Percentage of actual apprenticed Tattooists

This is a question for tattoists working in shops. What would you say is a rough percentage of actually apprenticed Tattoists that work in shops? Those that didn't apprentice, how did they land their job in the shop? Did they present themselves professionally with a portfolio of their tattoo accomplishments?

Tattooists working in shopw will tell you that 100% were apprenticed, because that's the way they want you to go!

But how many do you think actually did apprentice? I'm not knocking them, just wondering what is the real deal. I know of a tattooist who dogs the shit out of scratcher's, even though he was one, and even though I'm not apprenticed I wouldn't recommend scratching to anyone, their is some real horrible work out there, but their is no way every tattooist working "professionally" who is accepted in the community started out by getting apprenticed. Even watching old timer interviews on youtube you'll find that alot of the great artists never apprenticed. I do good clean sterile work. Never apprenticed.

The big differences between now and when a lot of "old timers" started is firstly the health and safety issues these days - a few years ago this wasn't so much of a problem, it changed back in the 80's when people started to get scared of aids. Also these days ppl like to sue at the drop of a hat...

Secondly tattooists used to do flash 99% of the time, learned the techniques by doing that for a few years until they worked a style of their own (listen to a lot of interviews and most say it took them around 10 years to get to the point their at now). These days people want to be award winning artists the day they pick up a machine, add to that the fact that a lot of people starting to tattoo now are artists in another medium, the people still doing flash get frowned upon.

Thirdly "Ink" television programmes, these have led to people buying ebay kits in their thousands (even in the small village that I live in there must be about 20 people scratching away), and most of these have almost no artistic ability at all, but the idea that they can earn big money draws them in. Take the money factor away and 90% of them would stop, leaving us with the few who genuinely want to tattoo for tattooings sakes.

As for tattooists who went down the apprenticeship route: I don't know any personally (although I do know several tattooists), but I do know a few who tried but found the industry to be very closed and difficult to get a foot in the door.

My own opinion is that there should be some schooling options, not a 2 week "intensive" but a 1yr or 2 yr full time course where people learn all the stuff an apprentice should learn, without all the bullshit.

A school like that would be awesome! Also, I'm artistic but I prefer doing flash, their is a reason old school flash was drawn the way it was, its easy to read, bold, and holds up over time. I wish it was easier to convice people to get it vs whatever unartistic idea that pops up in their head one day. I've been thinking about cutting off all other styles of art and just doing the old school flash style.

I think a real artist will succeed in this business without a traditional apprenticeship.

I think tarantula nailed it with ebay kits. EVERYONE can tattoo now.. 90% of them will do it poorly. The other 10% will succeed if they are really that good. The ones that are that good will find an apprenticeship...even if it is their "scratching" that gets them in a shop. They will never stop learning, always trying to be better and as a result will be better.

An apprenticeship, in my opinion, is the BEST option. I have friends who have gone both routes and they are all doing well. The ones who apprenticed learned faster.

There are about 8 of the guys I used to hang out with in high school in the 80's that are now very successful tattoo artists and I don't think any of them had what today would be considered a traditional apprenticeship. I was the first one that tried to get into it back then and it was so closed I had no luck and after having the door shut in my face so many times I gave up and walked away. About two years later the city blew up with tattoo shops and people wanting tattooed. There were 3 shops in 89' when I tried to apprentice, I left for the Marine Corps and about three years later there were 20 shops in that city. The guys I hung out with that became artists were working in shops not three years after I had been turned down.

The apprenticeships they went through weren't long or in depth, like was said earlier 90% of the work was flash back then. All of those guys got in at the right time in that city and had artistic talent to get into the business. Most of them were doing tattoo's with in a month or two of getting apprenticeships and a few of them struck out on their own, opening successful shops a mere year and half to two years after getting their start. Like I said all of those guys are very successful now and I wouldn't really call their start off true apprenticeships. They all will take on apprentices now and are all really friendly really cool guys when it comes to talking tattoo stuff. They all would encourage anyone to get an apprenticeship and all would admit it took years for them to develop their own distinct style.

I have been very fortunate in that I stayed in touch with all of them and when a Soldier of mine who was a tattoo artist in Wisconsin before joining the Army (yes I was a Marine and then switched over to the Army, I know, what the hell is wrong with me) got me back into tattooing all of my professional tattoo artist friends were very encouraging. Unfortunately my Soldier was killed in an IED blast in Balad, Iraq in 2006 so we didn't get to talk shop long, but he helped me out a great deal. I never had a real apprenticeship and a lot of what I've figured out I did on my own, but I've had some really great friends/artists share a lot of good information with me and I'm very grateful.

I think in today's tattoo business that it is very easy and tempting to forego the traditional apprenticeship, but it's not the way I think most would become successful tattoo artists. There are a lot of techniques and tips that you pick up from good professionals that take forever to figure out on your own. The guys that become successful on their own have real drive and love for tattooing and that will make them stick with it and learn.

At this point, a little over six years of being back into tattooing I consider myself a decent tattoo artist, but I know there is still a ton for me to learn and there will always be something to learn in this art. The key is stay humble, stick with it and always push yourself to be better.

I can't wait to retire from the Army and start tattooing full time, now if retirement would just hurry up and get here. LOL

Why does it seem like I always type a book in here, sorry about that last rant guys.

No. That's good stuff to read. I'm in the Marine Corps right now. Got 11 till retirement. But this tattooing thing I've been doing almost a year now is my new passion. If I didn't have responsiblities I would just do tattooing.

Randy I know what you mean, if it wasn't for being so close (six years) to retirement I'd probably be considering getting out and tattooing full time. I can't be considered a pro because I don't work out of a shop and didn't have what I guess could or would be considered a technical apprenticeship. I've had a few guys working in shops give me grief because I'm not working in a shop, but most artists are really cool with me once they find out I'm active military and can't work out of a shop right now. I don't know how I'll be recieved when I retire and start trying to get into a shop, but I'm building my work and will have the technical knowledge and a few guys willing to give me a good reference. Hopefully that'll be helpfull, in the mean time I'm just going to keep on keeping on.

One funny thing to add here, I had a guy give me a ton of crap for not working out of a shop once and I mean the dude was a real ass. He was a good artist, but he didn't know a thing about machines. So anyway, a buddy of his in the shop played a joke on him while he was out and took his lining machine apart and left all the pieces in cup and wouldn't help him put it together. Well this dude had an appointment coming in and was freaking out, his buddy gave him my number. I get a phone call "hey man didn't you say you built machines?", to which I said yes. Well after giving me all that crap he asked me if I could help him out and explained the problem. I drove up to the shop made him sit and watch as I rebuilt his machine and tuned it trying to teach him a little bit about it. His machine was ready and running better than ever (his observation not mine) 20 minutes before his appointment got there. He apologized for giving me so much crap and was amazed I was willing to help him out. I told him "hey man we're all still learning even when we think we know it all". He'd still call after that asking for advice or help learning about machines after that.

Lesson: be cool you never know when that person you're tempted to be a jerk too could really help you out.