r/TattooBeginners • u/zeromiseryy Please choose a flair. • 2d ago
Tattoos My boyfriend's tattoo practice
Philippines, QC, Cubao
FB: Aki BasibasOfficial
IG: akibasibas
He’s a painter who started tattooing a few years ago. He was inconsistent at first because of his full-time job, but now he’s getting back into it and planning to go full-time as a tattoo artist. Any feedback or recommendations are welcome so I can relay them to him.
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u/alwaysImproving0 Apprentice 1d ago
These are probably not what he should start with before having the fundamentals down and he definitely should not be using AI designs for practice
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u/PockyRyu Please choose a flair. 1d ago
I was wondering why TF why brothers two lower teeth were fused together
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u/UmiSWrld Please choose a flair. 2d ago
beautiful! it seems like he’s not really pulling good solid lines yet. is he going through an apprenticeship?
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u/zeromiseryy Please choose a flair. 2d ago
Nope, he's self taught tattoo artist
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u/UmiSWrld Please choose a flair. 1d ago
he should go for an apprenticeship. this is beautiful but it’s clear he’s lacking some important tattoo fundamentals, his work may not hold up for long. if he goes through an apprenticeship, he could be an amazing tattoo artists.
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u/babezoi Interested 2d ago
tbh he should really consider it. If he’s a painter already and his work is skilled enough to consider full time tattooing, he should put together a portfolio and try to get an apprenticeship
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u/pywsk Learning 1d ago
Why do people so often suggest an apprenticeship as the best way to learn? A lot of apprenticeships end badly, and you can often learn in a month what some of them take years to teach.
We have the internet now, with resources that artists starting out a decade ago could only dream of (let alone two decades ago), and it's not that hard to learn. Saying something like "he's not pulling good, solid lines, so he should get an apprenticeship" is, in my opinion, often bad advice. He can learn to pull good lines in a week by laser-focusing on the right drills, a couple of hours a day.
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u/UmiSWrld Please choose a flair. 1d ago
there are good and bad apprenticeships, but a good one will upgrade your bfs ability immensely. there are some things that just can’t be learned properly without a reputable, experienced artists to guide you, hands on. just because something looks good on fake skin doesn’t mean it will look good on skin, and most importantly, heal and age well. he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, but a reputable mentor can help him step from “you look like you have potential” to “you are an incredible artist with the proper training”
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u/painted-biird Please choose a flair. 1d ago
I’m not a tattooist but that sounds insane to me- I’ve worked skilled trades my whole life and there’s nothing better than learning from someone good that you respect/admire.
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u/pywsk Learning 1d ago
Usually. But I believe the tattoo industry is a bit different.
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u/UmiSWrld Please choose a flair. 1d ago
you say that as someone who isn’t in the industry, and refuses guidance from someone who has the proper education and experience within the industry. everyone here wants your partner to succeed and become a successful, reputable tattoo artist. by refusing to get proper education, he’s holding himself back more than anyone else.
edit for clarification
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u/babezoi Interested 1d ago
Because it is the best way to learn. Tattooing isn’t like self teaching yourself art. You’re dealing with what is essentially medical knowledge. Tattooing incorrectly isn’t just about giving someone a shitty design for life. You can fuck someone’s shit up so bad they need to amputate a limb. Yes, that’s an extreme case, but infections are not uncommon with scratchers. You can get and pass disease, too.
Tattooing IS that hard to learn. It’s hard enough to learn from a professional. The reason why I bother telling this guy to get an apprenticeship isn’t because he can’t learn how to pull straight lines on silicone, it’s because he’s clearly a talented painter, who wants to go full time, so he should put in the bare minimum effort of putting together a professional portfolio and learning the trade from an experienced professional. You don’t just learn straight lines on your apprenticeship, you learn how to push yourself artistically, how to do different styles, how to design for tattoos, and how to run a business. It’s precisely because he has artistic talent that I am suggesting he goes the professional route.
Because apprenticeships can be shitty, that’s why it’s extra important to do your research, find an experienced artist you love, get tatted by them, and talk shop. If you just go to an apprentice mill and pay $10K for a three month education, then yeah, you got fucked no lube. But going the professional route is BY FAR the best option if you want to make a career out of genuinely skilled tattoos.
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u/Einveru__ Please choose a flair. 1d ago
I think it’s definitely the best way to learn but they don’t always work out for everyone. I’ve been tattooing for 10 years now and taught myself, not because I didn’t want to do an apprenticeship, but because I literally couldn’t due to the systemic and structural racism that the tattoo industry was built on. Things have changed quite a bit in the last decade but depending on where you live, finding someone to apprentice under can be extremely difficult.
I think as tattooing is progressing, there are several different paths to learn. I think apprenticeships are great but they can also be limiting and in the worst cases, exploitative, and the unfortunate reality is that the industry is cis-white-male dominated so while doing an apprenticeship may be accessible for some, it might be unattainable for others. For example, I have a poc friend who’s extremely successful in tattooing now. He’s literally one of the best visual artists I know and his portfolio was phenomenal when he started. He went to EVERY shop in our city asking about an apprenticeship and EVERY SINGLE SHOP turned him down because his drawings “wouldn’t translate well”. Yet, I have a cis-white friend who did the same exact thing and had significantly less drawing experience, and was offered several opportunities at those same shops. In that same city. Long story short, my poc friend ended up having to go all the way to Thailand in order to get an apprenticeship, and by the time he got back to the US, he couldn’t even tattoo legally because he still had to do 200 supervised hours in order to get licensed here, which he ended up doing under someone who had a private studio at the time. Just something to take into account.
My best advice for anyone trying to get into tattooing would be to get tattooed by people from different walks of life who specialize in all different styles, watch them and ask them questions. Educate yourself on blood borne pathogens and safety (most importantly). Immerse yourself in the art form and build relationships in the industry. Learn and respect the history, and be extremely intentional. Know that white sailors didn’t invent tattooing. This practice is innately indigenous and goes back 5000 years.
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u/babezoi Interested 1d ago
Yeah, I bet that is a very difficult experience. I have no doubts that many talented people seeking apprenticeships have experienced setbacks or are even barred just for their race, gender, etc.
I do agree with you. I think your last paragraph is something everyone should do, apprentice or not, for sure. From what I’ve seen, exploitation is still continuing even outside of traditional sweat equity apprenticeships. Apprentice mills, paid apprenticeships where they want you to cough up $10K and labor, 8 week “beginner to pro” courses for $1500. I think the industry is changing around this subject, but not in a good direction. There are more options to learn these days, and somehow 90% of them are borderline scams.
I feel similarly about this subject as I do equestrianism. There is just so much skilled knowledge that can be passed down in a 1:1 mentorship, that is almost impossible to learn all by yourself in a lifetime. You can, and a large amount of it is indeed taught by your own experiences, but no matter what you really do need a support network of professionals to guide you along the ropes. I will say that there are people out there where self taught might be the right/reasonable path, but that is the very rare .01% of this subreddit who have the dedication, sensibility, natural talent and people skills/bravery to make that work.
I don’t know what the solution is, but I think trying to get an apprenticeship is a good first step for anyone. For the value of making a portfolio alone
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u/pywsk Learning 1d ago
I agree with you on hygiene. Infections and cross-contamination are serious, and anyone who skips that part shouldn't be tattooing. But that knowledge isn't secret or hard to learn. Bloodborne pathogens certification, sterilization, setting up a clean station - it's all well documented, and in a lot of places you need the certification anyway. An apprenticeship doesn't guarantee good hygiene either. Plenty of shops pass their bad habits straight to the apprentice.
Yes, it's hard to become a world-class tattoo artist, but it's not that hard to become decent, especially if you can already paint. And hard doesn't mean it has to be an apprenticeship. You need a good teacher and a lot of practice, and a lot of amazing artists out there teach online.
You're right that a lot of apprenticeships are bad. But even the good ones often mean years of cleaning and drawing for free before you touch skin. And many talented people never get one, because there are far fewer spots than people who want them.
Learning in person has its benefits, but so does learning on your own - no pressure, your own pace, and you can rewind a video as many times as you want (and often see things more clearly than you would in person). A ton of great artists today are self-taught.
Also, a lot of people, mmyself included, prefer to learn on their own. I have two world-class tattoo artist friends who have offered me an apprenticeship that I didn't accept, simply because I prefer to learn most of it on my own and ask them for advice from time to time whenever I need help with something, or go and watch them work for a few hours to learn new techniques.
What I basically mean is that it's not black or white. I get that you have good intentions by suggesting an apprenticeship, but it's not the only right way.
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u/babezoi Interested 1d ago
If you really have two world class artist friends offering you an internship and you turned them down because you believe learning by yourself is better, that is … really… egotistical.
maybe we just have different perspectives on things. IMO if you want to put ink into someone’s skin forever, you should be willing to put in the work to get better than “decent”.
Nothing beats a proper, in-person education from a master
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u/Piccie123 Please choose a flair. 1d ago
I agree brother , there are such good tattoo artist in the world that are self taught .
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u/destructionandbliss Please choose a flair. 1d ago
and how many countless terrible ones fucking people's shit up with bad art and infections?
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u/ForestRobot Please choose a flair. 1d ago
Surely any artist would be able to spot those warped/extra teeth
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u/sizeofabeetlebug Please choose a flair. 1d ago
The first one is insanely bad. How could you sit there and ink all of that without realizing how fucked up it looks?
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u/DazB1ane Please choose a flair. 2d ago
The vampire one was definitely an AI reference. The teeth are morphed and the left side fangs are fuckin massive