When the student is ready...

Until I am fortunate enough find a wickedly talented, highly professional and business minded tattoo-artist willing to apprentice me, I am going to continue studying the work of those artist's whose work I'm admiring.

Here's who I'm looking at right now:

1.  Steve Moore - Get More Tattoos out of Vancouver 

• Website:  http://www.getmooretattoos.com/

2.  Paul Booth - Last Rites Tattoo Theatre in New York

• Website:  http://darkimages.com/index.html 

 3.  Bob Tyrrell -  Night Gallery in Detroit

• Website:  http://www.bobtyrrell.com/

I usually don't take advice from someone unless I want to be them or they are considered the best of the best at what they do. So, if I'm posting these names here, it's because they are quality examples of the work.  The Mike Holmes 'do it right'-ers of the tattoo world?  I don't know them personally, but I appreciate the work in their on-line portfolios.

This is by no means the beginning of a "Top 10" list.  I just want to record my looking and learning journey.  If you know of anyone who's work you think I should be looking at (or who is looking for a serious apprentice), please...by all means, email me.

Keep in mind:  When I wanted to learn Adobe Photoshop, I went to Miami to take a class with Laurence Gartel, long considered to be the 'Father of Digital Art.'  I have no intention of being a clown or a scratcher once the tattoo gun gets in my paws.  So, I'll keep waiting, looking and learning until it does.  You can't rush art?

Stay tuned,

S

Where to begin?

While I am grateful for all of the encouragement I've been receiving from friends and future clients, I'm a little frustrated right now.  Finding an apprenticeship/mentor isn't proving to be an easy task.  The last shop/artist I went to check out in Regina had not been keeping the posted business hours...on three separate occasions.  The signs on the shops stated that they were open, but the lock on the door showed the opposite.  I was hoping to check out his book before I asked anything else, so...so far, not impressed.  I'm starting to understand how come some people break with the master-apprenticeship traditional tattoo teaching and learning and buy videos and learn on their own or pay $5000 for 3 week short courses. 
 
I'm going to remain optimistic, content with 'que sera, sera,' and keep searching.  When the student is ready, the teacher appears?   I live in rural Saskatchewan, at least an hour away from a larger center.  There are three shops located within 100 km, so I am going to check them out in the coming weeks and see what I can see.  I have seen one woman's work in this area that I really like, so I am going to see if I can find her and check out her book.  I have already seen some of her work on some arms in Yorkton and she's impressive.  The lines are tight, the images very well drawn, and the client was thrilled with her work.  I'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, I'm going to keep watching the instructional dvd's I bought myself for my birthday this year, reading my books and checking out tattoo shop websites and artists and work.         

My portfolio is ready.  I majored in drawing for my B. A. degree and majored in visual art education for the B. Ed.  After being humbled by the grade 4 art class children I met in China in 1985 (that amazing group of children who sat me down and charcoal sketched a very realistic portrait of me in ten minutes), I also studied drawing development.  I have taught others how to draw for over 20 years and prefer to draw people myself.  I'm thinking that I will probably be good at portraiture once I get the feel of the gun and blood line work.  My computer skills will probably come in handy for those back pieces I'm being asked to provide flash for too...love adobe photoshop!

The Decision

 

I decided to study tattooing this year.  
Always an arts educator, I also decided to document my journey.  Hence, this blog.
Stay tuned.