Your 100% correct. An apprenticeship is tha way to go. You’ll save yourself a whole lotta time. I was one of those people that thought i could learn on my own and I’m finally understanding lining . But at least they are solid clean ass lines. If i would have appreciated i would have learned what I was doing wrong a long time ago instead of years later. And I’m apprenticing just now. But i have always been into art and creating it so at least I know my ways around the art. Doesn’t mean i can tatttoo because i can draw. It’s totally diff application and technique . So yourself a favor and listen to this guy .
Great post bro! You explained it perfectly. That is how I got my apprenticeship 20 years ago. Zeke Owen was tough on me at first and then told me to start drawing. It was OLD SCHOOL for real! Many of the new schoolers don't understand that culture but it's all good. Great post! And I started following you on IG now.
tweetalig thanks man! It’s definitely frustrating to see so many kids thinking they’re entitled to learn, and the “why do the real work when RUclips videos can teach me just as well” mentality isn’t helping. Apprenticed with Zeke! Man that’s incredible, absolute legend!
Thank you..... this answered alot of my questions because the tattoo industry is blown up and hearing this from a great artist as yourself helps alot thank you for taking the time to make this video i can only hope to be a phenomenal artist and you said the key word 100 times humble and you have to be going into this Thanks Again bro
Then my honest advice is to move, I’ve never heard of a law like that and I’d be shocked it it was true but if your state requires you to go to some bullshit fake school instead of doing a proper apprenticeship then you need a new state.
I like what you said but there’s one thing I alway keep in mind, the best tattoo artist in the world like Roman, nickko hurtado, Steve butcher, lil b and I few more I can think of, they clearly say they never apprentice they just went for it they make every possible mistake but they learned and today they’re the best of the best. I quit a shop cause the guy I was with just wanted me to do the work he didn’t wanna do The was getting me ready for that, but they way I see tattooing is me becoming part of people’s life throw my art work. And even tho I can’t tattoos like lil b or Steve I can do many more and I get shot in cause I don’t charge people enough for doing it in my own. Sometimes even free work because money is never my priority. So does that make me a loser tattooer?
Rodrigo Fernandez where do I even start? First off guys like Nikko absolutely did apprenticeships, in fact most of those guys apprenticed with some of the best tattooers in the world before they began tattooing well, so I’m not sure what you’re referring to. My gut tells me that artistically you’re not among the best artists in the world (neither am I and that’s ok) or else you’d be working with some of the best tattooers in the world to develop your skill, as they did. So don’t try to justify not wanting to put the work in by saying someone else went without an apprenticeship so why can’t I? You are NOT steve butcher! Second this video was literally made for you, not wanting to put in the work of apprenticeship in and just assuming you can do it on your own is literally the worst way to learn to tattoo, it takes forever to get any knowledge, you’ll have hygiene issues, equipment issues, artistic issues and an endless supply of stupid customers that know you suck at tattooing but are willing to kiss your ass and tell you you’re great as long as they get those free or cheap tattoos. If you want to be successful tattooing and you actually care about learning and I don’t mean watching RUclips videos because no one that tattoos well makes how to videos for RUclips, you need to do an apprenticeship. There’s no way around it and no easy route, either do it or take the lazy way and do garbage tattoos for the rest of your life for morons who don’t care about what their tattoos look like. Your choice.
Requiem Tattoo, you’re right Nikko did an apprenticeship but he didn’t have any tattoos at the time and his friend was the artist who told him, you’re also right that I’m not Steve butcher, probably non of the people that’s subscribe to this Chanel is even close to him, but one thing is true it all depends on hard work, I like photorealistic tattoos something that my mentor didn’t wanna teach me how to do even tho he’s know by that, but again I did get my body art certificated I did learn how to use a machine I learned how to clean s sterilized my area before and after a tattoo, I do use Cheyenne bishop and ink machines like other pros, but only a few out there the once I mention before even alto dicristina said in a interview, “if you can do it on paper you can do it on skin, if you one tells you you can, the f@
Rodrigo Fernandez not much of that made any sense but you clearly already have an opinion so why waste your time watching this video and why waste more time commenting on it? Google “confirmation bias” and then take a few minutes to try to look at yourself objectively, otherwise there is no growth. Best of luck to you, you’re going to need it.
I value your opinion & was wondering if you can give me an honest opinion on my oil paintings and let me know if you think I have potential to tattoo. If you’re on Instagram, I’m @goldaltar I would really appreciate your opinion. Thank you 🙏🏽
I like what your saying. I completely agree that making an exact copy of a persons custom tattoo design is bad practice. But, I do photo realistic pencil drawings, and technically i'm just copying an image as closely as possible. So technically I'm stealing a photographers original work. The only way I personally could do photo realistic work without plagiarism is to setup some lights and do a photo shoot myself. Or get permission from the artist. Technically it's also plagiarism to tattoo batman or a logo from a sports team, but it's done all the time. I once had a photographer give me a hard time about it. but I wasn't commissioned to do that drawing and was doing it for free so i didn't really worry about it. I know you do a lot of photo realistic tattoos and they look awesome by the way! but, how do you see that issue in your head? P.S. I really like your attitude and your reviews are great. keep up the good work.
Chad Harrington thanks man great question. So when I’m tattooing or painting now the vast majority of the work I’m doing I’m either shooting references myself for or asking permission from photographers to use and in every other case I actually purchase references from websites like shutterstock and use them in my work. So if I’m doing a skull and roses piece I’ve gone to the florist, picked out some roses, gone back to the shop and taken pics of one of my skulls with just the right lighting, that way I’ve taken every photo used. Same goes for anything I have access to really, it just takes extra time (and money) As far as logos and stuff like that goes, some things I see as almost public domain, if someone wants to get a team logo tattooed on them it’s just not the same to me as someone blatantly stealing another persons tattoo and using it for personal gain. Copying someone’s art from the internet or wherever is almost never ok if you’re making profit from it or representing it as your own at the end without giving proper credit. But that’s different than practice!! Sometimes you need to copy to get better (copy not trace) just make sure you are honest about where it came from
do you know of anyone who started tattooing at 38? tattooing is something I've been interested in doing for something like 20+ years... its that most shops around where i grew up seem dirty and low class :/... i want to be apart of a studio who view tattooing as good art work. let me know
Ryan Thomas anything is possible for sure, may last apprentice was 30, the tough part at our age is devoting all your time to essentially a job that you don’t get paid at, there’s no such thing as a part time apprenticeship so you’d most likely be working on little to no income for at least 2 years and then if you’re really good and I mean really good you may make enough to get by around the 3 year mark. Most people myself included take around 5 or 6 years to be making a viable living solely on tattooing. As far as the actual question which was about age, to be honest anyone who values the idea of making a good solid tattooer is also going to value maturity, dedication and hopefully loyalty that age can bring as well as taking the career more seriously, the stakes are higher when you have kids to feed and most 18 year olds don’t. As long as your art is there 100% and you’re honest with yourself about your ability to complete an apprenticeship both in terms of time and financially speaking there’s absolutely no reason you can’t succeed no matter what age you’re entering into it. Hope that helps man
This didn't age well. Many amazing tattoo artist making youtube videos these day. As well as paid instructional content that in many cases surpasses the info you will get from apprenticing under just 1 person.
Lol strongly disagree, lots of good info on RUclips, none of it is an apprenticeship, there are things you learn in a shop that you can’t learn in front of your computer that’s just reality. But of course there’s always going to be folks that want to take the easy way, just remember that this is tattooing, you can take shortcuts but you’ll still be competing against guys like me who never, and I mean never take the easy way. If learning to tattoo is worth doing than it’s worth doing the right way. That fact doesn’t change. Best of luck to you.
@@anthonyjenkins3335 Agree to disagree. I Apprenticed for 1 year learned the basics but I didn't really start to grow and improve til I quit and took what I learned and furthered my education on my own.
@@BrokenHeartAtak then you apprenticed with the wrong artist in the wrong shop, if you “apprenticed” for a year and learned the basics that’s your first sign whoever was supposed to be teaching you wasn’t doing their job. I’m not going to argue, there’s lots of decent info on RUclips but no one watches mechanic tutorials on here and then pretends they’re a mechanic or opened a shop, tattooing should be no different. In both the work will reflect how your learned and so does the ego involved in guys/girls that consider RUclips a viable main teacher. Case in point this conversation.
@@BrokenHeartAtak and just to be clear, I’m not specifically talking about what you did, getting screwed in an apprenticeship is not your fault and learning on your own is exactly what someone should do if they’re in that situation and stage in learning and there’s good info for that purpose on here. Years ago guys put out dvds with specific techniques that were $100 each or whatever, basically the same thing. I’m talking about someone buying a kit and pretending they can learn from scratch (no pun intended) how to be a great tattooer, those folks are so rarely successful and when they are their egos are ridiculous in my experience that you’d never want to work alongside them. Tattooing is more than the applying a tattoo, time in a shop is the way to learn that, that’s all I’m saying.
@@anthonyjenkins3335 You're right , it was a bad apprenticeship. I started to recognize I wasn't learning nearly enough which is why I left. Just sharing my experience because talking to others it seems common and sometimes you can learn more on your own if your mentor isn't teaching enough. For people in a situation like mine you don't have to give up, there is good information out there these days and some great online courses not just RUclips. Also I'd like to point out I invested heavy in my supplies and equipment, I use a Sol Nova Machine with Cheyenne carts and I spare no expense on supplies. To be clear I agree no one should just buy a kit from ebay with cheap ink and start tattooing people ever! I also agree there are no shortcuts! Going the way I did is more like the opposite, I do not recommend but it's possible if you put all your time, money, and soul into it...
This was a very honest and probably most helpful advice I’ve heard far as how to start tattooing. Great video
Your 100% correct. An apprenticeship is tha way to go. You’ll save yourself a whole lotta time. I was one of those people that thought i could learn on my own and I’m finally understanding lining . But at least they are solid clean ass lines. If i would have appreciated i would have learned what I was doing wrong a long time ago instead of years later. And I’m apprenticing just now. But i have always been into art and creating it so at least I know my ways around the art. Doesn’t mean i can tatttoo because i can draw. It’s totally diff application and technique . So yourself a favor and listen to this guy .
Thanks man, appreciate you weighing in!
Great post bro! You explained it perfectly. That is how I got my apprenticeship 20 years ago. Zeke Owen was tough on me at first and then told me to start drawing. It was OLD SCHOOL for real! Many of the new schoolers don't understand that culture but it's all good. Great post! And I started following you on IG now.
tweetalig thanks man! It’s definitely frustrating to see so many kids thinking they’re entitled to learn, and the “why do the real work when RUclips videos can teach me just as well” mentality isn’t helping. Apprenticed with Zeke! Man that’s incredible, absolute legend!
Thank you..... this answered alot of my questions because the tattoo industry is blown up and hearing this from a great artist as yourself helps alot thank you for taking the time to make this video i can only hope to be a phenomenal artist and you said the key word 100 times humble and you have to be going into this Thanks Again bro
Joseph Capel thanks for watching man I’m glad it helped, good luck to you!!
Great POV, love your reviews as well! May be one day will make it to your shop for a tattoo!
Unfortunately, in my state it's required to go to a "tattoo school" which run around $15k. A traditional apprenticeship isn't even a thing here.
Then my honest advice is to move, I’ve never heard of a law like that and I’d be shocked it it was true but if your state requires you to go to some bullshit fake school instead of doing a proper apprenticeship then you need a new state.
was just told here in florida after school the help you pass state exam to open up a shop,,fkkk kissing ass for 2yrs
Work to get better: Yes. Buy shit: No! it won't make you better. everything you need is out there for free.
thank you so much for this video!
Great video ! Honest words
What about tattoo machines for apprentice to start ?
Sir Tiny whoever is teaching you should have an opinion on that, it’s not my place to say.
I like what you said but there’s one thing I alway keep in mind, the best tattoo artist in the world like Roman, nickko hurtado, Steve butcher, lil b and I few more I can think of, they clearly say they never apprentice they just went for it they make every possible mistake but they learned and today they’re the best of the best. I quit a shop cause the guy I was with just wanted me to do the work he didn’t wanna do The was getting me ready for that, but they way I see tattooing is me becoming part of people’s life throw my art work. And even tho I can’t tattoos like lil b or Steve I can do many more and I get shot in cause I don’t charge people enough for doing it in my own. Sometimes even free work because money is never my priority. So does that make me a loser tattooer?
Rodrigo Fernandez where do I even start? First off guys like Nikko absolutely did apprenticeships, in fact most of those guys apprenticed with some of the best tattooers in the world before they began tattooing well, so I’m not sure what you’re referring to. My gut tells me that artistically you’re not among the best artists in the world (neither am I and that’s ok) or else you’d be working with some of the best tattooers in the world to develop your skill, as they did. So don’t try to justify not wanting to put the work in by saying someone else went without an apprenticeship so why can’t I? You are NOT steve butcher! Second this video was literally made for you, not wanting to put in the work of apprenticeship in and just assuming you can do it on your own is literally the worst way to learn to tattoo, it takes forever to get any knowledge, you’ll have hygiene issues, equipment issues, artistic issues and an endless supply of stupid customers that know you suck at tattooing but are willing to kiss your ass and tell you you’re great as long as they get those free or cheap tattoos. If you want to be successful tattooing and you actually care about learning and I don’t mean watching RUclips videos because no one that tattoos well makes how to videos for RUclips, you need to do an apprenticeship. There’s no way around it and no easy route, either do it or take the lazy way and do garbage tattoos for the rest of your life for morons who don’t care about what their tattoos look like. Your choice.
Requiem Tattoo, you’re right Nikko did an apprenticeship but he didn’t have any tattoos at the time and his friend was the artist who told him, you’re also right that I’m not Steve butcher, probably non of the people that’s subscribe to this Chanel is even close to him, but one thing is true it all depends on hard work, I like photorealistic tattoos something that my mentor didn’t wanna teach me how to do even tho he’s know by that, but again I did get my body art certificated I did learn how to use a machine I learned how to clean s sterilized my area before and after a tattoo, I do use Cheyenne bishop and ink machines like other pros, but only a few out there the once I mention before even alto dicristina said in a interview, “if you can do it on paper you can do it on skin, if you one tells you you can, the f@
Rodrigo Fernandez not much of that made any sense but you clearly already have an opinion so why waste your time watching this video and why waste more time commenting on it? Google “confirmation bias” and then take a few minutes to try to look at yourself objectively, otherwise there is no growth. Best of luck to you, you’re going to need it.
Lil B? Really?
I value your opinion & was wondering if you can give me an honest opinion on my oil paintings and let me know if you think I have potential to tattoo. If you’re on Instagram, I’m @goldaltar
I would really appreciate your opinion. Thank you 🙏🏽
I like what your saying. I completely agree that making an exact copy of a persons custom tattoo design is bad practice. But, I do photo realistic pencil drawings, and technically i'm just copying an image as closely as possible. So technically I'm stealing a photographers original work. The only way I personally could do photo realistic work without plagiarism is to setup some lights and do a photo shoot myself. Or get permission from the artist. Technically it's also plagiarism to tattoo batman or a logo from a sports team, but it's done all the time. I once had a photographer give me a hard time about it. but I wasn't commissioned to do that drawing and was doing it for free so i didn't really worry about it. I know you do a lot of photo realistic tattoos and they look awesome by the way! but, how do you see that issue in your head?
P.S. I really like your attitude and your reviews are great. keep up the good work.
Chad Harrington thanks man great question. So when I’m tattooing or painting now the vast majority of the work I’m doing I’m either shooting references myself for or asking permission from photographers to use and in every other case I actually purchase references from websites like shutterstock and use them in my work. So if I’m doing a skull and roses piece I’ve gone to the florist, picked out some roses, gone back to the shop and taken pics of one of my skulls with just the right lighting, that way I’ve taken every photo used. Same goes for anything I have access to really, it just takes extra time (and money)
As far as logos and stuff like that goes, some things I see as almost public domain, if someone wants to get a team logo tattooed on them it’s just not the same to me as someone blatantly stealing another persons tattoo and using it for personal gain. Copying someone’s art from the internet or wherever is almost never ok if you’re making profit from it or representing it as your own at the end without giving proper credit. But that’s different than practice!! Sometimes you need to copy to get better (copy not trace) just make sure you are honest about where it came from
do you know of anyone who started tattooing at 38? tattooing is something I've been interested in doing for something like 20+ years... its that most shops around where i grew up seem dirty and low class :/... i want to be apart of a studio who view tattooing as good art work. let me know
Ryan Thomas anything is possible for sure, may last apprentice was 30, the tough part at our age is devoting all your time to essentially a job that you don’t get paid at, there’s no such thing as a part time apprenticeship so you’d most likely be working on little to no income for at least 2 years and then if you’re really good and I mean really good you may make enough to get by around the 3 year mark. Most people myself included take around 5 or 6 years to be making a viable living solely on tattooing. As far as the actual question which was about age, to be honest anyone who values the idea of making a good solid tattooer is also going to value maturity, dedication and hopefully loyalty that age can bring as well as taking the career more seriously, the stakes are higher when you have kids to feed and most 18 year olds don’t. As long as your art is there 100% and you’re honest with yourself about your ability to complete an apprenticeship both in terms of time and financially speaking there’s absolutely no reason you can’t succeed no matter what age you’re entering into it.
Hope that helps man
This didn't age well. Many amazing tattoo artist making youtube videos these day. As well as paid instructional content that in many cases surpasses the info you will get from apprenticing under just 1 person.
Lol strongly disagree, lots of good info on RUclips, none of it is an apprenticeship, there are things you learn in a shop that you can’t learn in front of your computer that’s just reality. But of course there’s always going to be folks that want to take the easy way, just remember that this is tattooing, you can take shortcuts but you’ll still be competing against guys like me who never, and I mean never take the easy way. If learning to tattoo is worth doing than it’s worth doing the right way. That fact doesn’t change. Best of luck to you.
@@anthonyjenkins3335 Agree to disagree. I Apprenticed for 1 year learned the basics but I didn't really start to grow and improve til I quit and took what I learned and furthered my education on my own.
@@BrokenHeartAtak then you apprenticed with the wrong artist in the wrong shop, if you “apprenticed” for a year and learned the basics that’s your first sign whoever was supposed to be teaching you wasn’t doing their job. I’m not going to argue, there’s lots of decent info on RUclips but no one watches mechanic tutorials on here and then pretends they’re a mechanic or opened a shop, tattooing should be no different. In both the work will reflect how your learned and so does the ego involved in guys/girls that consider RUclips a viable main teacher. Case in point this conversation.
@@BrokenHeartAtak and just to be clear, I’m not specifically talking about what you did, getting screwed in an apprenticeship is not your fault and learning on your own is exactly what someone should do if they’re in that situation and stage in learning and there’s good info for that purpose on here. Years ago guys put out dvds with specific techniques that were $100 each or whatever, basically the same thing. I’m talking about someone buying a kit and pretending they can learn from scratch (no pun intended) how to be a great tattooer, those folks are so rarely successful and when they are their egos are ridiculous in my experience that you’d never want to work alongside them. Tattooing is more than the applying a tattoo, time in a shop is the way to learn that, that’s all I’m saying.
@@anthonyjenkins3335 You're right , it was a bad apprenticeship. I started to recognize I wasn't learning nearly enough which is why I left. Just sharing my experience because talking to others it seems common and sometimes you can learn more on your own if your mentor isn't teaching enough. For people in a situation like mine you don't have to give up, there is good information out there these days and some great online courses not just RUclips. Also I'd like to point out I invested heavy in my supplies and equipment, I use a Sol Nova Machine with Cheyenne carts and I spare no expense on supplies. To be clear I agree no one should just buy a kit from ebay with cheap ink and start tattooing people ever! I also agree there are no shortcuts! Going the way I did is more like the opposite, I do not recommend but it's possible if you put all your time, money, and soul into it...