apprenticeship found.... now semi worried..

Hey everyone, well I finally found an apprenticeship in my area. The guy took a look at my portfolio and said I have talent.. So, im really excited about that. However, the shop doesnt have the best rep thats forsure.. Do you think me apprenticing at this place will hurt me in the long run? I mean I understand I could pick up some BAD habits from these artist that could haunt me for years to come.. but at the same time ive been trying for a good time and all the apprenticships are way more $ then I can afford.. This shop owner seems really cool and down to earth.. seems like a cool guy.. and plus Im thinking its a foot in the door and being that he is giving me this oppurtunity I in return am willing to respect that and bust my ass for him and his shop! however, I dont want to screw myself in the long run (hope that makes sense) So my question... if you apprentice at a shop that doesnt have the best rep do you think it will limit me in the future.. or does it pretty much all come down to My ability.. and my work?

just go for it and see how it goes, at least you can always say youve worked in a studio if nothing else, besides if you dont do it you'll never know. good luck.

I think I'd be interested in 'why?' the shop has a bad rap, as, if, say it was for doing crap work or spreading diseases, I think you might want to reconsider. I'd also want to check if there's any legit basis for the bad rap as it could well be just 'shit slinging' with nothing to back it up. Doc

It sounds like you have your head on straight and to be honest with you, you should consider the source of the rumours. Who's doing the shitslinging? Competitors? Customers? If it's the competition, not to worry. If it's the customers, ask them a few things like: did you approve of the tat and were happy when you went out the door with it? did you ask the person who did the tat about it at the time? did you go back after it was healed? If there are patches of ink missing, they probably pulled off the scabs taking ink with them accidentally or not. Thats thier fault. Did they actually look after the tat properly as in stay out of the sun, chlorinated swimming pools etc etc. Chances are they did not look after it properly. If someone comes to my shop and wants me to check out what they say they are not happy with, it's usually fairly easy to tell if its something I did or not. If they didnt look after it, I tell them it's repairable but its gonna cost the same as the original tat did and some other shops actually tell them it's going to cost double the original tat. There's a lot of badmouthing right there without even doing anything! Now here's another tidbit for you........unless your someone very well known and liked by the masses, you'll get badmouthed at some time no matter what you do. There's not a lot of good to be said about anyone in this industry as far as references go so be prepared. Here's a prime example: my buddy owns a studio and his right hand man left after 3 full years working alongside him and letting him manage the shop when he was out of town etc. and the first thing he says about him is 'he was a better artist than a tattooer'. No 'I wish him well' or 'I'm gonna have a hard time replacing him', nothing like that at all, just some shitslinging. A year after he left my buddy's, he's doing well and my buddy still thinks his work is shit. Go figure. Just my free advice, take it for what it's worth. Good luck.

Im friends with tattoo artists whos studios dont have the best rep. *shrug* Can we see some of this studios work?

hay stay whit it if you don't like what's going on in the shop or if you feel like your not being taught much look else where but as long as the shop stays clean the reap might change for the good so if you think it's worth it stick whit it keep the ink flowing