Professional tattoo artist, Adam Thomas, shares his five tips that anyone wanting to become a tattoo artist needs to know.
Video Transcript:
Hey guys how’s it going Adam Thomas here and welcome back to another three minute Thursday, so good to have you all here. Thank you all for liking, my videos and subscribing to my channel today. I’M gon na give you five tips on how to get into the tattoo industry. So if you’re a budding tattoo artist or a tattoo apprentice, hopefully these tips will help you out so five massive tips on how to get into the tattoo industry. Let’S put three minutes on the clock: jump straight into it.
Big tip number one is learn how to draw now. It might sound ridiculous to say you not to someone, especially if you’ve made it this far to watch a video on how to become a tattoo artist. But it’s fundamental that you have the ability to draw as a tattoo artist, so my biggest tip would be going find a college course go to university. Do fine art do graphic design any sort of creative course. That’S going to push you in that direction of being creative, but also give you the fundamentals of being able to draw so life, drawing it’s essential.
When I first started tattooing, I did life drawing. It gave me a massive leg up into realism, which is the weight. The I now tattoo, and without that I just wouldn’t be able to achieve the sort of tattoos that I do now tip number two is find the right artist. So, if you’re interested in doing black and gray go and find a black-and-gray artist, find someone that does exactly what you want to do as a tattoo artist moving forward, find them and try and get an apprenticeship with that person. So the amount people that have come to me trying to get an apprenticeship have a look at their work.
I have a chat with them and I find out that they want to do color work or neo trad work. Anything that’s got a lot of big, solid lines or color, which is nothing that I do. I could teach someone the fundamentals of tattooing, but it’s going to get to a point where I can’t teach them anymore, because I just don’t do that saw work so go and find the right artist. That’S gon na suit you and hopefully progress you into the world of tattooing. Big tip number three is having decent portfolio, so the last thing you want to do is turn up to a tattoo studio, trying to get an apprenticeship and by the no-work or a few scraps of paper.
You need to have a decent portfolio with 10 to 12. Decent images mounted nicely the way you present. It is just as important as the content itself. If you just got a little ring binder with some scrappy bits of paper where you’ve done a few sketches, it’s just not good enough to get a job or an apprenticeship. Being a tattoo artist, you hold the whole look and feel of it has to just shout that you know what you’re doing and you need to be creative.
So don’t turn up with ten or a dozen images of just pure tattoos that you found on Google that you’ve copied be creative crates of artwork more than a tattoo. You need to try and impress the tattoo whites that you’re talking to you want to make them want to learn from you as well as you wanted to learn from their butts, a trade-off of skills. So don’t turn up you lot scrappy bits of paper with hearts and daggers. It’S just not gon na cut step number three going off the back of the last one is be professional, so the big part being professional is your time management. So moving forward as a tattoo artist, you’re gon na be working a diary which is going to be appointment based.
You’Ve got ta, be there before your clients to settle up and get ready, because when that appointment starts, you need to be ready for your client. When you turn up to a tattoo studio and you’re, going to talk to an artist about potentially getting apprenticeship, you’ve got to know what the studio is about. Who works there? What they do, don’t just turn up blind you’ve got to show that you are taking this serious and it’s a serious job and you’re not just doing it, for something to do while you’re, trying to figure yourself out so tip number five, which is the biggest tip That I could give anyone if you’ve got me, passionate about tattooing, don’t just go and think that you want to become a tattoo is just because it looks fun. Tattooing is gon na take over your life.
If you become a tattoo artist, it stops being anything like a nine-to-five. It’S a 24/7 job. It’S amazing, don’t get me wrong, it can be quite hard and it can be quite challenging at times, but if you are truly passionate about it and you’re in it for the right reasons, it’s the best job in the world. So there you go guys. That’S five!
Quick and easy tips, if you’re looking to get into the tattoo world, there’s obviously a lot more involved or skimming the surface just to try and highlight a few of the main areas that I’d say a really. If you’re looking to get a job in tattooing, you enjoyed the video make sure to like it, subscribe to my channel for loads, more tutorials about tattooing and an insight into the industry. Thank you all for watching, see you on the next video [ Music ]
