Myths and facts about the lifestyle

No lies I used to think that being a professional tattoo artist meant you got to get out of bed at noon and hang out and drink beer and stare at half naked women till midnight , close the shop and head to the titty flop with a pocket full of cash. Now i'm not so foolish and no i'm not a professional. Just being the aspiring artist I probably spend 3-5 hours a day sitting on my ass oblivious to everything besides how to make a frog look like a frog or an eye like an eye. And on the weekends sometimes 12 hours straight drinking coffee till the wee hours reading and rereading , drawing and tracing and redrawing. So what's it like for the pros? Not only the artists themselves but the non tattooing shop owners as well? Might help deter some of the in it for a quick buck guys and itd definately give a good idea to some of the wanna be's like me.

A day in the life of TAz... Wake up at around 5:00 am..drink massive amounts of coffee, hit the drawing table and do custom artwork for clients,quick breakfast then off to the shop at 11.....sterilize, place orders for needles supplies etc...hope I make enough to cover the bills...open shop at noon..start calling my still asleep artists to get them to work...hit up the forum once in a while...yell at apprentices for not doing shit right...beat em with clip chord...argue with the electric guy then borrow money to pay the light bill...yell at apprentices some more...louder!..more beatings....call shop landlord and argue about who pays to get the air fixed...I lose...do a couple tattoos...a playboy bunny and a cover of a scratcher tattoo...pay back the money I borrowed for the light bill...draw some more...two large tattoo appointments cancel, they can get it cheaper at their cousins basement shop...4:00 pm...grab a sandwich and a bottle of antacid tabs...deal with irate mother who insists that she by God CAN sign for her 12 year old daughter to get her nipples pierced... hope i make enough money to pay for the COD order from Eikon Device...shop is all of a sudden full of the local college cheerleading team who are all drink as hell wanting navels pierced...reluctantly throw them out...shop fills again with real customers 2 of which thought we were too expensive before and now come in with shitty tattoos to be covered up and STILL think we are too expensive... eat half bottle of antacid tabs...go home hoping apprentices will clean the studio properly...kick dog, bet wife and kids..eat another goddamned sandwich...go to bed. There ya go

Lmao thanks Mr.Taz lol hell

lmao taz... well done.

Hey Jer, your dream tattooist world sounds like my day to day lifestyle. Except, i'm an accountant! Yeh, the ladies love us numeral smashers.

TAz, So who won the bet? You, the wife, or the kids? TCE

I was just wondering what he bet them on... the ponies? craps? poker?

That should have said BEAT! not bet! DAMMITT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha, that was great Taz. Holy moses, there are too many things to do to have the time to talk about all the work that we do! Must get back work! AHHHHHHHH. Oh, er... heh. ok on my meds. all better. It is very fun industry if you(and your family/friends) dont mind the sacrifice(BIG). There are very few things I would trade it(non tattoo artist "in the biz") for. Only things thats better is "real life". Which takes a hit because of being in business for yourself (a massive hit for the first few years(thanks family)). The key is finding a healthy balance between professional and personal life. A bad balance will tear either/or both apart. There are quite a few years where you really need to hustle and thats a strain oh boyo... That said, tattooing is a industry that rewards talent, hard work, honesty, and dedication. One of the things I really love about it is that dedicated artists can find "business" success if they keep their heads down and keep excelling and pushing themselves. I dont like all the hacks that make a living putting average or poor art on people because they are better at business than art and the public isnt educated. To me, I think very few artists should actually be tattooing and teaching. I almost think you should have an art degree or equivalent experience before even starting to learn... So keep working at it non-stop for years and years and if you convince the gods you deserve it you will be able to create whatever lifestyle for yourself that you want. If its a responsible healthy lifestyle, then wammo, what more can you ask for? Just make sure you keep giving back cause the gods like giving but dont like taking. Its like this in any business, but the karma about tattooing is different from other arts/businesses because of the permanence of skin. Its like every action in tattooing builds your karma good or bad times ten because of the nature of permanently marking other people. Its really worth being patient and making sure you only build good karma, cause its real easy to collect a lot of bad...

taz, that sounds like the life. i have always thought that for me, being truly happy would be doing something that you love, and making a living of it would be an added bonus. i love to draw and hopefully i can work hard enough to get where you are.

Even with all the bullshit I cannot imagie doing anything else. Not now not EVER

much respect

Gabe, it be shit like that that reminds me I'm not too slow on the uptake. I usually feel like I'm behind everyone else and have to play catch up so that I'll be able to get myself into the business. But, I'm young, and that art degree should probably be my first priority, along with practice and building up that lovely portfolio. It's all good though...I have my whole life to be a tattoo artist, and I'll never even get there!

damn and I thought I had it hard, lol My shit gets split between the web design studio and tattooing at night. I get crap from both worlds. To make a living out of art is not suitable for people with heart diseases. Like Taz said, I couldn't imagine myself doing something different. Cravink

Tattooing has been VERY good to , I just want you to know that it is not ALWAYS good!...There have been times that I was turning customers away cause there just wasn't enough hours in the day to tattoo them all...then there are times that we went days without making a damn dime...this why its sooo important that once you start making money you "pay yourself"...Put as much as you can back for those lean times and those lean times WILL come About an art education ...there are a lot of artists in general and tattoo artists in particular that are phenominal WITHOUT any formal training...but think of what they could have done if they HAD gone to art school! Or how much sooner they could have reached the pinnacle! I firmly believe that an education in business is nearly as important as an art education...art school will help yoy develop the skills to MAKE money...business classes will show you how to KEEP it!! XL illusion...you seem to have you head and heart in exactly the spot they need to be in...and you feet firmly planted in reality!.. Although Gabe and I rarely agree on a plethora of subjects...I am older ( and much better looking!) and he is younger ( and has a LOT more hair!) On the subjectd in this thread we are in complete colusion...If you want the easy life, a glamorous life forget tattooing...As a great man ...Jack Armstrong...the oldest living tattoo artist once told me while we were at the Artistry in INK convention by Tattoo Magazine in Dallas Tx years ago when I asked ."what do you say to a kid who wants to know if they should be a tattooist?" Jack said," You should only decide to give your life to tattooing if you know in your heart of hearts that you would surely die if you could not tattoo". Pretty much says it all....

well recently it was first off a long ass away from family and friends.would be ready by noon boss shows up at one do 11 hours straight on the slow side close at midnight.late nites untuil the ink stoped flowing.so id be up by 10am get in the shop when boss decided to show up hope like hell ART walked through the door (for the owner and other artist it was just scratcher cash) get to do a couple make cash pay boss rent and such send wife cash ( as much as possibile ) learn that my fatherinlaw of 20 years has terminal cancer and it is just time to go. stress builds up as i sicken watching 2 scratchers from hells kitchen just go at it,having no care except what they get for the tattoo.keep to the code i do and follow what i belive feel breath and love. TATTOO IS A ART YOU DO GOOD ART MONEY WILL FOLLOW AND WILL NOT BE TOO MUCH OF A ISSUE! KEEP THE ART REAL! ok sorry had to vent.finally have enough of the dramatic bullshit and get my ass fired after threating to fucking clean the floor with someones ass! but i am grateful to be able to face the facts that death is a part of life and i am very happy to share this time with pa.so days were basically 12 to 18 hours long 7 days a week. by the way the pay just simply wasnt worth all the termoil and disgraceful shit that went on in this shop.

Thats an awesome point about getting a business education. If you have the ability to create and the ability to run a business then you really do have a lot of control over your life that many people give up. With a proper education(which includes "book learning" as well as "in the field" practice) you can learn a lifetimes worth of lessons in years... Education has a very high dependable return on investment. Learn to create, market, and sell yourself and you will be self reliant. Very good point about the good times and the bad, the tattoo world can be absolutely insane in both directions. That good karma can create times of invincibility, but fuck it up and you can crash and burn very very very low. The tattooing magnifying glass goes both directions... reality is merciless... You really have to be positive all the time, the bad times aren't really bad times, they are lessons that you work your way through and at the end of the day those lessons are what will make success happen. One thing thats true in life, and more so in tattooing, is that you really need to push your self to be better every single day. The earlier and more you get that in your routine the better.

When I was a young kid I asked Bert Grimm how was the best way to handle the slow times....he said (well YELLED) "Ain't no slow times kid....when there ain't no tattoos thats when ya get busy with the pencil and paper!...Slow times are Gods way of tellin ya that ya need to practise!!"

well a day in my life is get up at 6 am take daughter to school come home go nap on couch til 10 am get shower go pay bills or do my running i have to do. open shop at noon. take out trash, sweep mop, steralize things, package jewelry sterialize it. make a list of supplies for boss to order. in between all that do piercings and $40 tattoos. listen to dumb asses try to get prices down on tattoos. maybe or maybe not do a big tattoo for some decent money. try to get a burger in tummy. try to draw something up to cover that shit the hack down the street or scratcher did. there are days i leave with $20 and days i leave with more than alot of people make in 2 weeks. but what sucks is that you never know. i'm new in this industry, and am just now building a decent sized client base. i was told when i started to save my $ for slow times and didn't listen. right before school started back up i went broke, had to borrow cash from my boss to pay bills. now i save $

As far as $$$ goes I've heard about the highs and lows.... I have a question what times of year are typically good and bad. I know retail has back to school and christmas.... Tax return season I've heard is good... any others in a typical year? What are the worst times of the year?

i stand firm on my conviction of and for the love of the art.as a child i would draw after well lets just say it was my safe haven and sanctuary of peace.i will continue standing firm and with the next shop im in this will be the main focus of me being there. i feel that we as artist should learn from one another not place one down with our faults ( especially with clientell )like gabe says learn from these experinces and move forward with that education and desire to better ones self. one thing is said in history that fits this buiss well."eat well and fill thy bellys with wine and satisfy thy loins with your woman.for today we feast as kings,but tommorow we may all be eating in the streets with the peasents" king arthur