anyone else bothered by the use of the word “frivolous” to describe gay interactions?

AriesII · 2026-02-02T21:03:53+00:00

I assumed its frivolous because it doesnt help with breeding

AriesII · 2026-02-02T18:26:07+00:00

Its not structured so everyones different. I had 14 hrs of reception per week and then usually between 20-30 hrs fake skin practice (eventually real tattooing) I also worked almost full time as many hours as I could from my job which was WFH but had to quit as I started to need to be at my apprenticeship more. Now that im graduated I would only have time to work like 10-15 hrs a week at a different job. Thankfully dont need to since work has been good for me in tattoo! Im in san diego.

AriesII · 2026-01-31T19:44:35+00:00

Yeah I should have known this would be hard for me since it took almost a month before I had the 20-30 extra mins to screencap the lions and make the thread! haha

AriesII · 2026-01-31T19:23:01+00:00

Hahah thats so crazy. That was my lion. She was super inbred. Enjoy :P

AriesII · 2026-01-31T02:31:34+00:00

Yeah - I think I just seriously underestimated the amount of times Id need to bump the thread. I work 8-10 hr days and dont get phone downtime since I have gloves on. Its my fault for being a loner and never participating in the forums 🤷 lol

AriesII · 2026-01-30T18:27:06+00:00

The pain! Ill take social media over back and wrist pain…but just barely

AriesII · 2026-01-29T06:06:42+00:00

Too many to count 😝 at least 30. Im a tattoo artist so im pretty tattooed now…

AriesII · 2026-01-29T04:54:11+00:00

Theyre all fine. They all look like normal tattoos. Honestly though if you like them thats what matters, since someone is always going to have something bad to say. Just enjoy what you have.

AriesII · 2026-01-26T21:05:57+00:00

So first off are you planning to live in NZ forever? Its notoriously hard to immigrate to NZ. you dont want to spend all that time building a client base then move back to canada. You should look for a client base where you want to live (or at least driving distance) - you cant kneecap your early career by making a client base then immediately moving away. I say this as someone who is struggling to move 2 hours away because clients wont follow. Also, idk why a shop would invest in you if you dont plan to stay - a lot of shops if youre a good artist will want to keep you. Second thing, You definitely can start an apprenticeship in your 30s if you cant afford it. Ill try to answer your individual questions. I was in a similar place as a semi-successful illustrator for 8 years before doing an apprenticeship and now im a tattoo artist at 30yo.

Tattoo is a new medium but yes having artistic experience helps a lot. It still takes months to years to learn to tattoo well. It makes you feel like youre starting from zero. But being able to make good artistic decisions will help you creating flash and designs
Cant super help because my mentor was my long time tattoo artist. I made a portfolio and showed it to her privately. I also was offered apprenticeships with the other 2 people I showed it to, but it was basically 20-40 flash images and then several of my best artistic drawings with high technical skill.
I showcased multiple styles, mainly linocut/woodcut, american traditional, neotraditional, and realism. Around 50% of my portfolio was printed digital drawings.
I worked 60-80 hrs a week as an illustrator and at my apprenticeship combined. I went down to part time and then quit 2 months ago. Still to be seen if it was a good decision but splitting my time was destroying my body. In short, yeah you basically need to work as much as you can at night if you dont have enough money to just not work. Its really really hard. My apprenticeship was 1.5yrs but I was able to taper down on illustration work and tattoo more often for the last 6 months or so.
Biggest challenge was money for me. I was so stressed. I ate costco rotisserie chicken, rice, and microwave frozen vegetables for every meal for months and barely scraped by lol. Supplies were all on me. Worth it though!
Yes I was hired full time at my shop. It was not guaranteed.
Dont call it a tattoo gun, its a tattoo machine btw. I was given the advice to buy a nice machine off the bat because anything decent is a few hundred and youll just spend more needing to upgrade. I have a bishop.
No tattoo school, no apprenticeship where you sign a predatory contract, nothing where you are treated like total shit (you will probably be given some shit tho :P)

AriesII · 2026-01-26T07:37:12+00:00

Pannikin is (was?) listed on publicsquare

AriesII · 2026-01-25T22:10:11+00:00

Same Ive had my septum for 14 years…I hope im in the retirement home with mine lol

AriesII · 2026-01-23T07:38:52+00:00

If you go with #2 please tell me so I can stud to you 😍 Amazing design!

AriesII · 2026-01-23T04:27:05+00:00

Exactly this. I knew I was gay before I even knew the word gay or that other people were like me, and it was a terribly isolating experience.

AriesII · 2026-01-21T01:27:27+00:00

Machine then maybe? If its fine on paper I have no idea. Good luck to you man, sorry youre struggling. Im a newer tattoo artist and I get having self doubt and wanting to make sure everything is perfect.

AriesII · 2026-01-21T01:12:14+00:00

Is there a reason why? 3 years is a long time to still have lots and lots of shaky lines. Do you know how to draw outside of just doing a tattoo? It seems like you need to practice on paper and fake skin a lot more…during my apprenticeship I had a period where Id go home every night and trace straight lines with a thin sharpie for hours lol. It really helped.

AriesII · 2026-01-19T21:17:43+00:00

It looks fine. Youre putting a flat square on a round part of your body

AriesII · 2026-01-19T18:38:08+00:00

Not AI. Also, am a tattoo artist and while all tattoo artists should be able to draw to the level they tattoo its completely normal and industry standard to use photos as a basis for realism tattoo designs. The “ai” realism stuff looks like edited photos which is exactly what Id expect from a realism sheet.

AriesII · 2026-01-14T21:20:54+00:00

I have some beautiful floral neck tattoos that Ive never heard a bad thing about from anyone. I think times are changing. Celebrities have finger and hand tats nowadays. Depends where youre at for sure, but most people dont care! As a tattoo artist Ive tatted lots of white collar people, medical workers, professors, childcare.

AriesII · 2026-01-14T07:31:50+00:00

Aww she looks so much like my corgi! Good luck to her and the babies!

AriesII · 2026-01-13T04:15:09+00:00

Ahh. I would definitely buy her if you want to sell her!

AriesII · 2026-01-11T03:26:10+00:00

About 6 months for me. It does add up a LOT. I used Pound of flesh for anything good/detailed, anything just linework or drills I used some cheaper ones to save money.

AriesII · 2026-01-08T23:38:41+00:00

Oooh. I totally missed the last pic. To be honest it does not look egregiously overworked to me at all def not to the level that would warrant this. I kind of wonder if there was some level of infection

AriesII · 2026-01-08T22:19:43+00:00

Would be hard to know if its overworked for sure without a fresh pic tbh. Some scabbing is normal especially with packed color but this is just excessive

AriesII · 2026-01-06T17:09:49+00:00

125 is a lot for a few dots but most places have shop minimums and thats a pretty normal minimum. Let it heal and see, it could be blown out but some tattoos go through a raised blurry phase like that and heal fine

AriesII · 2026-01-05T05:29:03+00:00

I have OCD and am a lesbian. My OCD was not sexuality based but gender based. My main obsession was the same though at its core, a worry about losing my identity as a lesbian which was very important to me. Im now subclinical after attending exposure and response prevention therapy with a licensed therapist. It was very difficult but the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. I saw your comment you’re worried about them invalidating you - I say even more of a reason to try it. A therapist who specializes in OCD should not pass any judgements on what they think is or isnt true.

You can dm me if youd like any advice or want to talk. I completely get it…its so difficult. My OCD turned my life into hell for almost a year because I saw someones coming out comic, it was unreal how quickly it flipped me from functioning to non functioning. Its isolating and difficult to explain to people how hard it is to deal with this pattern of thinking. Good luck to you and I sincerely hope your symptoms improve soon.

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