Do you need an internship for a tattoo artist?

Answer 1

yes i need an internship for a tattoo artist.

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If more to the point, you are inquiring if an internship or rather an apprenticeship is needed to become a tattoo artist, the answer is both yes and no. There is a good number of tattoo artists who are completely self taught and never were an apprentice. For the most part, I myself was self taught to a very large extent before acquiring my official apprenticeship, which was a bit redundant since I knew virtually everything that I was being shown already due to having learned anything and everything that I could relating to tattoos, tattoo history, and body modification in all forms in addition to my mother being a LPN my whole life, I already had a healthy respect and knowledge of cross contamination and bloodborne pathogens since childhood.

However, there is no excusing that I was taught a lot of technical aspects, advanced application, and many other things that I was lacking in. There is simply no better way to do it than to get into a shop where you will be instructed in a somewhat structured setting with a seasoned professional whom has years of experience and knowledge in conjunction with gaining shop experience and dealing with the general public, which is an invaluable trait to have when you are in this industry. It is for that reason, that many professional artists and shop owners that I know don't hire people who look like "freaks" despite their talents just due to the fact that there are still a lot of uptight squares out there who don't like to look at really heavy mods, so it hurts business.

So back to the point, you CAN become a professional tattoo artist on your own, BUT you will HAVE to be; absolutely sterile, cover your legs in practice pieces before touching the public, do quality work, don't tattoo questionable people or rip off other artist's work, continuously better yourself with your application and art skills, NEVER tattoo minors, don't do work that you wouldn't be proud to call your own, and read and watch EVERYTHING that you can about tattooing in addition to soaking up knowledge like a sponge. To really succeed in this industry art has to be your life. You will find that with no official apprenticeship that a lot of the cool kids tattooing today in shops just love to rip you apart and tell you that your work is garbage and that you're a "scratcher" or a "kitchen magician" which is a stigma which can stick with you if you don't take what you do seriously and break from the mold of mediocrity.