Do you really have to be able to draw well to be a tattoo artist? I am fairly new to the tattoo world and have only been in a shop twice and have only seen people getting tattooed on tv, but it seems like most artists just trace the designs the customer wants on the paper and stick it on the skin and tattoo. basically my question is if you were talented with a tattoo machine but couldnt draw for crap could you make it in this industry?
There are plenty of artists who just do flash and in the right neighborhood, you could surely survive on this just fine. You’re never going to be the next Jess Yen, Nick Baxter, and so forth though.
FWIW, the artists on TV (and tattoo artists in general) typically draw the tattoo on a piece of paper first and then transfer it to a stencil and then trace it on the skin. Even Ami draws his own tattoos, but he’s obviously a much better business man than he is a tattoo artist.
a decent shop will not hire anyone without art skills, they require a portfolio, they need artists who caan produce custom work
but some street hack shop might hire someone with a tattoo portfolio and little ability to draw, this person wouldnt make much money, no benefits, no vacation, no nothing, it is a pretty shitty living
Maybe your getting confused. Many of the great artists, draw the design then transfer the outline onto the paper and transfer it onto the skin. There may have been many many hours that has gone into the 30 second transfer onto the skin. With many of these traces there has been quite a bit of back and forth between the customer and artist over the preceding weeks.
For example I’m extending my half sleeves to full sleeves. I have made contact with my chosen artist and worked out rough times. Early Feb I will meet with him and discuss my ideas. Late Feb I will catch up and look at his rough drafts, after some discussion and contest of ideas, we will catch up in the first week of March for a final agreement. Mid March ( firm date will be set in Feb) the transfer will be ready. From here on you know the rest.
I’ve drawn things six or seven times sometimes. I’ve spent hours working on designs for clients before they’ve even seen the final draft. I have also used designs that they bring to me and there is just a bit of tracing to do. I prefer when someone comes to me with a solid idea and says to run with it and trusts me to come up with my best solution to their design idea.
In the old days tattooing was more of a craft than an art. Tattooers bought flash from suppliers and simply transferred the images they bought onto the client’s skin. Apprentices were taken on because they showed a love and dedication for tattooing or they were brought into it by family. Now you have to have a portfolio with solid artwork and a love and respect for tattooing before anybody will even think about offering you an apprenticeship.
I think there will always be flash based street shops, but more and more people want a truly custom design.
With the level of talent that tattoo artists are offering these days, why would you settle for anything less?
Why is that? last year i picked up just short of £44,000 not bad for a 19 year old i don’t think.?
It’s also good to have aim why settle for something if you really want something?
im pretty sure work is meant in the loosest sense of the word too, the impression you give is that you do nothing but still get paid? lol
so yeh… back in the real world, if you cant hold a pencil you wont be an artist, but that doesnt stop you getting a “less specialised” job in some other industry and taking art classes in between and see what happens 🙂
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I think if it is something you truly want to do then just train and train I have spent the last 3 years going from shop to shop asking questions and spending every spare moment I have drawing on scraps of paper and finally all my hard work has payed off and im now negotiating a placement in a tattoo shop to do a trail and if I show enough talent that i one day might be able to tattoo there willing to let me learn, I would like to add before these 3 years I had never drawn a single thing and still to date have not a single art degree so good luck
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