The new breed of apprentices

[santamuerte]

I apologise if this has been done to death elsewhere on the forum but I haven't come across this yet (though to be honest I haven't checked all the threads), but what does everyone think of the current state of the apprenticeship side of tattooing? It may just be me but lately I have noticed that there's a trend in the style of work that apprentices are producing...half moons,skulls with tiny eye holes,wolf heads,black flames...which I think is fair enough as times change and trends of work do appear/disappear and so on. But after trawling through a lot of profiles on Myspace (I have a lot of free time at work!) I am becoming more and more astounded by the quality of it... I'm by no means a great artist (yet) but to me the drawings look over simplicised to the point of being just bad. Some of the drawings I have seen look like they have been done by just a black sharpie and nothing else... Yet I look at the comments they recieve (from other people in the industry) and everybody loves it! Now don't get me wrong, I love this style of work when it is done well...but I get the feeling that should the apprentice in question be asked to do more run of the mill work, or a koi carp, or even a scroll...that they would find it pretty difficult. I honestly would not be saying this if I did not mean it but I am a bit tired of seeing work that simply isn't good...drawings that make me wonder how these individuals could have gotten an apprenticeship in the first place? Maybe they choose not to display the Japanese themed pieces they have done, or the portrait they had a go at sketching... So I could very much be wrong! But all this other bullshit attached to it...it drives me mad. For example the whole "Insert Name Here" (S.S.o.P.T)etc...what?!!!When did learning to tattoo mean that you were part of a secret order or a secret society?Fair enough,it's probably more of a bonding thing,maybe just a bit of fun...but I hate to see tattooing reduced to a clique thing,so much so that even tattoo apprentices start acting like "rockstars".I know it's probably never going to happen because the tattoo industry is full of human beings with egos,just like any other industry,but i hate to think that all this elitism means that skill is no longer the first requirement in picking an apprentice to fill that part of a tattoo family/team.What does everyone else think?

[beanfluff]

don't know because your messages are really hard to read.

Could you maybe re-post with some paragraphs and full stops?

[PaulaHK]

I don't know. I rarely sign into Myspace and I don't have a Facebook, so I miss out on a lot of this kind of thing.

Of those that I know that are currently apprenticing, such as (from this forum) Scupper, Brim, Scarlet Hel and Saturns Shadow all of them deserve the opportunity they have been given and all work very hard and care very much about the future of tattooing.

Can't ask for more than that, really.

[santamuerte]

Originally Posted by beanfluff

don't know because your messages are really hard to read.

Could you maybe re-post with some paragraphs and full stops?

I apologise if this has been done to death elsewhere on the forum but I haven't come across this yet (though to be honest I haven't checked all the threads), but what does everyone think of the current state of the apprenticeship side of tattooing?

It may just be me but lately I have noticed that there's a trend in the style of work that apprentices are producing...half moons,skulls with tiny eye holes,wolf heads,black flames...which I think is fair enough as times change and trends of work do appear/disappear and so on. But after trawling through a lot of profiles on Myspace (I have a lot of free time at work!) I am becoming more and more astounded by the quality of it... I'm by no means a great artist (yet) but to me the drawings look over simplicised to the point of being just bad. Some of the drawings I have seen look like they have been done by just a black sharpie and nothing else... Yet I look at the comments they recieve (from other people in the industry) and everybody loves it!

Now don't get me wrong, I love this style of work when it is done well...but I get the feeling that should the apprentice in question be asked to do more run of the mill work, or a koi carp, or even a scroll...that they would find it pretty difficult. I honestly would not be saying this if I did not mean it but I am a bit tired of seeing work that simply isn't good...drawings that make me wonder how these individuals could have gotten an apprenticeship in the first place?

Maybe they choose not to display the Japanese themed pieces they have done, or the portrait they had a go at sketching... So I could very much be wrong! But all this other bullshit attached to it...it drives me mad. For example the whole "Insert Name Here" (S.S.o.P.T)etc...what?!!!When did learning to tattoo mean that you were part of a secret order or a secret society?Fair enough,it's probably more of a bonding thing,maybe just a bit of fun...but I hate to see tattooing reduced to a clique thing,so much so that even tattoo apprentices start acting like "rockstars".I know it's probably never going to happen because the tattoo industry is full of human beings with egos,just like any other industry,but i hate to think that all this elitism means that skill is no longer the first requirement in picking an apprentice to fill that part of a tattoo family/team.What does everyone else think?


* Tried to make it a bit easier to read...but to do that with added full stops...I really don't think it's that tricky to read

[santamuerte]

Originally Posted by BettyBean

I don't know. I rarely sign into Myspace and I don't have a Facebook, so I miss out on a lot of this kind of thing.

Of those that I know that are currently apprenticing, such as (from this forum) Scupper, Brim, Scarlet Hel and Saturns Shadow all of them deserve the opportunity they have been given and all work very hard and care very much about the future of tattooing.

Can't ask for more than that, really.

Of course, I'm sure most apprentices are deserving of their position as it's not the easiest profession to get into...but I mean the bigger picture really,and I guess you would have to be a myspace geek like me to know what I'm rambling on about!I have thought,maybe it could be more of a London thing as some studios have good relationships with others?So maybe it's more exclusive to the London scene?

[Gilly]

My eyes hurt, I even prefer the way PERT!!.....!!!...!!!...???? types to that.

[Deran]

I have a couple theories:

1) People are trying to charge for apprenticeships. All this does is weed out people that have money, rather than going for people with artistic ability.

2) People are lazier and less tolerant of BS these days and the old school thought that you have to treat an apprentice like shit in order for them to "pay their dues" just doesn't work. It's a very outdated procedure that has passed it's time, in my opinion. With that method you're just weeding out people that have an above-average amount of pride and self-respect. Now I do think they need to experience some form of that, especially if they're younger, but you have to know how far to push, and most tattoo artists simply aren't psychologists.

I think it would do the industry a world of good to focus more on finding a qualified artist and teach him right from wrong. This is far more important than showing them how big of an ass you can be.

[MDCIndustries]

I'm doing my apprenticeship at the moment, and I really love the Neo Traditional or Old School style myself.

I think what your seeing on Myspace is just a reflection of what certain Tattooists are doing at the moment. When you get accomplished artists like Chad Koepplinger who's style has become more derivative and almost primitive over time, its just a natural way of pushing his own boundaries. It happens in a lot or celebrated artists lives, take Jackson Pollock for instance he is infamous for the much copied and maligned Action Painting (or chucking paint at a canvas) style.

But when people are copying the later stages of someones work without the journey of learning to paint/tattoo/draw the basics its pointless and your right in saying that most will struggle if asked to perform outside of their chosen style.

Personally I'd like to be able to cover as many styles as possible, but am realistic enough to know I've developed my own take on my art work and push my comfort zone. I'm not about to start doing portraiture for love nor money...

[Emma1978]

Originally Posted by santamuerte

t (though to be honest I haven't checked all the threads),.What does everyone else think?

funny how you dragged up another thread,you found that easy enough, i dont try to cause trouble but i think you are here to stir shit up.

[cunningstunt]

I've seen a lot of wolf heads lately too although I'm sure they mean something? Possibly in the Straight Edge community although I might be wrong, I'm just not down wit' tha kidz yo.