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Sealed in Ink, not all careers are learned in a school
and the only way to enter some careers as through hands-on experience.
Becoming a tattoo artist requires a lot of hands-on training
and in order to get that experience you need to find an artist
that is willing to take you on as an apprentice. And it doesn't hurt
to have raw talent and drawing skills. As an apprentice you may not get paid very
much,
if at all... and you'll have to do a lot of different tasks
around the shop. You won't be tattooing people right away.
Typically an apprenticeship is at least six months.
Circles Magazine spoke to Mark
Hasner (Dark Mark) of Hardline Ink
and Iron who has been a tattoo artist for fifteen years.
He told us that you can't learn
tattooing by reading books or watching videos, you have to do it hands-on.
You learn techniques as you go, you learn the depths of the skin,
how heavy you should press, how thin or thick
your ink should be, how to hold the machine, what angles
etc. It is also a good idea to watch other artists and even go to conventions.
He believes in being a well-rounded artists and letting your work speak for
itself.
Another very important thing Mark told us is that cleanliness of
the shop is a big thing. You definitely want to learn cleanliness,
cross contamination problems and things like that, looks are 80%
of everything. If you have a shop that's nasty
nobody is going to want to come to it.