Hi, thanks for having me
Signed up week or two ago, and have scoped around the site a bit to see if it’s for me. Now that I’m entirely satisfied, I feel i owe it to myself and others to introduce myself and get to know some people. Hell, maybe even get a lot of my lingering questions about tattoo’ing answered, and maybe make some friends on the way there.
About myself:
I’m a young 21 year old male, with HUGE interest in becoming a tattoo artist (if that isn’t typical at all). I live in the western suburbs of chicago (roughly 45 miles), and was going to college for an illustration and/or graphics design degree. unfortunately, i discovered school was really not for me, and stopped attending last spring to open up free time for the things i have interest for in my life.
i spent the past year researching tattoo’ing (which has been my dream for years), ultimately leading up to 2 months ago making my purchase of a tattoo’ing kit. with little to no portfolio to display my work, i came to a sharp realization that earning an apprenticeship through tattoo’ing would be next to impossible. i’ve taken it upon myself to get a feel for the art, and build experience at my own time, and my own expense.
additionally, i enjoy the sport of bowling, and have been since i could walk. i bowl in sanctioned men’s leagues throughout the week, and carry anywhere from a 215-220 average. i currently make end’s meet working in a pro shop for a bowling alley, custom fitting and drilling bowling balls. part time, i side as a mechanic for the lanes, maintenancing the automatic pinsetters when need be.
well, enough rambling 😛 if you have any questions, i’ll do my best to answer them to their fullest 🙂
nice to meet you all, and thanks for the time.
Hi madness
Welcome to the forum.
Do you have ny tattoos yourself?
I would also love tos ee your artwork.
From my research tattooing is one of the toughest proffessions to get into. All I can advise is keep practising the drawing and build up a mighty portfolio and keep hitting the studios to see if you can apprentice.
In the meantime have you considered using your art for other employment prospects – some of my friends in britain really wanted to tattoo but have become successfful in graphics design and illustrating.
It keeps their drawing skills sharp and who knows they still threaten to find an apprenticeship.
Take Care
Matthew
My friend goes round the tattoo circuit in Leeds and has a tattooist that he is friends with in Yorkshire. He is good friends with her and a few people that go to conventions. she has told him that she will train him up to be an artist one day and so far he has started by doing piercings for people under supervision.
Good Luck with it. I believe its who ya know not what ya know.
Thank you all for the warm welcome!
I came to the realization that the occupation is anything but easy to get into. I took art all my life, but sadly, never really viewed anything as portfolio material. The past 2-3 months have been hectic, sketching as much stuff as I can – but, because of my lack of motivation, I can barely muster up enough willpower to pass the rough draft stage of my artwork. Also, I’m always really disappointed in my work; I’m told constantly by others “That’s Amazing”, but in my head, I feel I could be doing ten times better.
I feel like a lot of my strengths in art revolve around a heavy attention to detailing. IF (and that’s a big if) i was to get into tattooing, though I never expressed interest towards it before, I feel I’d like to mainly do portrait study. I’m workin on it haha
I guess I’m not too ashamed of some of my stuff. But, if you must, here are just a few of my stuff from late high school and freshman year of college 🙂 …
Pencil work roughly 3 hours of work
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/artwork/Indian_final.jpg
Pointillism with 005 tech pen
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/artwork/flowers_final.jpg
Mechanical pencil sketch during study hall haha
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/artwork/tiger_drawing.jpg
Tech pen line work. Self-Portrait Photorealism deconstruction inspired by Chuck Close
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/artwork/Picture001-2.jpg
Another Tech pen Line work. Self-Portrait (about 4 times the size of the previous one)
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/artwork/Picture004.jpg
Tech Pen Pointillism 005. Still in progress (going on 40+ hours of work 🙁 )
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/artwork/angel1.jpg
Four layer suicide wood block print. Self-Portrait
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/artwork/DSC00218.jpg
Be nice :
EDIT: And yes, to answer your question, as of now I have 2x tattoo’s, but greatly desire TONS more. Unfortunately, my work is kinda strict about the whole idea of tattoos. I vow that IF I were to have my foot in the door to a career in the art of tattooing, there’d be no hesitation to get more.
Got this done at Top Notch Tattoo’s in Elgin, IL by a guy named Jeff (who moved a month later to Cali and supposedly is working for Kat Von D now)
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/n1493880042_1523_4542.jpg
This is my first and only tattoo that I’ve done. It’s on my left leg. I didn’t manage to take a picture of how it looked after coloring it in with black.
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q399/DKOSTURIK/DSC00784-2.jpg
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