One of the big questions that people do to me (besides the classic “you did this tattoo to yourself?) is: How did you learn to tattoo? Undoubtedly tattoos have become more popular nowadays that 10 years ago, there are plenty of reasons including David Beckham getting an angel’s tattoo at the back. As he was a complete t.v. star peope started to accept tattoos more than they used before. And also, a lot of people who had never thought about getting one, got one.
So, yeah, David Beckham and some other “big” stars made the tattoos a trending topic and ‘then we got shows like Miami Ink. Yes, I’m talking about that reality show of TLC (Disvoery Channel at Spain) which showed how life was working at a tattoo studio. They talked about the usual questions from customers, how they picked an image for the tattoo, their personal reasons for getting a tattoo, and finally the process of getting ink in. The show was a complete success and then we got the other editions: L.A. Ink, and N.Y.C. Ink, there even was an European edition (which we will talk about other day).
Well this shows were “quite good” except by one fact: they never told you how they really began.
Well, getting back to the topic of how to learn to tattoo, well there are plenty ways to begin. Some of them are easy, others are hard; some of them are ethical and others not really. So let’s just talk about the ethic and easy one (well, sometimes hard).
Get a tattoo apprenticeship, this means, fill a vacant at a local tattoo shop where you will start from the bottom and get a lot of opportunities to practice and learn. This is the most ethical one and should be the easiest way. The only problem is that 90% of the tattoo artist won’t accept you as their apprentice, and they would definitely say no if you don’t have a portfolio of good drawings.
So you will have a hard time trying to get an opportunity, but keep trying, if you accept a low payment and agree to do some boring tasks, they may accept you and sooner or later they will start to teach you some good stuff. Try to find a good tattoo artist, someone who you can share style and good ideas, else they will never teach you something good.
And this is a sick and sad world. If you are a girl, congratulations, tattoo artist are more willing to accept girl apprentices. No wonder why.
So, if you want to learn more about how to start tattooing, keep reading us here at tattooxd.com
