Hey :) Im Roo. I was a tattoo artist for 3 years (I started when I was 18 and did it until I was 21 and Im 22 now) And heres my story/advice!:

I love love loveeee tattoos. I have over 20 and most of them are pretty big. Ive always loved the lifestyle/style of tattoos and Worked for a local music venue that was owned by a guy who also owned a tattoo shop. I became an apprentice there and had a blast (at first) - so

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ADVICE 1: It takes a LOT of hard work- most artists think that its super easy to just jump in but it takes dedication and a lot of learning to be good- its like drawing with a vibrating pen with blood and ink, technically classified as surgery and with absolutely no mistakes because its permanent

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The atmosphere of the shop I worked at was alright, cliche loud music, obnoxious guys, crude humor (on the border of sexual harassment--- NOTE: Being a female tattoo artist has a lot of that, so make sure you can take a joke. because it sucks ) and rowdy customers. Some days were awesome but those didnt outweigh the bad ones

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ADVICE 2: Tattooing isnt just about getting to do art on bodies... Its also doing really shitty tribal designs, lame ideas and whatever the customer wants on ANYONE. So Im just saying. I had to shave a lot of 40 year old man backs and tattoo on peoples bodies who really needed to shower, NOT as awesome or worth it especially when you have to do an insane clown posse tattoo on some thigh of a 800 lb woman.

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Taking all this into consideration- I fit perfectly with the lifestyle and even I couldnt stand it after a while. All of the above mixed with the price of equipment/renting a tattoo chair in this area costs about $400 a month and supplies were usually $100 every month. PLUS most places charge for your apprenticeship about $2000 or with really shwaggy "we own you now" deals. Plus the original start up fee for tattooing if you get the right stuff can be upwards of $1000.

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ADVICE 3: Make sure you have the money to start off the right way with nice equipment and I good shop, dont get excited and just go for the cheap and fast/easy


AHHH TYPED SO MUCH --- I do do do wish you the absolute best of luck- I had fun and learned a ton so I dont regret my years tattooing. But all in all, I own all my nice equipment still so i can tattoo myself/friends/family but I soon learned that it really took the fun out of art at the end of the day and I am much happier doing commissions/personal art on the side. Just thought Id tell you my story because I try to warn everyone I see trying to go into tattooing - Maybe it will be different for you, but IMO- Its not the glamorous lifestyle that it looks like. Its hard. Crude humor . Expensive. Touching bodies. Doing bad tattoos.

:) Keep me posted on what you decide!!

Sorry for the such late reply!

I wanted to take my time and come up with a decision lol. I really do appreciate you giving me your advice and life experience. with everything that you have said I think tattooing may not be something for me to get into professionally. I love tattoos and the art but actually tattoo on a person would be stressful for. The whole THIS IS FINAL thing gets to me.

As for the crude humor, I could get used to it but then again I'm not sure if I would want to get used to it, ya know? I can be sensitive to select humor, hinders my performance :P

But the big reason why is that I have a degree in Graphic Design and Animation. I would not necessarily be using those skills in tattooing and I find that sad :(

I am somewhat unhappy with my job at the moment so I turned to something I thought would be more fun. After a lot of research there is an entire other side of tattooing I never realized and personally do not think I am cut out for ( as much as I wish I was lol).

Again, I appreciate your input and have already started watching you becausssse your art is beautiful!
:3

No worries! - Im super glad to be of any help :3

Yeah I thought I was cut out perfectly for it myself and learned quickly that tattoo shops are often filled with more Obnoxigen (Obnoxious oxegen) and douchebaggery than they are filled with talented artists :)

Oooo yay! Thanks for the watch :3 Lets be friends <3

Girl I say it doesn't hurt to try! Monster gave great advice, she's a lovely girl we met at AC (I don't remember if you were there or not lmao) I think you would do REALLY well with the art and I personally think you fit physically haha but she makes good points, a lot to think about! But if you can find a place to start learning and such I say DO EETTT!!! I wouldn't mind getting a tat from you down the road haha you're fabulous! And i think anything you put your mind to, clearly, you will prevail at!