APT MEMBERS THAT cannot TATTOO

i am wondering how it is possible that someone obtain a certificate from the APT that can not tattoo worth a shit. i know of a few socalled tattooers that suck ass and have this APT cert.. i myself am not a APT memeber for this reason. i have been tattooing for 5 years and i beleive i have more knowledge of the technical aspects of tattooing then alot of these APT members. i have clean bold tattoos in 5 years and these guys have scratchy weak flat looking shit after 10-15 even 20years.. why does the APT want to have scratchers on thier site and in there associaation.???? my boss is actually APT.. i am not a fan of his tattooing.. i think APT needs to be reformed.

From their website: "What is APT? The Alliance of Professional Tattooists, Inc. is a nonprofit educational organization that was founded in 1992 to address the health and safety issues facing the tattoo industry." Quite simply, quality does not seem to fall within their mandate... They seem to focus mainly on safety issues through training seminars and education.. To be fair, they do also support the concept of real apprenticeships... The solution to your outrage? Join up, and encourage a ton of other pro artists who share your disgust and concern about technical and artistic quality to join as well. When you have the numbers on your side you can put on the pressure from the inside to change their stated mandate.... Basically, If you are not a paid member you not only have no power to effect change

the apt has one of the best blood bourne pathogeon courses out there. ive taken it twice along with taking a red cross bbp course twice. the apt course is a 5-6 hour class with an extensive test at the end. it is geared for the tattoo artist/piercer and good for anyone working in a shop. the red cross course was a half hour joke in my opinion. i highly recommend any artist interested in keeping up with universal precautions take this test and join the apt in support of our industry. there isnt a lot of support out there for tattooers so i feel the more organizations we have and belong to the more support there is for the better of tattooing. you never know what direction the government could swing in at anytime and if we have the support of a few organizations it could help in the fight for our rights. as for people that cant tattoo joining the apt theres a shit load of talented artists that have been involved with tattooing for the past 30 years of their life that are members of the apt. out of the almost 3,000 members im sure there are quiet a few that know what theyre doing and if their art isnt up to par at least they are trained about blood bourne pathageons and a sterile environment. you have to remember the thing about tattooing is that the art itself is very subjective. what one person thinks looks great another person might think sucks. in most towns you have great custom shops that charge top dollar and you have ghetto type shops that are cheap as fuck. why? different strokes for different folks some people can tell what the think a quality tattoo should look like while others think if they can get a sub par tattoo for 50 dollars cheaper thats great. i know it sucks but thats they way its been for awhile and while people are learning more about quality work its still a slow process because with the new "trend" of tattoos you have crappy shops everywhere. people think they can draw so they can just open a shop without apprenticeships or any training. especially in the area of sterility. oh yeah and you might want to check out the national tattoo association while your at it. im sure youull find artist whose work you dont like. you will also see a shitload of artist that are super talented and have paved the road for a lot of us today. you will also meet a lot of people that support this industry and are looking to improve tattooing constantly.

i know i alot of scratchers that are on th APT.. APT IS BULLSHIT!

ii, or jj or whatever...you obviously put a lot of thought and effort into your post... A few thoughts come to mind... How do you define 'scratcher'? Should an organization as a whole be criticized for the individual actions of each of it's members? Are you a pro artist? What do you suggest to improve things? Why do you know "alot of scratchers"?

I am not going to bring any bodys name int this but.There happens to be a shop very close to me that tattoos and pierces under age children on a daily basis.Me and some other local shops are all aware of this.I called the apt and left many emails with there so called state representitives and did not here anything.On top of that the person has links to the apt and application for apt on there web sight its a joke.To me a artist does not need a little certificate on there wall to tell them they are an artist.It should be called the abc(ASS BALL CONNECTOR)all total joke.

So if you think it's broke, fix it...But you can only do that from the inside... What are you doing about the unethical shop tattooing underage kids? Just complaining to an association you think is a joke? You are part of the problem then too...

usually your local health department will deal with shops that work on underage customers. maybe contact them to see what needs to be done about this problem.

I personally have contacted everybody that i felt would be a help in this situation.I am not the tattoo police.I only brought what i said up as far as under aged children because.Somebody had brought the topic of apt members that arent really that profesional.Basically no body in control cares until someone files a claim.Thats how it is here in P.A.Im also bringing up the fact that if i was to start a group that claims to be profesional i would trie a little harder to control the members of my organization.I no there is always going to be peolple that dont follow the rules but if somebody was calling me and telling me that my members were tattooing under aged kids i would be sure to get them out.And get my name and link off there site.Its all about money thats how i feel if you could pay you can join.

If you are in PA, then it is perfectly legal to tattoo a minor with parental consent. Is this person doing it without parental consent, and how do you know?

I no it is legal to tattoo a minor with perental consent.I can not count how many times pissed of parents walk in to my shop asking me wy there 13 year old daughter has her tongue pierced.Thinking that we did it.I also no people who work in the school system that see it every day.It is a known fact were i live, the kids even tell me.They all no were to go with no parental consent.I am stateing facts.I have not even mentioned the name of the shop so its not like im trying to screw somebodys name up.You can asked almost any shop around the area and they will tell you.