't write this as an attack on any particular artist, this is all very "in general"... sort of.

Before I start I would like to show you this as to keep my own self humble and to prove that I don't think I am some rock star, badass tattoo artist that knows everything....

This is my first tattoo I ever did on a person. Yeah...





As you can see, bad lining, bad lettering, flat color, and let's not even go there with the lock heart. God bless this girl for letting me learn on her, thank go there are amazing cover-up artists out there.. Now.. Lets get into it..

TATTOO SCHOOL

I went to tattoo school. I fucking admit it. And guess what, my life has completely changed since then. I hunted, begged, borrowed, and practically stole for YEARS for an apprenticeship, and no one would take me. They were busy, they didn't like dealing with it, they didn't want to train competition, whatever.  They all had their reasons but as the years went by my life was at a stand still waiting for things to happen.

Tattoo school is a 4 letter word in the industry, believe me, I worked in a shop as counter girl, I know what they say. It's hated so much it took me 2 years to actually give it a shot. Ya know what, here is the low-down on the schools....

*Argument: "You can't learn to tattoo in two weeks!!!"
    TRUE. You can't. And the school never claims that you can. They give you the basic fundamentals to get you going but then it's up to YOU to further you're training. They offer more advanced classes, or maybe you have a few brave friends that are more than willing to let you fuck up on them til you get it right, or it could even help you better your chances of a respectable artist taking you under their wing and giving you more skills. You can not learn to be a master artist in 2 weeks, but it can get the ball rolling.

*Argument: "It's unclean! It's a scam! It's a "Scratcher Factory!"
    FALSE. First of all, I know A LOT of artist that started out just buying a machine on their own and learning on their people. My ex of 3 years if a walking example of letting his best buddy at the time completely fuck him up experimenting until he got it right. While this is going on, these "budding artists" are making their own needles, incorrectly, not being safe, and uneducated on cleanliness necessary for this craft.

At the school, everything is monitored by the health department and routinely checked as well as you have award winning artists watching YOUR EVERY MOVE helping you become a better artist while also keeping you canvases safe and disease free. No one likes diseases. No to mention if you do screw up, they teach you how to fix these mess-ups. They aren't scratchers. They are students.

*Argument: "An Apprenticeship is the only way to learn!"
    FALSE: Why this method is great if you have a respectable artist that is actually going to teach you and help you in your career, many people out there are just out to scam you. They make you pay them a crap load of money then have you scrub tubes, and do a lot of bitch work, never teaching you anything for a year until you quite and they keep your money. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't have to do bitch work. You absolutely should. However you should also be learning, not just be a bitch. Also they can be retarded expensive.

An artist in my city at the time wanted $8,000. 8 fucking grand. No disrespect to this artist, he is VERY talented, and I understand a few grand is asked sometimes to cover equipment, but.. come on. Most artists, good ones anyway, don't have 8 grand just chilling in savings. Maybe they save up a few grand but it's rare for anyone to have that kind of sum. That's if you can even find someone that will do it. Most artists, the good ones, want nothing to do with teaching people. They are sick of shitty artists taking over their block and they don't want anymore competition. And if you're a girl, you're really fucked. So people are turning to buying their own stuff on line and butchering people, unsafely, on their own.

So in summary of that argument, Tattoo School is not evil. It's brilliant. Every other trade has courses and training and schools, so why not tattooing? Here is an example of a student's work ... let's be real, it's better than most local artists I've dealt with...

 Now just something to back up my tattoo school argument, here is a tattoo from someone who's been doing it for 20 plus years, and is considered a rock star in his small town as far as tattooing.. oh yeah, this is the award he won for it in Miami this year..

 

 

 

 

Yeah. No apprenticeship. No schooling. Just practicing on his buddies and my dead boyfriend will be forever memorialized with scratchy lines, flat, patchy color and he's MISSING A FUCKING FOOT.

 

Now here is an example from an artist who's only been doing this for a little over 5 years...

 

My point? Though experience is very important, it doesn't mean shit if you don't have drive and heart. You can slap some ink on someone for a century and never grow if you don't put in the effort, drive, and perseverance. ALSO STAY OFF THE FUCKING DRUGS!

 

All these small town artist and small city artists are so quick to hate on other people's work and methods. They are the ones you are scared to talk to in the shop or conventions. They are the ones with the chips on their shoulder, believing they are better than everyone cause they get to draw on people for a living.

 

Guess what? Mike DeVries, Nikko Hurtado, Kat Von D, THEY DON'T GIVE A FUCK.

 

Mike Devries and Big Gus (best known for being on Tattoo Nightmares) are the nicest guys you'll meet and will answer any questions you have.

 

Kat has been noted for SUPPORTING tattoo schools.

 

Most of them had to learn in basements scratching on people and now they are amazing so they don't give a fuck how people get there. Plus they are amazing and know most people won't ever touch the level they are at so why be a dick?

 

That's my view on schools. Don't be so quick to judge and when picking an artist, RESEARCH. If they are asshole, fuck'm, go somewhere else. I don't care what they're reputation is, if you don't like what you see, go somewhere til you do.

 

Off my soapbox. Stay cool out there Fort Myers, it's a scorcher!!!