In the past few years the tattoo industry has skyrocketed and is probably one of the fastest growing industry today. For this reason, a lot of people are taking this profession seriously, rather than a silly line of work.
If you are interested to become a professional tattoo artist, there are a few things you should know or consider before entering this kind of profession.
Do you have the skills?
This is really not a requirement because a lot of professional tattoo artist started out not learning how to draw. But if you have the skills or you are already an artist then you are certainly at an advantage. Remember drawing on paper is totally different from drawing on skin using a needle, it looks easy, but it’s extremely difficult for beginners.
Do you have the time?
Becoming a professional tattoo artist takes time. Tattoo apprenticeship takes years to finish, and it’s not easy, there are no shortcuts here, it all depends on your teacher to teach you all the bells and whistles of proper tattooing, hygienic techniques, the right way to prepare and clean the area to be tattooed on, correct way to sterilize instruments, the list go on. Another thing to consider here is choosing a reputable artist to learn from and most of the time these guys already have apprentices lined up.
Licensing
Once you’ve graduated from apprenticeship, you need to apply for a license to practice tattooing. Visit to your local council and apply for a tattoo artist license. Requirements: you need to be of legal, furnish copy of a government issued identification and a certificate of completion of the education courses from your tattoo artist.
Moving up
Now, if you’re really confident with your skills and feeling adventurous, you can open up your own tattoo studio. It is advisable to to take a course in business management, this can help you a lot in running your studio.
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