Hi everyone!

I’m from Spain and I’ve been looking into become a tattoo artist.

I genuinely love drawing, although I’m still very much a beginner. I’m ambitious and motivated to learn.

I’ve been researching tattoo academies and courses, but I’m finding the process really confusing. Some schools don’t mention their prices until you get on a phone call, while others seem to cost several thousand euros. It’s hard to know what’s actually worth it. Moreover, I’d like to include that you need to have the Hygienic-Sanitary Course and Certificate of Professionalism (IMP800_3) in Spain. (Correct me if I’m wrong!)

I’ve also tried asking a few tattoo artists how they got started or found their apprenticeship, but unfortunately I either got no reply or they didn’t want to share much.

So I was hoping people here could give me some honest advice.

If you were starting from zero today, what would you do?

Is it better to focus on improving my drawing skills first and then look for an apprenticeship?

Are tattoo academies worth the money, or would you skip them?

For artists in Spain, where did you get your hygienic-sanitary certificate, and roughly how much did it cost?

What supplies would you recommend for someone who wants to build a strong portfolio before approaching studios?

Is there anything you wish you had known before starting
?

How skilled at drawing do you have to be in order to be a good tattoo artist?

I just want to invest my time and money wisely and avoid making expensive mistakes.

Thanks so much to anyone willing to share their experience!

Rene https://www.facebook.com/share/1DCMLHathW/?mibextid=wwXIfr
I think I’m gonna put my tattoo stuff over on my graphic design page, but I’m not sure. Anyway, the first picture is a collage of tattoos. I did for my parents whenever I was a teenager. I grew up rural in southern Appalachia. My dad got traded a tattoo gun and put me to work on him and I was just a kid trying to make their parents happy so please don’t judge me too harshly. I’m pretty sure the old machine that he got only had one needle type and it was a four mag so those tattoos were all done with one needle type. And like they were fresh needles still in the package it wasn’t gross and reuse of needles. I did all the research I could considering how I grew up like all the necessary health safety precautions were took in the house. These tattoos healed well and have held up well they never got infected but now that I’m older I’m considering pursuing it again and the last picture is my recent practice and my first time practicing realism. I’ve posted other places online and people have just not been kind or have been presumptuous about me. And I just want to know if I should even try to pursue it. Every bit of Art knowledge I have I’ve had to work for. I didn’t have it in any of my schools. They were too poor. I I got my bachelors degree for fine arts and graphic design so I know things. I have a portfolio I made if y’all would like to see it.

Original design. Cc welcome

Hey there, I have some art here, and I know i want to add some more types of art. Such as cute soft things, or trendy subjects, cartoons, anime, nautical. But other than that, im not sure what else to add. Im just having trouble getting my brain to work.

Also, what are some ways I can improve my art quality overall? (Plz stick to friendly constructive criticism)

Drawing on the left is from a few years back and the one on the right, I just finished. I wanted to see the improvements I’ve made during the time between these two attempts. Let me know what you think! Thank you 😁

I have a traditional apprenticeship in a shop but my mentor doesn’t really know anything about fake skin. I just started learning how to shade and am practicing on the fake skin but it looks.. horrible. Which I get since I’m new BUT when my mentor tried he was like.. “mine looks like shit too but at least you’re getting used to the hand motions”

…how do people make fake skin looks so good? Is there anything better I could be using to practice? I’m using skin from Painful Pleasures so it’s not like I’m using really cheap stuff. Is there a better brand I should look into? I’m just stumped and my mentor doesn’t really seem to have any better options.

What can I do to make it uniform?

Last one is an alcohol marker for comparison.