wanna be tattooers

[Ta2]

Right here goes.
To all you wanna be tattooers:
Tattooing is hard.... really fucking hard!!
Its hard to do it, its hard on your family life,and no matter how much you think the hourly rate would suite you, most tattooers are skint.

If you are under 21 years of age you have not lived your life yet, so stop telling tattoo owners its all i ever wanted to do crap.
If you left college at 18 for example, you have had only 3 years in the 'real' world!!!
Dudes if you are under the age of 21 still live at home with your mom and dad, how the hell can you appreciate what the tattoo world has to offer.
It is not a game!!

So you can draw...this is good, very good, but drawing with a 10oz vibrating brick, and a canvas that will not stay still is another thing altogether.
How many times have you read on here the tattoo was nothing like the design shown to them....hmm i wonder why?

If you truely wanna tattoo you will, but just remember those established shops you want to work in, and the lifestyle you want, came from dedication, hardwork, and SACRIFCE you can not even comprehend, well before miami ink, london ink, and dogshit ink.

[phil_kyle]

Originally Posted by Ta2

Right here goes.
To all you wanna be tattooers:
Tattooing is hard.... really fucking hard!!
Its hard to do it, its hard on your family life,and no matter how much you think the hourly rate would suite you, most tattooers are skint.

If you are under a certain age you have not lived your life yet, so stop telling tattoo owners its all i ever wanted to do crap.
If you left college at 18 for example, you have had only 3 years in the 'real' world!!!
Dudes if you are under the age of 21 still live at home with your mom and dad, how the hell can you appreciate what the tattoo world has to offer.
It is not a game!!

So you can draw...this is good, very good, but drawing with a 10oz vibrating brick, and a canvas that will not stay still is another thing altogether.
How many times have you read on here the tattoo was nothing like the design shown to them....hmm i wonder why?

If you truely wanna tattoo you will, but just remember those established shops you want to work in, and the lifestyle you want, came from decication, hardwork, and SACRIFCE you can not even comprehend, well before miami ink, london ink, and dogshit ink.

Has nothing to do with London Ink...i been around tattooing for over 25 years and tattooing for 18...i served a proper apprenticeship and have talked about all this shit on tele...
I scrubbed fucking toilets in the beginning to get where i am today...i have been drawing all fucking day and its fathers day...
What makes you think any of us who try to give back to tattooing haven't lived that because of what tattooing has given to me...?
And what the fuck are those kids going to offer tattooing?
fuck all...
I been going through this battle for ages...
Read any interview i have ever done pre,during and post London Ink...
Sure as hell has helped tattooing in lots of ways...and i put my ass out there on tele hoping that i could represent tattooing the best i could...Because we all know there are enough fucking clowns in this business...
I i know how hard i work.And all the people i know and tattoo and mates in this craft know it too...
Its not easy indeed...and i don't tell anyone anything about tattooing...unless they are my apprentice...which i have 1 and that's all i will have unless someone blows my fucking mind.
Easy to talk about tele shows but fact of the matter is loads of people are getting tattooed because of them and that at least the dumb fucks who used to critique tattooing now can realize its more then sailors and whores who get them...and can go from there..Talk about sacrifices...
So on that note...

[Ta2]

I aint having a dig at phil.

Just the state of tattooing.

[phil_kyle]

Originally Posted by Ta2

I aint having a dig at phil.

Just the state of tattooing.

I know the state of tattooing dude..
Its been the same for 20 years...and even more.
Watch the sailor jerry documentary...its all the same shit we say now and they were saying it in the 40's and 50's...
thats just how it is dude...assholes will always be vultures in the craft...and you have to keep your head down work your ass off and fight the good fight...
Thats what i do and anyone can tell ya.

[beany63]

Originally Posted by phil_kyle

you have to keep your head down work your ass off and fight the good fight...

Here here to that. I believe in working hard at getting good tattoos out, and talking to customers openly about the pitfalls of cheap nasty shit tattoos, in the hope they will understand and pass on the good word.

[David T-W]

Originally Posted by phil_kyle

I know the state of tattooing dude..
Its been the same for 20 years...and even more.
Watch the sailor jerry documentary...its all the same shit we say now and they were saying it in the 40's and 50's...
thats just how it is dude...assholes will always be vultures in the craft...and you have to keep your head down work your ass off and fight the good fight...
Thats what i do and anyone can tell ya.

I've been getting tattooed since 1990, but my knowledge of tattoo history is pretty limited.

Just been reading the book Sailor Jerry Collins: American Tattoo Master, and it's amazing how much of the stuff tattooers talk about these days was all happening back then: people getting into tattooing to make a quick buck; folks not having the patience for a proper apprenticeship, instead just scratching away; inferior tattooists ripping off flash and tattoos...

Just like with everything else in the world, it's all the same shit, just a different era. Crazy stuff.

[phil_kyle]

Over kill has always existed even in the smallest of subcultures back then...to today when people call it an "industry"...which i refuse to...
Things will always be this way and just gotta keep on doing the best you can to make those fuckers vanish into the shit bowl.

[Tim Croke]

I don`t think the shows are to blame, they have just given us more exposure! and the good and bad that comes with it!
more customers, bigger better work, better educated clients, and more wanna bes, more pain in the ass change the design clients, more know more than the artist tv ink watchin gobshites!
if a bunch of kids see the lifstyle we live you can`t blame them for wanting some of it, we did!

Originally Posted by phil_kyle

Over kill has always existed even in the smallest of subcultures back then...to today when people call it an "industry"...which i refuse to...
Things will always be this way and just gotta keep on doing the best you can to make those fuckers vanish into the shit bowl.

Well, cor blimey govnor, would you adam n eve it, you and I actually have something in common! The word 'industry' to describe the time, effort, blood, sweat and tears we've put into our craft winds me up more than anything! Our, not so industrious, government have us labelled as a 'paid hobby' (therefore rendering us liable to taxation) which again raises my all too delicate blood pressure a notch.
The 'industry' thing though conjures up images of mass production, monotony of repetition and fairly unskilled labour, none of which is relevant to me (although it may be to some of you from the work that I see) and it offends me that many, many of you on this forum choose to use this word. Is it laziness or just another example of wanting to be in with the crowd and using all the latest tattooing buzzwords? Whatever it is, can we stop it, I think it's time.

[David T-W]

Originally Posted by phil_kyle

Over kill has always existed even in the smallest of subcultures back then...to today when people call it an "industry"...which i refuse to...
Things will always be this way and just gotta keep on doing the best you can to make those fuckers vanish into the shit bowl.

Originally Posted by graysilva

The 'industry' thing though conjures up images of mass production, monotony of repetition and fairly unskilled labour, none of which is relevant to me (although it may be to some of you from the work that I see) and it offends me that many, many of you on this forum choose to use this word. Is it laziness or just another example of wanting to be in with the crowd and using all the latest tattooing buzzwords? Whatever it is, can we stop it, I think it's time.

Just out of interest, I'm wondering what other word might be suitable. It's not easy to replace it in the context of the entire tattooing field. The "tattoo trade", maybe? Certainly a trade is something in which one might get an apprenticeship. But even that has some negative connotations.