yea dude..gotta travel, do some guest spots, learn from those...get tattooed by artists who you want to learn from, always helped me alot. i think it was filip leu who was talking about this in an interview... you will learn something that will take you to the next level, from there you will plateau for awhile...during this time you will put into practice what you have learned. learn how to use it to your advantage, how to incorporate it into your work, etc...that will go on until you take the next step.... i know when i was reading that article i was in a horrible rut/slump with my work. that pulled me out of it and lit a fire under my ass. hopefully that helps ya man..i think we all got thru it.

I agree with hambone who agrees with Filip. I've been working on this for almost twenty years and I go through the same waves. Tomorrow's always a new day. But I think these feelings are true of all professions. The world isn't really set up to coddle tattooers into a comfortable life. Wait till you're in your forties and everyone you grew up with is making more money and they have pensions for when they retire in twenty or less years. Its a constant battle to stay fired up. I still feel its worth it. Another thing to look forward to... a profession that will continue to get more crowded with ultra talented hungry youthful tattooers. gotta stay focused on what excites you about the profession and pursue it all the way.

hey fox,

i think every tattooer has been where you are...even multiple times throughout his or her career. if you give a damn about what you do, then you will experience a bit of discouragement at not being further along than you think you should be. sometimes i have to remind myself that this shit is supposed to be hard. and as relative noobs in this career, we have it so much easier than those who preceded us. we are standing on the shoulders of giants, dude. hang in there and keep the faith...

Hang in there man. Everyone has those days, no matter what job. Sometimes nothing is going to work out for oyu: it's cosmic or something like that, haha. Chin up!

I wonder - do you work for yourself? Is your shop your own?

Thanks to everyone. @Lizzie - nope. I actually work for two great artists but they dont communicate that well. trying to learn stuff from them is like trying to crack a safe.

I agree with hambone who agrees with Filip. I've been working on this for almost twenty years and I go through the same waves. Tomorrow's always a new day. But I think these feelings are true of all professions. The world isn't really set up to coddle tattooers into a comfortable life. Wait till you're in your forties and everyone you grew up with is making more money and they have pensions for when they retire in twenty or less years. Its a constant battle to stay fired up. I still feel its worth it. Another thing to look forward to... a profession that will continue to get more crowded with ultra talented hungry youthful tattooers. gotta stay focused on what excites you about the profession and pursue it all the way.

This reply is awesome. This sounds like my shop-owner on one of his good days hahaha. for real, though....this reply is the shit.