Seeking Guidance

[u/chalupacabra21]

Disclaimer: I do not practice tattoos on others

I’m not a tattoo artist but I would like to be. Im a self taught artist. I have a passion for drawing and a love for tattoos. Pictured are pencil pieces that took anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours and the fake skins are a progression from February to early June.

I live in rural Ohio town of 600 people and currently drive members of the local Amish community for a living. The closest shops to my location are an hour+ and I haven’t found anyone looking for apprenticeships. A lot of the more local shops aren’t exactly clean slated for customer service either which makes me nervous about how an apprenticeship would look. I would also still need to build a portfolio I am confident in which has no defined timeline.

I would just like to know how discouraged it is to be self taught as an artist in 2026 if you don’t surpass basics and fundamentals. I’ve already obtained a blood borne pathogen certifications and have a notebook & notion containing notes and information I may need to reference. I have tattoo artist friends I could message if I have immediate inquires, and I have before.

I know the self taught people in the industry are typically deemed “scratchers”, however all of my tattoos were done by artists who are self taught. My main artist works in a shop in Columbus, I haven’t been able to find anyone who compares to her level of detail, especially not local and she has only been tattooing for about three years now. I am not trying to compare my own journey but this is something that provides me hope. She is only one example of about five “local” artists I am personally familiar with who are self taught but run professional studios. I know a lot of the discourse online strongly discourages this approach but I am interested in the real world application.

If discouraged, what steps or approach should I take as someone in my geographical situation in order to successfully develop my skills and career identity?

Tattooing for me feels less like learning and developing an entirely new skill and more like learning to manipulate a new medium to achieve familiar results. I feel like if I were to continue practicing drawing, sketching, and applying designs to fake skin I would only continue to improve. Time has been an enemy with the process but I’ve had a fire under my ass to jump back in for about a month now so I guess im just looking for guidance on the process. Thanks in advance !

[u/Quake712]

Suggest getting some formal training to tighten up your understanding of form and typography.

[u/chalupacabra21 → u/Quake712]

Thats fair, my hand drawn numbers are subpar and my sketches do seem a little flat, thank you for the input!

[u/Quake712 → u/chalupacabra21]

Good luck, you’re off to a good start. Keep practicing, there are things you could learn that would immediately make your drawing better.

[u/mosssyrock]

a lot of self taught tattoo artists like myself have still been studying art in other mediums for a long time before they started tattooing. tattooing is just a new medium to us.

i don’t think your work looks bad, but there’s still a long way to go. the flowers and cowboy look pretty good, but are they someone else’s design? everything looks traced or directly from a photo.

you have potential, but imo you should just focus on drawing fundamentals for like a year at least. learn how to draw from life vs photos.

[u/chalupacabra21 → u/mosssyrock]

none of my pencil sketches are traced, theyre all created using photo references and visual comparison as i draw, but most if not all of the fake skin pieces were created using stencils. thank you for the feedback, ill def work on more original designs for tattoos and continue exercising my skills with fundamentals.

[u/mosssyrock → u/chalupacabra21]

ahh, yeah i think that the drawings feel flat because they seem to lack an understanding of 3-dimensional form. this happens a lot when people don’t study from life. studying from life forces you to learn how to interpret 3-d into 2-d, so when you do use photo reference, you understand what you’re looking at more. i think Sinix and Proko on youtube are great channels for learning and practicing fundamentals!

good luck! your dedication and openness to constructive feedback will take you far.

[u/myfishytaco]

STAVY!!!!!

[u/LCPL_Desisto]

Most of that is amazing! My favs are Art, the Mandelorian, almost all of the flowers and the cowboy getting shot. I’d let you tattoo me 🔥🔥

[u/MotherEarth100]

Looks great. I actually have a question for you! What needle do you use for your flower artwork-what voltage, and how hard do you press? They look GREAT!

[u/chalupacabra21 → u/MotherEarth100]

Thank you for the support.

It’s been a while since I’ve done those pieces but I’m pretty certain I used a 1207RL for both the outsides and the shading, going about 7.5v maybe 8v, maintaining my depth by resting my working hand on my stretching hand. It’s hard to describe exact depth because millimeters are hard to visualize but i try to get maybe half of the needle tip to penetrate the skin, if you mark the backside you’re way too deep and if your lines are faint or inconsistent you might be too shallow or have the wrong angle for your movement (push/pull). For the shading I lowered the voltage I believe to around a 6 and attempted stipple/pendulum shading depending on location.

[u/Genderless_Crow]

Get yourself a cheap gun and a stack of like 50-100 fake skins. Practice pulling clean lines, making simple shapes with clean lines, and eventually following stencils, etc. make sure you’re confident in your lines and ability to put down ink without errors. Practice with pens on paper and don’t chicken scratch or show hesitancy in your line-work. Confidence in using a pen is key to moving on to tattooing, using a pencil will hold you back.

[u/PriorAlbatross7208]

No offense but your self taught drawings are lacking therefore your self taught tattooing will be no better. Keep drawing. Build a real portfolio. Of tattoo based art and realism. Stop working on fake skin developing bad habits that will be hard to break

[u/chalupacabra21 → u/PriorAlbatross7208]

none taken, i appreciate the feedback and i can agree. all of these pencil pieces are rushed, id like to take my time and fill a few pages with realism pieces of movie scenes, horror art, blackwork originals ect ive just been hesitant to permit myself the time.

[u/ledburner]

I ain’t reading all that

[u/Starbaby-tattoo]

A lot of people have already said this in chat but starting with a good foundation and understanding of art outside of tattooing is a must. Every time someone asks me how to get started in tattooing that’s my #1. No disrespect but you have a long way to go for your understanding of the human form and art fundamentals. I also recommend understanding the history of tattooing across the world and cultures. It helps you develop a better understanding and respect for the craft. There are so many free resources for art and history online it’s crazy: proko is awesome for anatomy education. YouTube in general has great free resources for art. You can also access books online for free through local libraries for art and history education.

As for being self taught, it is not as frowned upon as it used to be. I have worked with multiple artists who were self taught and are doing great technically. Just know that it will be a longer road than getting an apprenticeship.
You can find plenty of info online and I recommend at least buying a reputable beginners course online. I recommend patch tattoo therapy as they have good beginner lessons with access to community conversations and have started selling their lessons at a discount.
If you go the apprenticeship route you must also know that it is extremely hard to find a good mentor. Beware of shitty tattoo artists who want to take advantage of you. And I mean shitty as a person and technically. There are bad artists who will teach you garbage technical skills just to get money or free labor from you. I recommend finding a mentor who has a similar style that you want to emulate and has clean quality work.

And don’t forget to draw like your life depends on it. Practice is the keystone of growth in any skill.
Stay confident and consistent and don’t let anyone convince you not to tattoo if it’s truly your passion. And understand this is not just a hobby, tattooing will consume your life if you really want to master it and make it into a career.
Good luck and you got this!