I dont think this is fair

I am apprenticing to tattoo and I was just read the riot act by the woman teacing me because I went to another guy and got a free tattoo. He does pretty good work but she says that I should be dedicated to her right now and that she is sick of hearing how good of an artist I think he is. She said she is not sure if she still wants to mentor me. Do you think this is fair? Souldnt I have the right to go to who I want for my ink?

first off i see your point. second you have insulted her ,and her capabilities by saying this guy rocks.wether you meant to or not you should say yes he is good and leave it at that. as far as getting work from another thats her call and i would not question it. remember she is taking her time with you and teaching you so you can benifit from the art and make a name for yourself. if i was apprenticing you and you came in with a fresh tattoo then so be it but if you started raving on the guy i would look at you and tell you well if hes so fucking good go apprentice under him. very insulting. like i said mention only once and let it go. so i can see both sides here. maybe a apology is in order and a lesson of humbelness has been learned. we all learn from our mistakes. hope she keeps ya on but think about her also. peace don

Yeah, I can see both sides also.

what??? ive had two apprentices, (never again!!!) and both were ALWAYS encouraged to go to other tattooers. i certainly dont know everything there is to know about tattooing, and all they stand to do is learn from that experience. there are a million tattooers who i think are better than me, and frankly, i really like to look at good tattoos, regardless of whether it's me or someone else who's done it... it sounds like your teacher has an ego problem, and is easily intimidated... i'd be willing to bet she has no business teaching anyone in the first place, if she's not confident in her own ability to "allow" her apprentice to seek work from another person. this whole scenario sickens me. keep getting tattooed by other people.. if she fires you because of it, she doesnt deserve to be tattooing in the first place. jesus fucking christ this pisses me off... some people are just so hung up on themselves they cant see past their own bullshit.

I agree with everything Seth said here. Also, we're not getting the side of the story about how good this "free" tattoo actually is. There is the chance that the tattoo in question is junk... live and learn if that's the case. I could understand a mentor getting upset by their apprentice taking a step backwards and getting shoddy "free" scratch work done.

You certainly have the right to get a tattoo from whomever you want. If your mentor doesn't take it as a compliment then either they suck and/or have the ego problem seth talked about, or your new artist sucks like the scenario Kandyman Joe envisioned. Can you point us to samples of their work?

seth and others sre bringing up good points. lots to cosider could we see any pics of said work along with hers not being judgemental just wondering.

A couple aspects no one else has mentioned, which I'd think are important, (1) Do you have any tattoos done by your mentor? (2)Is the person who did your 'free' tattoo a competitor? I don't know about those who answered this before my post but I like to ask how many of you would welcome having an apprentice flaunting a competitors work in YOUR Studio, bragging them up, as you are apprenticing them. Sound business move, having your apprentice advertising for them in your place of business, slick move on the part of the guy doing the 'freebie' not to mention the obvious respect involved.

you can do wtf you like, tell her to piss off, if she makes you walk who cares, you dont wanna be working with a twat like that anyway.

Doc, its all about the quality of the tattoos. Due to the nature of our studio, many of the tattoos we get are from different studios... It also depends on whether the person will learn or not. I mean, if they came in with a crappy tattoo and didnt get how bad it was, then they would be out... but due to stupidity. If they came back with something bad ass, then good for them!

Gabe, I'd think the difference here is that the person is an apprentice, not a client and I think THAT changes the equation considerably. I'd think any artist who's ever had an apprentice should see the point of my previous post.

yeah, I get the difference... but as Seth has said, we encourage our artists and apprentices (and serious clients) to get work from other artists and studios that are bad ass. We dont see it as arming or advertising the competition, cause we are friends, or at least allies, with most of the other bad ass artists... now coming back with some crappy tattoo from an adequate artist is stupid, and kinda insulting... but coming back with a sick tattoo to look and learn from is A-Ok...