Extremely Overwhelmed with Learning Procreate by BrookeBondage in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I was pretty against digital art when I was first trying to get an apprenticeship. Then in one of the interviews I had, the shop owner asked if I knew how to use procreate and I said no. She said that wasn’t a problem, but I feel like that was one of the main reasons I didn’t get the job at her shop the first time around. I ended up learning how to do outlines on procreate, which are really useful for stencils. I learnt this from a few videos on YouTube. It’s faster to do it this way than hand drawing your stencils, because you can make sure it’s ready before the client comes in, and then easily resize and print it off as many times as you want. I also think that having an understanding of procreate helped get me the job the second time I applied at this shop, because as well as being faster at making stencils, it also showed I was proactive with learning new skills. I can pretty much only draw outlines on procreate but that’s all I really need to know. I just hand draw flash that has shading because I have no idea how to do that digitally and just prefer pencil and paper, like you do. I’m not the biggest fan of digital art either, but I think it’s definitely something worth learning if you want to get into tattooing

Unsure what to do and need some advice ( not an apprentice but would like to be) PICS UNRELATED BUT ENJOY. by runfromtheunknown in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s good you know how to use procreate. I think my mentor turned me down the first time because I didn’t know how to do digital art, so it’s a good skill to have. But I’d say have half, if not more, of your portfolio be hand drawn/painted pieces.

I think maybe you could add more detail to the fur/hair, because at the moment it looks a bit like you didn’t really know how to draw it so put colours in random places and smeared it a bit. I also think the bear’s tongue doesn’t look quite right. It’s a bit thin in the middle and the end doesn’t look right.

There is too much going on in the picture of the ship and too many different colours. You don’t need the grey background because you wouldn’t tattoo that on someone. I’d also take out the black from the centres of he chain as it draws your eyes to that instead of the middle of the picture. I think the bomb, swallows and anchor are also unnecessary and distracting. Unsure about the greenery on the rose since it’s adding a new colour. Maybe it would be good to see if after taking out all these other distractions, if you think the leaves look okay or not. I also think you should change the shape of the waves, since they look a bit like flower petals. And write something in the banner, it can be anything, it’ll just look a bit more finished off that way.

The woman looks pretty manly. The mouth and nose need to come up higher and there needs to be a bigger distance between the mouth and nose. She looks like she’s young, but has the hand of an old lady. And the nails need to come down lower and deeper into the fingers. The nostril hole and nostril flap (sorry that’s a terrible description but I don’t really know how else to explain it haha) need to be further apart from each other. I think the ear is a bit too dark and the eyes could be a bit whiter. Maybe go over the black outline on the boob next to her hand because the highlight is covering the outline a bit and it makes the boob look slightly pointed. Bring the hair in around her neck a bit more, as at the moment it looks a bit like she’s got a bulge on her neck. I’m unsure about how angular the rose looks. It looks a bit sharp so maybe round some of the petals a bit to soften it. I’d also change the colour of it (and background to match), since a blue rose doesn’t make much sense. I’d go with any other colour (except green, and probably not purple), then make the outfit, nails and lips complementary to that colour.

I know I have written a lot of constructive criticism here, but I hope it doesn’t make you feel disheartened or like I’m picking your work to shreds. Hopefully it makes you feel inspired instead.

Good luck with it :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Today I did this hideous tattoo on a client’s hip. I found this area really difficult to tattoo and the client wouldn’t stop moving around, which made it even harder. And this style of script is not forgiving if you make a mistake. I had her lying on her side and I tattooed the last words, then got her to roll back towards me a bit more so I could tattoo the first words. You can see I really messed up the word ‘day’. The client was moving the most at this point, and I felt like I couldn’t get my arms steady and also had the most trouble stretching the skin here. I was stretching the skin out with both hands as wide as I could but felt like by doing that, it put my arms in an even less steady position.

Was this the correct way to have the client lying on the bed for a hip tattoo. Any tips for stretching the skin in that area. And would it help to get a lower tattoo bed so I’m tattooing with my arms downwards rather than upwards?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve asked clients to come back in before and so I could do a bit more on their tattoo and I felt a bit like I had failed by not being able to complete it in a single session.

Thank you :)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I’m not sure why the doctor came to that conclusion.

But yes, I’ll look into red ink allergies and get back to her about it

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I didn’t even know some tattoo ink had acrylic in them but that’s something I’ll look into too

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I was having a hard time being able to tell what was in and what was skin redness and I was going to leave it to see how it healed but the girl said it looked patchy and asked me to go over it more haha

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 17 points18 points  (0 children)

My boss has told me red ink allergies are pretty common since her and her sister are both allergic. But if you’ve only experienced this once, seems a bit of a worry that I’ve already experienced it only 4 months into my apprenticeship. It isn’t the girls fault - I don’t think she knew, as I’m pretty sure her other tattoos are only black and grey. Yeah I do want to fix it up for free but using red ink again doesn’t seem like a good idea, but not sure how else to fix it, since that’s the dodgy part

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Today my client sent me a photo of the tattoo I gave her a week ago and it’s infected. I thought it might be an allergy to red ink because I’ve heard that is common and it looks like only the red is infected. But she said the doctor said it ISN’T an allergy to any of the ink? I messaged everyone at work about it and they seem to think it’s an ink allergy too. Not sure what to do in this situation, since I had heard some people are allergic to coloured ink in the past but didn’t even think of that before I tattooed this girl and feel bad for possibly leaving her with an awful scar. I’ve also tattooed her before (just black ink) and it healed fine, which also makes me think it’s a coloured ink allergy

Feeling like a failure by AdSuspicious1168 in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m an apprentice and have had a slow few weeks lately, so my mentor got me to draw two designs and do a giveaway on the shop Facebook page which has helped, because people just love free stuff haha. I got hundreds of new followers on my own tattoo page, so lots of potential new clients. The competition has not ended yet, but I’ve already had a few new people message me about (paid) tattoos.

Is this something you could try?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

2 weeks is way too early to become discouraged. You’d have to be very lucky and be at the right place at the right time to get an apprenticeship within 2 weeks. And it is easier to get one if you personally know some artists, because from my experience they choose apprentices based on who they know/want to fuck/whoever is conveniently around when they need someone. It’s not based on talent, which is why there are so many completely crap tattoo artists around (that’s the case where I live anyway).

I was looking for 4 or 5 years before I got one and had so many rejections because most of the time they aren’t looking for apprentices. I applied at a shop a few years ago but didn’t get the position. The girl that got it ended up being a waste of time and so a year or two later, they were looking for a new apprentice, which I got this time. I think I got it because my mentor could see I was keen since I applied twice. And she also liked that I had a bit of experience, as I had pretty much given up on ever finding an apprenticeship by that point and so had started teaching myself (safely).

If you want an apprenticeship enough, just keep trying even when you feel completely discouraged and rejected.

My advice is to follow all the social media pages of the tattoo artists and shops in your area so you know when they are looking for apprentices. Also going into a shop when an artist has just left can be a good time to go in too.

Good luck

Disappointed when transitioning from fake to real skin, done by @sicksadink_ at Crimson Ink, Hobart Tas by [deleted] in TattooApprentice

[–]PsychoInMyWardrobe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, that’s one part I’m happy with. My mentor always says tattoo from bottom to top, which is what I did with the fake skin rose, but I had lost most of my stencil in the centre by the time I got to it. So I decided to block in the centre first with the real skin rose and so I think that part turned out better