New To The LST Forum

Wolf13 · August 11, 2018

Hi everyone - Wolf here (not my real name, obviously). I'm a newbie here on the LST Forum, but I've followed the Artist Video series for a while and really enjoy hearing all the great stories from the industry veterans and find myself agreeing with them nine times out of ten with a lot of subjects, so I figured I'd come here and see what I could pick up and learn. Life's all about learning and moving forward, right?

Long story short - I used to tattoo back in my early 20s (I'm now almost 30). I haven't picked up a machine for about seven years. My apprenticeship wasn't even what I'd consider a real apprenticeship (if anyone wants to hear that horror story, I'll happily post about it in the appropriate section). I got screwed out of a lot both financially and mentally, so I threw all my tattoo gear into a box and stashed it away. It's still there... because something tells me that I'm not done, but the industry seems to have changed and this honestly scares me. I think that's enough about me for now. Thanks to everyone involved in this forum's upkeep for the opportunity to meet and talk to people who share a common interest.

Thanks for reading,

Wolf \m/

Hands On · August 13, 2018

Welcome to LST.

i don't see why your real name couldn't be Wolf. there are at least a few well known Wolfs, so probably a good many lesser-known Wolfs out there. you should just go ahead and have your name legally changed, to make things easier for us all. 😉

as far as tattooing goes, if something tells you that you're not done, then you've lost 7yrs of practice. have you been painting or drawing? getting tattooed at least?

Gingerninja · August 13, 2018

Hey Wolf,

Welcome...put up a chair and stay a while. Sorry to hear about your less than ideal experience. In the seven years that you weren't tattooing, were you getting tattooed?

Wolf13 · August 14, 2018

@Gingerninja - Yes, on and off - funds permitting. I still speak to a lot of artists I came up with and even the ones I worked with. My start was very much less than ideal - but I've worked on my art a lot while I've been out of shop work.

@Hands On - I don't see it as seven years of practice that I've lost out on, I see it as more time away from an industry where (at the time) there was nothing positive keeping me there. I needed some time out, so I took it and it made me a better person and allowed me to view this all with a renewed perspective.

Thanks for the replies - it means a lot 🙂