How many times have we heard clients say 'oh, this looks easy, I can do this'?
Pardon us tattooers when we show insult.
What they are seeing, particularly in the studio I work in, are years of diligence. Years of learning the proper techniques, the proper equipment, the proper procedure before, during and after a tattoo.
I have the good fortune to work with two gentlemen who have between them 59 years of experience! Even our 'young pups' have 7 and 8 years apiece. Hard fought years of learning and keeping from saying 'oops' and knowing what to do when they bobble (yeah, they all may bobble at times--they are human).
I've known artists who can smoke a canvas - they can draw anything and it just wows the crowd! Now put a tattoo machine in their hands and they are back making stick people and funky daisies. An 'artist' does not a tattooer make and a tattooer may not be a great artist... they just know how to put that concept into the skin.
Now let's add a human side to it all. How well can you work with someone right in your face, watching your every move? Or someone with kim chee breath from Hades? Body odor? You get to spend an hour or much more right there with them!
Oh, yeah, this looks easy!!
What if they squirm, cry, whine, jerk....how are you with that? Easy? yeah, right.
Count the colors and their application in this tattoo...if you counted 10.....now THAT'S experience!Not a people person? Wrong line of work! You are gonna spend lots of time with each individual and your conversations may run from soup to nuts. The ability to divert a client's discomfort is a gift and one you MUST learn. Grouchy ol' tattooers are a dying breed (thank heavens) and the people person is gonna be busier than the grouch ever thought of being.
Like working with other people's ideas? Ya better! I chatted with a gal who was so intent on becoming a tattooer because by golly she loved to draw! I advised her to get her friends to give her an idea and have her create from that. Her response?
"Oh, I will only work on things I WANT TO DO"
Babygirl, you are looking at the wrong profession! Maybe it's the 20th honu/plumeria combination that week...but to that customer it is the choice for a lifetime. Better be ready to put your heart into it each and every time.
How easy is that?
Picture taken to show how important it is to CHECK THE STENCIL. How do you spell STRENGTH? Probably not like the above tattoo as done on a returning soldier. Think he was disappointed? Easy? Better keep a dictionary handy! And that kanji a customer just handed you... are you sure it says 'love' and not 'eggroll'?
When you are making a permanent change to another's body you better have things right. Right training, right equipment, right everything. It is, to use an overworked word, an AWESOME responsibility.
Oh, yes, while you are making it look easy you are consciencious of every move you make, everything you touch because to do less could mean the transmission of deadly viruses and bacteria. Add that to the soup and... humm.... how easy is it now?
While tattooing is a good career for some it is not for everyone. There is so much more than making it look easy. So very much more!
SPAY AND NEUTER!! Help control the pet population! Remember, YOU are all they have!
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