Tattoo Apprenticeship Contract: Fill & Download for Free

No. A tattoo apprenticeship is not formal education or schooling. It is a form of very old school tradition of mentoring side by side with an experienced professional.Not all mentor tattooists choose to charge someone to apprentice under them. You will have to look very hard for this type of position either way. The mentor will have to agree to invest a lot of his or her time working with you, and this takes them away from business to invest in you as a future employee and tattooist.If you do your research and find someone who is willing to teach you, but for a fee, watch out that this is not a scam for this boss to make money without actually holding up their end of the bargain and teaching you anything.MAKE SURE TO SIGN A CONTRACT BEFORE ENTERING ANY KIND OF APPRENTICESHIP ARRANGEMENT (ESPECIALLY PAID) EXPLICITLY LAYING OUT WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM BOTH ENDS.

This is an excellent question! It has been over a decade since I completed my tattoo apprenticeship, and I know that a lot of things have changed (many for the better), but there are still shops out there that try to take advantage of people who are trying to learn how to tattoo.Be wary of a tattoo shop that asks you for money for your apprenticeship. They are supposed to be a trade of labor for education—when it comes time to buy your machines and supplies, you’ll likely be responsible for that, but outside of those costs, you should not have to pay to learn the trade. Some shops will ask you to pay upfront to cover the costs of supplies down the road; if that is the case, read any contract very carefully to see what circumstances will make you lose any money that you put in.Get your employer to sign a contract if money is involved. If the above situation applies and a shop asks you to give them money so that they can get supplies for you to tattoo with, get ALL monetary exchanges IN WRITING. This is very important.Be familiar with the shop. If you haven’t had work done there before by an artist, have a look at their portfolios and reviews. Often, the way that they conduct business will be reflected in the way that they treat an apprentice. How long do the artists stick around? Do customers report similar negative experiences? A shop with a professional reputation that is accepting apprentices will not only result in a likely better experience for you, but it’ll reflect well in the tattoo community after you complete your apprenticeship.Another benefit of familiarizing yourself with the shop is that you’ll know whether or not you vibe with the artists there, which will also make it easier for you to learn!

TL;DR — READ THIS ANYWAY! I made sure to put as much thorough information as possible in order to clear up the very many confusions people have about getting into this industry. Yes, it's long, but you will know what to expect.————Practice drawing every day. Advace your realism techniques as well as other styles like geometric designs to work on your precision, detailed work, and hand stability. I would suggest sticking to pencil and some fine tip Micron[1][1][1][1] pens.A suggestion I used myself is to follow lots of tattoo artists on Instagram and study their styles. Get an idea of what tattoo desings are most popular and most requested. Use other concepts and create your own unique custom concept of a similar design (such as a dream catcher, an animal, a skull, a rose, religious imagery).Practice calligraphy. This can take a lot of work if you haven't done it before. Start by printing out different alphabet sheets of typical tattoo fonts (besides calligraphy, there are things like Chicano style) Study different hand styles. Create your own flourishes.Gather up your best drawings and create a portfolio. What I like to do to make sure my favorite sketches are nice and clean is to trace them with a pen on a nice piece of paper. Alternatively, you can clean them up digitally on Photoshop or the ipad program Procreate (which a LOT of tattoo artists are using these days) and print them out. Make sure to incorporate some traditional media in there though to show your proficiency in actual drawing technique (where besides an eraser, you can't press Undo). I recommend the Profolio[2][2][2][2] . It looks impressive, smooth, and professional.Now, you hunt for your apprenticeship. An apprenticeship is the most respected way in the industry to get your start and earn your stripes. This is the most challenging aspect of the process — getting your foot in the door. It's a lot more difficult than the mainstream job application process. This is because the tattoo industry is still a very insular community. A lot of shop owners aren't interested in training someone new. They just don't want to deal with it.Don't give up. Many shops will turn you away. Walk into every tattoo shop you can with a respectful attitude and your portfolio. Then ask to speak to the manager and request to train with him or her. Show him your work and sell your dedication. You won't need a resume. (Applying as a counterperson does NOT guarantee in anyway that you eventually will be taken on as an apprentice.) Be wary of those who say they will charge you for an apprenticeship. This is very likely a scam and will run you several thousands of dollars. If you feel this is your only option, make sure you and the mentor sign a contract indicating that you have paid him, and what he specifically agrees to teach you, and possibly for how long. Document any promises of a position in the shop so that you don't get screwed over.You will study under an experienced professional, oftentimes the owner of a shop, and you will make sure to learn the proper techniques of tattooing as well as the procedures for a sterile and health-safe environment to reduce the spread of bloodborne pathogens. In a legitimate shop, you should not start work on human skin unless you take a certified course on how not to spread disease while you work. You will also get on track to obtaining your license to tattoo. In some states, this involves documenting a certain amount of hours working as an apprentice and signed off by your supervisor.***Important!! You will not be starting out and immediately using the machine!!!***This is an expectation a lot of newcomers have! You will be starting out as a shop hand! Yes, this means doing the cleaning and running errands! The work you contribute “pays” for the lessons you are getting from your mentor, and for the time he is investing in you, as his reputation is tied down to how you turn out as an artist who learned from him.There are many horror stories about what apprentices have to go through.You will ideally given many drawing assignments and tutoring on how to improve them. You will solely be drawing for a long time.Now it's machine time. You will not move straight on to skin!! Instead, you will start with grapefruits or pig skin so that you don't make mistakes on real people. You will become sick of grapefuits. You will keep tattooing them until you can be trusted to take on small customers for your mentor to watch and approve that you did the job right. Only then do you advance to tattooing customers.It is not advisable to pick up tattooing on your own at home.First of all, it is not legal. Nor is it in a sanitary enough environment. Houses are filled with germs. Without training, you won't necessarily be educated enough in procedure to follow the proper safety rules and risk exposing your friends (or yourself!) to dangerous diseases. (Hepatitis, MRSA, etc.)Youtube tutorials are NOT a substitute for a hands on lesson from an experienced mentor who can correct your big mistakes. You won't learn crucial things such as how far to stick out your needle from the tube, how to prevent “blowouts,” how deep your needle should go. You won't even know the differences between different types of needles and how to use them. The same thing applies to “stick and poke,” which is unfortunately getting popular with inexperienced teenagers who tape a needle to a pencil and have no idea what they're doing.You NEVER put the opening of the needle bar on the right! A common inexperienced mistake and the needle becomes upside down!As you are not licensed, it will be very difficult to get your hands on proper equipment. As a rule, anything cheap or on Amazon = garbage. Tattoo “kits” are a big NO. The machines are crappy, the power supplies are cheaply made in China, they are likely to malfunction and are very inefficient. The cheap needles are likely to bend and cut you up in the process without you noticing this has happened. Never use India ink, ballpoint pen ink or any kind of ink not specifically intended for skin. Do not listen to ignorant advice (including here on Quora) saying that these things are ok to use on a human body.Tattoo supplies are unfortunately very expensive. During your apprenticeship, once you are ready to tattoo, you will need to save up your own money as you go in order to afford a quality machine, needles, and inks, etc.An apprenticeship guarantees that you be taken way more seriously as an applicant for a professional artist position in a new shop. Say you've done home tattoos and you will likely be told to walk out the door. No reputable shop wants to have an employee representing them who does not regard the law or standard safety precautions, or just improvises and makes foolish mistakes.Footnotes[1] https://sakuraofamerica.com/pen-archival[1] https://sakuraofamerica.com/pen-archival[1] https://sakuraofamerica.com/pen-archival[1] https://sakuraofamerica.com/pen-archival[2] http://Itoya - Art Profolio"The Original" Presentation Books, 9 x 12 Inches (IA129) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AE68P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XHedCbDTKCXC8[2] http://Itoya - Art Profolio"The Original" Presentation Books, 9 x 12 Inches (IA129) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AE68P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XHedCbDTKCXC8[2] http://Itoya - Art Profolio"The Original" Presentation Books, 9 x 12 Inches (IA129) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AE68P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XHedCbDTKCXC8[2] http://Itoya - Art Profolio"The Original" Presentation Books, 9 x 12 Inches (IA129) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AE68P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XHedCbDTKCXC8