MattCrunk

NO, the industry does not need any more apprentices. Half the new shop owners who are already apprenticing others could really benefit from an apprenticeship themselves, as many never had a proper one. These days it's like the blind leading the blind. Honestly, these days, unless a person is really a top-notch visual artist already, they would do better to find another profession. Tattooing doesn't need them. I have been tattooing for nearly 17 years and have in that time apprenticed 3 people - two are now successful and respected shop owners themselves, and the third was a cover story in Tattoo Artist Magazine. At this point I would not consider apprenticing someone unless they brought something really special to the table. Beside, I no longer need someone to make needles and clean tubes for me, as I buy all that stuff pre-packaged and disposable now. So what do I need an apprentice for?

For the past few years my biggest pet peeve is bargain hunters who's only concern is price, not quality. It's pretty sad that so many people today choose a tattoo shop based on the shop minimum without ever even cracking open a portfolio . . . a direct result of the over-saturation of tattoo shops in recent years, many of which are staffed by artists (and I use the term loosely) who shouldn't even be allowed in the business.

From what I've seen and read here so far, I'm probably not exactly a typical member of this forum. Fact is, I've probably been tattooing for longer than some of you have been alive (17 years). I've participated in a few other tattoo forums from time to time, but just came across this one and thought I'd give it a try, as it and the shop it's connected with looks pretty interesting. My personal specialty is realism and black and gray portraits, but I love all classic styles of tattooing, especially Asian and Traditional "old school". Having a few years under my belt, there isn't much I haven't seen or dealt with, so feel free to throw any questions my way. I'll do what I can to answer them. Below is a small sampling of my work.

A 50's Harmony is such a cool guitar, you should try to work a simplified version of the full instrument into your design. Below is a neo-traditional tattoo I did a couple years ago with a dreadnought style acoustic.