Dustingormley

5 + years later update. What an absolutely wild ride tattooing is.

Ive been told in order to stay original we must copy the original. I've also heard if you're not referencing a traditional design, then you're not doing traditional "right." SO to be a traditional artist then we must have a lot of good reference to put spins on and make unique. I know there's many books out there and lots of legends to look at. I have a Coleman design on my arm that i thought was a Stony and maybe Cap got it from somewhere else. I enjoy tracing this stuff to the roots and always looking for more. What do you guys reference? Which sources do you go to?

Dude I know what you mean. Spare time is few and far between. Looks like my first tattoos were total crap. Luckily most of them were on myself. The good that came of that was having a slight understanding of what those needles were doing, so watching my mentor afterward was more beneficial. I've done a few more now and am really trying to buckle down and get this technical stuff down. 7 days a week working, drawing, reading, tattooing, and asking questions.

Thanks for the advice. you're all right about my drawing, I need to step it up in a major way. I suppose it doesn't come as naturally to me as it does most artists. I'll start more life drawing and simple jerry flash.

Thanks for the input everyone. I know my drawings are not top notch yet, but i'm working on it everyday. After 6 months of being in my apprenticeship I've been able to tattoo a few friends, myself, and a pof. I've noticed after doing these tattoos I understand what i'm watching a lot more when i'm leaned over my mentors shoulder. It's a struggle everyday to draw and get better, but it's worth it. I can see the progression of my linework and my understanding of using a shader. I freakin love being at a shop and doing the damn thing. I think what I actually like most about it now is the pushing of the machine and just actually working on the tattoo. It's a great feeling. Anyway if you guys have any critiques i'm all ears! :cool:

Awesome tattoos man! You're dedicated

Looks like a lighthouse to me. Nothing to worry about.

I totally get where you're coming from about the physical/emotional stress. I did my first tattoo on a friend not too long ago (at a shop) and I was blown away with emotion. I knew I was going to be nervous, but I didn't anticipate my reaction. After I was done I felt amazing, but during I was stressing hardcore. The entire aspect of dealing with a living breathing canvas is a whole different ballgame especially since I'm not particularly a "people person." I relaxed a bit more on my second one, and with time I hope I can chill out completely. As for the no call no show; every street shop deals with that. It's usually people who make appointments over the phone that don't show up. In general people don't think of tattoo shops in the same way they think of other professional offices. Once an artists girlfriend came in and was bugging him about something and he was drawing for an appointment. She got pretty steamed because he wasn't giving her his full attention. He said something along the lines of; how would you feel if I came to your office and tried to talk to you while you were busy working?

I've been drawing up some smallish designs. I'd be interested to see what other apprentices are drawing and planning to tattoo.

It would be hard to read if you blocked it in with color. Congrats on your first tattoo and welcome to the forum.

Yeah for some weird reason we don't have a camera. They didn't show. I think we've never been messed with before because it's well known that we a couple of our artists are gun fanatics. @RoryQ is right though, everyone will be much more vigilant now.

One of my coworkers was robbed in our shop. I was sketching in the front room and another artist was with me. The guy who got robbed was downstairs doing a tattoo. One of our rooms close to the front door had his toolbox with a lot of his equipment in it. 6 people came in and asked us to draw something up. The other artist started drawing and they sat around in the waiting room. One of the dudes was trying to tell us which needle groupings to use "use a single needle to outline that heart." Well apparently after 20 minutes they decided that they didn't have time and left. All six of them piled into a rusty geo metro. About an hour went by when we noticed that something wasn't right. They stole 15 bottles of ink! They scheduled an appointment for the following day. I doubt they will show up, but if they do ill let you know what happens!

Unless thus thread is related to specific techniques which should be taken care of immediately.

I'm totally going to line draw that