PMA

I am considering pursuing a tattooing career. This isn’t something I take lightly at all, and is something I am seriously considering doing. I am 30 years old, and have been getting tattooed since the age of 14, and have acquired a full bodysuit. I have work by Paul Booth, Ed Hardy, Bob Roberts, Rollo Banks (RIP), Jack Rudy, Guy Atchison, Fillip Leu (and his dad), Anil Gupta, Shanghai Kate, Horiyoshi, Hanky Panky, Tennessee Dave, Leo Zuletta, many, many others, both young and old, new school and old school. I have stayed in contact with many of these people, and consider them friends. Here is the plan. Spend a few months collecting reference material; books, old flash, etc. When I feel confident I have a strong reference library, quit my job, and spend a year (no joke) drawing. 8-10 hours a day, in my house, drawing. Trace a panther head a hundred times, then draw it myself. Trace a rose a hundred times, then draw it. Trace draw, trace draw, trace draw. Study what works, stay away from what doesn’t. Imitate tattooers I like, mimic their drawings, practice, practice. Stay away from fads and trends. Old flash, old tattoos. Trying to draw them, learning all about them. Look closely at writing and script masters, like Greg Irons, or Rick Griffin. Practice. In the meantime, take part-time art classes. Portrait drawing, calligraphy, sign painting, watercolor painting, etc, etc. Go to every tattoo convention I can. Live, eat, breathe, and shit tattoos. After developing a strong portfolio, respectfully approach tattooers I respect and trust, about a professional internship. Do it the old fashioned way: Mop floors and clean toilets, work for free. Learn about building machine and making needles. Work in street shops in military towns or high volume tourist areas, to get my speed up. As my skills progress, and I am tattooing, travel widely. Travel to places and learn things. Washington D.C. has a style, so Id try to go and tattoo and learn what I can. Go to Thailand, to Japan, to China, to Italy. Go to Samoa and learn how they tattoo, if I can. Listen and watch. Travel and read. Draw and re-draw. Important: I am not talking about picking up a machine and tattooing people tonight. I am talking about building a solid reference library, quitting my job, and drawing/painting/studying full time. 8-10 hours a day, for a substantial amount of time, building a portfolio, THEN going, and cleaning toilets, and mopping floors, etc, etc. Is this unreasonable? My main hesistation comes from the respect I have for tattooing. I don’t want to jump into it.