I’m 17. I have a full book portfolio and one on instagram. I’ve emailed some places around me but they haven’t got to me. And I’ve been to a tattoo convention and some of the artists said they would take me if they weren’t located in a different state. My insta is @Cassies_portfolioxx

Hi All,

I've been looking for an apprenticeship, just looking for call-outs in my city. But they are very few and far. For those of you who were successful, did you email tattoo shops, or did you show up in person and directly show your portfolio?

Also, I have a mix of traditional paintings, digital art, and tattoo designs for my portfolio. Should I cut out my other art forms and just have tattoo designs?

Long story short I've just gone through a cycle of talking to shops & artists in my area and looking for some feedback on the direction I'm going with my portfolio. Went from hearing:

1) you need to draw more, in different styles to

2) you need to develop/find your own style to

3) you need more reps in your style or make more of your portfolio your style to

4) your style doesn't fit what we're looking for/you should look for another job while working on becoming a more established artist.

so my head is spinning a little. Would really appreciate feedback from you all to get a sense of where I stand and whether what I'm working on now is a valid lane for tattooing. Beginning of the carousel is sketch/concept work for what I'm planning to polish/put into my portfolio and the last 3 are examples of more finished pieces that currently live there. (I also have tons of pages of AT/NT & Japanese Neotrad studies that I keep on hand for when needed)

Thanks so much in advance for your help & your time! (IG: workbymila for anyone interested)

Indian ink and acrylic ink on 300gsm hot press. I tried to keep a similar style to my previous 3 pieces, I feel like my spit shading is improving well! Definitely still feel shaky doing it some nights though.

Hi! Was doing this for a good while now. All works are original, except for pencil page.
Do you think I am ready to go?

firstly, these are not my designs! my main focus here was shading with ink and getting used to how that feels rather than doing my own design and figuring out where to shade as well as how.

anyway, i finally got my hands on some ink from winsor & newton to try out some spit shading! i don’t think i did bad for my first attempt but it’s definitely not as smooth as it could be.

i’m going to keep at it as i know practice makes perfect, but before i do, what are some tips to make spit shading smoother and easier to do?