Tattoo Apprentice!

Psychotic.Pink

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 10, 2011
Messages
102
Reaction score
3
Location
Utah
Alright, so one of the characters I'm writing about is training to become a tattoo artist. I know the basics of what they're supposed to do at first, what they're supposed to learn, like possibly paying the person for the apprenticeship, cleaning up around the shop and learning how to sterilize and such for a long time before they're allowed to touch a person with a tattoo needle, and that it's a good thing to have a job outside of the tattoo shop because you're not going to earn much--if at all--while you're there.

The thing is, they don't put down details like how much time the apprentice spends in the tattoo shop outside of their other job. I'm probably going to be posting a lot of questions here about that, and it'd be much appreciated to have some extra knowledge like that.
 

cameron_chapman

Makes Things Up
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
499
Reaction score
24
Location
Heart-Shaped Box
Website
www.cameronchapman.com
One of my friends owns a tattoo shop, and he's had an apprentice before. Now, granted, this guy had already had an apprenticeship somewhere else, so he had some training to begin with.

He was at the shop pretty much full time. He got paid a cut of the tattoos that he actually did (some of which were on family/friends). Basically, he got to do simpler tattoos, or things that would be easier to fix if he screwed up. I'm sure if he'd stuck around longer, he would have started doing more complicated tats.

He was also there on days when the main tattoo artist wasn't there, though he couldn't actually tattoo on those days. But he was there scheduling appointments, giving people quotes and talking to them about designs, and taking care of sales of things like body jewelry and pipes (it's also a head shop).
 

crunchyblanket

the Juggernaut of Imperfection
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
4,870
Reaction score
766
Location
London's grey and pleasant land
When my tattoo artist was still an apprentice, he was full time in the shop. He was responsible for keeping things clean, ordering supplies, manning the shopfront, basically all the donkey work - they paid him to do all of the above so he'd be able to stay at the shop full-time and get experience during quiet moments. A hard slog but he got there in the end.