ApprenticeLife

Thank you. That's one of the coolest compliments I've ever received. I hope to work on you someday!

That sounds like a terrible situation. I realized shortly after starting my apprenticeship how important it is to develop a relationship with your teacher. You spend a LOT of time together. You also need to respect your teacher. It sounds like you have neither of those. I know some old school tattooers will really test your resolve by taking things slow, but your situation sounds a bit extreme. Did you pay into your apprenticeship? If so, you should be honest. I mean, you are putting your future into his hands, so if you can't be honest with each other, how can you trust him with an honest critique of your work or ask for help when you need it? Actually, to be perfectly honest, in writing all of this, I just realized that you need to find a new place to learn. Holding an apprentice back from tattoo techniques is understandable, but not teaching proper sterilization, aseptic technique, cross contamination, etc. is downright irresponsible. You are putting yourself, your teacher and your clients at risk. If he doesn't care that you know safety, that's a red flag. You sound dedicated and loyal, which are marketable traits for an apprentice. Reach out to other artists and shop owners for an opportunity. BE RESPECTFUL. The tattoo industry is extremely small and talking bad about your old teacher will get around. Good luck.

Hi everyone. I'm 8 months into my 2 year apprenticeship and it's the most amazing and challenging thing I've ever done. I see a lot of people complaining about how hard it is to "get" an apprenticeship, but I have news for you, kids... getting it is the easy part. You are going to be exhausted and broke. I out in about 70-80 hours per week. I get to the shop before the owner and I am the last one to leave. I answer all of the phone calls. I schedule all of the clients. I clean everything, constantly. I scrub all of the barrels. I run the autoclave. I keep track of sending out spore tests. I take inventory and place orders when supplies are low. I paid for my own license and BBP certifications. I do preliminary consultations. I confirm appointments. I draw lettering and other design components. I watch tattoos, all day, every day. I give aftercare instructions. I set up work stations; I break down workstations. I set up all the machines; I break down all the machines. I sanitize all surfaces. I mop floors. I make stencils. I only have Sunday off and I go in anyway to clean even more and get some drawing/melon tattooing done. I get paid nothing. I'm burning through my entire life savings (the apprenticeship did not cost me money though). With all that said, I love it. My teacher is giving me a career. We have become great friends and, he admits, I have made him a better tattooer and increased his bookings. I'm saying all of this, because we are in a strange time in tattooing. I have been getting tattooed for almost 15 years now and this has been a dream if mine since that first tattoo. Everybody wants to take a shortcut and do color portraits in the first month of their apprenticeship. My teacher hasn't even let me tattoo a person yet and when I do start it, it will be a bunch of small, black silhouette tattoos. There are a million ways to learn this trade, but everyone that has done it this way is a working tattooer that supports a family. I just wanted to introduce myself and give any would-be apprentices a realistic view into an actual apprenticeship. It's hard. It's time consuming. It's inspiring. It's 2 years for the rest of my life as an artist. Anyway, I'm hopefully doing my first tattoo on a person this Thursday and I'm stoked. A small, black Ohm symbol on a girl's inner arm. You have to crawl before you walk and being ok with that will help you more than anything. Thanks for reading this novel. -Nate