ApprenticeLife

Thank you so much pidjones ? I appreciate the support and well wishes.

Thanks man ? Also, dude had surgery and can't help it.

Also, this is a tattoo of the client's drawing. Just wanted to explain why all the shapes aren't identical. It's how he wanted it. It's too represent Aquarius and mountains.

Really felt some progress in my linework and definitely with saturating black. This was the most fun I've had tattooing since I started a little over a month ago. The bad part of this story is that I slipped a disc the next day and have been in bed for 5 days. The muscle spasms and pain from aggravating the nerves is by far the worst pain I've ever felt. Laying in bed on pain meds and just want to tattoo. Wish me luck, Last Sparrowians!

Tattoo #5 is in the books. I'm 8 months into my apprenticeship and did my first tattoo about a month ago. This was, by far, my biggest piece. It took me about 3 and a half hours. My teacher wouldn't normally let me do something so ambitious this soon, but it was on a good friend that I did my second tattoo on (the smaller tree, outer calf). I'm pretty stoked on it. It was a good lesson in getting in over your head, breathing, staying focused and just getting the job done. Thanks for looking.

Yeah, I agree. I'm only an apprentice though, so it's hard for me to critique anyone too harshly. Haha

If you can't judge an artist by their portfolio, you need to find people that have been tattooed by an artist. If you see people locally that have solid work, ask them where they got it. To me, that is the best way. Most portfolios are filled with fresh tattoos, in great lighting and possibly some editing. You want to see healed tattoos, in normal lighting, in real life. I also noticed that most of your tattoos are on your hands. You need to have realistic expectations for this area. Not saying that there can't be solid, consistent linework on a hand, but it's difficult skin. I have my knuckles and the side of my hand done by reputable, professional artists and they aren't perfect on close inspection. Many shops won't guarantee or do free touch-ups on hands and feet, because of the inconsistent results that those areas offer. All that said, it appears that your artist was not prepared to work on such delicate areas.

Thanks so much @cltattooing! They let me move back in the other day. Garage is still condemned, but sleeping in my own bed is quite the relief.

I got tattooed on my inner forearm one week ago. Dude is a banger, runs his machines fast and works even faster. It was my first tattoo in over 4 years (I have about 50 hours of work prior to that), so I had forgotten what it was like. I'm 32 now and I've noticed that minor cuts and scratches don't heal as quickly as before and tend to scar. I've worked in the ski industry and slicing my hand on a dirty metal ski edge was almost a guaranteed small infection/scar. Honestly, I was afraid to get a tattoo (researching "tattoo infection" will make you never want one ever again haha). I went for it, since I'm an apprentice now and needed to be reminded of what my clients are going through. The process was obviously uncomfortable, but I have had never experienced swelling, redness, and bruising like this before. It was just below the elbow ditch and swelling went all the way down to just above the wrist. It developed a pretty thick scab in some areas and deep redness nearest to the ditch. I used a combination of Lubriderm, H2Ocean aquatat, and Ohana Organics tattoo butter (which is my favorite). It was looking pretty gnarly the other day, like I'll show you a picture and not the actual tattoo, gnarly. Anyway, today it has been one week and most of the scab has come off and there's a mega rad, clean, expert tattoo emerging. Moral of the story: It's going to look bad before it looks good. Clean it gently, apply minimal amounts of lotion with clean hands, icing it helped SO much and don't freak out. Also, inner forearm kinda sucks. I have a bunch of tattoos in easy spots, but have my entire chest and my hand/knuckles done and inner forearm, in that little baby meat, and it was the worst yet.

I laid most of this out in my introduction thread, but wanted to reiterate some things for all the people who want to become a tattooer. It's hard. It's exhausting. You will be broke. You will be overwhelmed. You will try to find shortcuts that don't exist. You will learn so much about yourself. I live in a ski town. Last season, I skiied 140 days and over 1.5 million vertical feet. I was lost and skiing gave me purpose. I have been drawing since I can remember. In kindergarten, I drew the Easter bunny with a bloody knife through its head. The school made my parents come in for a meeting, where the discussion was on whether everyone should be worried or if I should go to an art school. Neither happened, because kids do weird stuff and my family was broke. My entire life, people told me that I would do something with art. Unfortunately, I never believed in them or myself enough to try. So, fast forward to now. I'm 32 and have been an apprentice for 7 months. I put everything into this. As I write this, I'm checking the clock, because it's my only "day off" and I need to go in and sterilize a ton of barrels, do paperwork and return calls. See, I had to fly back home to NH last week when a tree fell on my house and it left me homeless. I knew my teacher needed barrels before I left, so I slept on the shop floor for two nights to get the place in order before I left. My point behind all of this is that you need to dedicate your life to becoming a great tattooer. At every opportunity to quit, you need to face your fears and show your true determination. Your teacher deserves it for giving you a career. You future clients deserve it. You deserve it. Long story, not that short, yesterday my teacher offered me a day off. He was tattooing two women who are long time clients of his. I always feel like I need to take every opportunity to learn, so I went in. I had met these two women a few times at their previous sessions, but didn't think we were "friends" yet. They were so excited that I had done my first 2 tattoos since the last time I saw them that they demanded to get my 3rd and 4th tattoos. It was an honor. These women have around $20,000 of combined tattoo work between them, by amazing artists, but they wanted something from me. I could have stayed home and slept in, gone for a bike ride, done nothing. Instead, I went to work, did 2 tattoos in one day and left with $120 in tips. I'll be honest when I say I teared up when they gave me money for their tattoos. I'm not the best artist in the world. I'm definitely not the best tattooer they could have gone to. I don't get mad when I can't do a full Japanese back piece in my first month of tattooing. I'm working my hardest just to do a little butterfly silhouette on your ankle. I try hard, I'm humble and I'm real with people. Those three things will take you wherever you're trying to go. Thanks for reading this.

Was on a quick trip back home in New Hampshire and got this rad little gold bar ELEVEN with some crystals from Albie Rock at White Mountain Tattoo. I've known a Albie for awhile and have a few pieces from him. This was my first since becoming a tattooer. It was great to sit with him and get some wisdom from someone who has been around. This is my reminder that Good Enough is Never Enough. On a scale of 1 to 10, Experts get an 11. Most importantly, Be Dope or F@ck Off! Also, I must be getting old, because tattoos suddenly don't feel awesome! Haha

Thanks you. She sat like a champ. I messaged her yesterday, to see how healing was going. She said all was normal and that it looks, "So awesome!" I'm one happy apprentice right now.

Thanks so much. It was an honor.

Those are all the things I like to hear!

Thank you. I really appreciate it.

I am on the right with glasses and light brown sarong. The man in the green sarong is Genesis, Si'i's apprentice.

I just worked the Lady Luck convention in Reno this weekend and had such an incredible time. My teacher was about to receive some traditional Tatau from Si'i Liufau on the back of his thigh. We were sharing a booth, so I knew I would have an amazing view into this ancient way of tattooing. About 20 minutes before they were to start, Si'i came over and sat on the mat. He looked at me and said, "Nate... we're going to need you to help stretch". His apprentice asked me to take off my shoes and hat, then gave me a sarong to wear. We all sat on the mat and, with some initial guidance from Si'i, we went to work for over 4 hours. It was truly unbelievable to be a part of something like that. No breaks. No food. No water. Just blood and sweat. To be honest, I haven't been able to walk normal all day, because my back and hips are so sore. When it was over though, Si'i said, "Malo, Nate. Good job. Most people can't do what you just did. You did yourself, me and your teacher proud. Next time we come to the area, I'm going to have you help again." I really just can't even put into words how much of an honor it was to be a part of this. I'm exhausted and need to go to bed, but I just felt I had to share this experience.

My teacher said that he just recently found a bunch of his old "first tattoo" pictures. I asked to see them and he said, "I'm going to hold on to those until you're having an especially rough day." Hahaha

Thank you. "Humble" is definitely the word. We have a lot of clients that are social workers; that's a whole different type of intensity. That must have been really eye opening to handle your first case.

Thank you. It was definitely a tough spot, but I learned a lot about stretching the skin. I feel like I was in a car accident this morning. My teacher had a good laugh, because now I'm understanding all of his pain. Haha

I did my first tattoo. I have been in my 2 year apprenticeship for around 7 months. Apprenticing has been one of the most challenging and humbling experiences of my life... until today. All of the grapefruit, melons, and synthetic limbs in the world could not have prepared me for the intensity of tattooing a person. In the words of my good friend, Albie Rock, "that first line is a real gut-check, m@therf#$er!" With the support of my teacher, and the confidence of an amazing client, we all made this Ohm symbol, together. My head is still spinning and I have yet to fully process the reality of what happened today. The highlight was receiving this picture from the client, thanking me for choosing her for my first tattoo and saying, "I love it! It's perfect!" I mean, we both know it's not perfect, but, in a way, it is. I learned so much about myself as a person today. It's not always about completing a flawless piece, it's about being a part of someone's journey. It's about being real with someone for a moment in time. Anyway, I don't know if this is appropriate for the Introduction section, but this is truly my introduction. I have so much more to learn... but that ever crucial tattoo #1 is in the books. Here's to many more. Thank you for reading. I'm spent!

Thank you for the support. I'm glad I could shed some light on a seemingly mysterious situation. Like I said, everyone seems to complain about how hard it is to get an apprenticeship. I want to tell them, "you don't 'get' an apprenticeship. You earn it. Every second of every day". Not everyone that wants to be a doctor gets into med school. You have to work hard, even when it seems impossible. You have to get taken to the edge of quitting and show up early the next day. If you are too cool to mop a floor or clean a toilet, you won't make it. I am being trained to be an artist, a technical tattooer, a businessman, a manager, a receptionist, a high-risk biohazard cleaner, a psychiatrist, a comedian, a storyteller, a mind reader. If anyone thinks they "deserve" to be an apprentice, because they can draw... they have more to learn than I can write in this comment. Haha Can you tell I've been thinking about this a lot? Thanks again, exume.

Thank you. I truly appreciate the support.

Thank you for taking the time to read it. Looking forward to sharing more of my experiences. Like today... It was a doozy! I'll have to save it for another time though, because I need to go in early tomorrow.

Haha right on. I bet it gets repetitive and weird with some of the posts around here. I'm just trying to lead by example in an industry that needs to retain the heritage and respect it deserves. It's an ancient art and I think people forget that. It's like I told my teacher the other day, "people need to understand that a sleeve is not a coach purse... it's a journey".