Dr. Pepper Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Wow, knowing how tattooists are trained and how apprentices are treated, I'll probably never get another tattoo again. I'm not even sure I could bring myself to finish one that needs finishing. What a horrifying shit show (sometimes literally). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyphillip Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I'm a lighting guy... God hates me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli Fury Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 1 hour ago, Dr. Pepper said: Wow, knowing how tattooists are trained and how apprentices are treated, I'll probably never get another tattoo again. I'm not even sure I could bring myself to finish one that needs finishing. What a horrifying shit show (sometimes literally). Anyone who has been through it understands why it is important. If apprenticeship is not a gauntlet of struggle and discomfort, you will not be emotionally prepared for what a certain sector of the clientele will put you through. You have to be able to do an extremely difficult and technical job where mistakes are just not something that can happen on someone who smells bad and creeps you out, on someone who is openly weeping, on someone who keeps coming on to you, on the most annoying person you've ever met. Most people who want to apprentice do not because they care about the art, they think it's some kind of rock star thing. Those people will be terrible tattoo artists, they will bring shame upon the person who taught them and the industry as a whole. And the amount that you get paid to apprentice someone doesn't even come close to compensating you for your time much less the risk to your professional reputation. It's a fraction of what you would pay for any other education. If that is objectionable to you, you may also want to steer clear of listening to any music, watching any movies, competitive sports, theater, elite military groups, the ballet, ect. All of these groups have similar experiences on entry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pepper Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 7 minutes ago, Kay Fury said: Anyone who has been through it understands why it is important. If apprenticeship is not a gauntlet of struggle and discomfort, you will not be emotionally prepared for what a certain sector of the clientele will put you through. You have to be able to do an extremely difficult and technical job where mistakes are just not something that can happen on someone who smells bad and creeps you out, on someone who is openly weeping, on someone who keeps coming on to you, on the most annoying person you've ever met. Most people who want to apprentice do not because they care about the art, they think it's some kind of rock star thing. Those people will be terrible tattoo artists, they will bring shame upon the person who taught them and the industry as a whole. And the amount that you get paid to apprentice someone doesn't even come close to compensating you for your time much less the risk to your professional reputation. It's a fraction of what you would pay for any other education. If that is objectionable to you, you may also want to steer clear of listening to any music, watching any movies, competitive sports, theater, elite military groups, the ballet, ect. All of these groups have similar experiences on entry. These are not the same things at all, Kay, and I'm sure you realize it. And anyway, criticizing the training methods of one industry isn't somehow suggesting that all other industries are somehow better. Tough training is one thing, what you described isn't actually tough training. You explicitly called it abuse, humiliation, and indentured servitude. Guess who else deals with the sorts of things you've mentioned....people in the medical field. They are shit on, thrown up on, deal with people who smell bad and creep them on, people coming on to them, assaulting them, etc, all while having to perform tasks where mistakes are forever, with those forever mistakes sometimes resulting in death, which is actually forever. It's amazing how they can be taught all of this without being treated in the way you described (though I guess you're changing your story now? I don't know). You know who also doesn't have to put up with this sort of horrific training method? Permanent cosmetic tattooists. Somehow the esthetician and dermatological industries have figured it out just fine. You can be taught to clean instruments, and made to do it over and over and over again without it being Frankly, I think tattooist education should fall more under medical training. It's insane how extraordinarily difficult it is to find a tattooist whose services don't include outrageous things like smacking an open wound or putting unsterilized cling wrap on an open wound and advising their clients to keep unsterilized cling wrap on an open wound for several days. An industry where training is built almost entirely off tradition (which apparently includes hazing, abuse, and humiliation) rather than a curriculum designed to educate medical artists on the best standards and practices is an industry that's doing it wrong. If it works for you, fine. Tattooing is actually a luxury that I don't have to participate in and seeing as they aren't actually forever, I can go to a well trained professional and have an unfinished one removed. At great cost, yes, but at least they'd be well trained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli Fury Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 In most states, tattoo training also includes certain medical training. And I assure you, work in the arts does usually include a lot of hazing, tattooing is a strange intersection of very technical and very serious artistically. The entities that train medical professionals are paid for their time, artists who take an apprentice really aren't. So if your apprentice is sheltered and coddled and quits when the reality of the work sets in, you have invested hundreds of unpaid work hours on nothing. A medical school doesn't have that. An artist who takes an apprentice stakes their personal professional reputation on their apprentice's performance for the life of that person's career, and most only ever take one or two, if any. A medical school doesn't have that direct of accountability. And what you described about slapping open wounds and plastic wrap is not what any tattoo artist I know does and if it had been done to you, you should contact your local department of health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Hated my job in clinical research. Went back to gradschool for compsci. Cousin came to me with a proposal to start software company. We didn't go broke. That's about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 I am a huge fan of how Oregon handles tattoo training. Accredited artists teach students for a fee. The ex-wife paid $10000 or so. That didn't include the state license testing fees. I think that alone weeds a lot of people out and sets a very high level of sanitation and hygiene standards. After all of this you still have to find a job. The classical apprentice hazing nonsense is just that. It is nonsense. There is no reason to treat people like that and try to pass it off as job preparedness. Kitchens gave that shit up a long time ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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