Hello from Fusciart

My name is Rich Fuscia and I would like to get into the tattoo business. I live in Atlanta, Ga. I've been an artist all my life. I'm currently a graphic artist working for a corporation in the printing world. I feel that I am not taking full advantage of my talent. I would like to get into the business but I don't know where to start. I hope someone can steer me in the right direction. I was thinking of purchasing the 4 Gun Machine Starter Kit and practice on myself. I want to test the waters.

Link to my work.
http://fusciart.com/

welcome to the site. Cool artwork, for sure.

There are two paths to take. You can seek an apprenticeship and be taught by people who have experience (while working for free) or you can be a "scratcher" and do it yourself. One method is obviously a faster track with a mentor but both have produced incredible artists in the tattooing world.

If you go it alone, study sterilization and what it will take for you to NOT infect yourself or anyone else. This is the biggest factor overlooked by people who go it alone. If you get a kit, break those machines down to the frame and rebuild them. The more you understand how your tools work the easier it becomes to use them properly.

this is a great site with lots of information. If you haven't bought the CR Jordan book yet, it's worth a read for sure.

Mark

Thanks Mark.

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.

one guys said you should quit and you did?

you probably just didn't really want it as much as you thought.