Tattoos are now mainstream. What was once a sign of rebellion, abhorred in the grandparents’ eyes, has been made a part of our lives as a way to express ourselves. About 30 percent of Americans have at least one tattoo today, with almost half the population being millennials.
So it’s a good time to be in the tattooing business. But no matter how up-close and personal you get with your tattoo artist, there’s still a lot about the job you probably don’t know. A few experts were consulted about inking.
There are now more than 15,000 tattoo parlors across the United States, as compared with roughly 500 tattoo artists who were active in 1960. But while the industry is booming, it’s difficult to get your foot in the door. First, you need to be apprenticed under an artist of high standing. But this can take years.
“I just now have an apprentice and he’s been bugging me about it for three years,” says Chad LeeverHe is a Indiana tattoo artist. His top tip to landing an apprenticeship is? “Hang out, get to know us, get tattooed, but even then it will probably still be no. It’s really tough.”
For years, tattooing was a secretive and exclusive industry. The “every man for himself” culture has roots in the early days of tattooing when an artist had to protect the tricks of their trade. Sailor JerryFor instance, his use of vibrant ink colours and Japanese-inspired designs was a hallmark. His work would draw other artists to him, who would then ask Jerry about his methods for creating such vivid colors in the shop’s posters. Jerry would say that he would add sugar water to the ink. The copycats would realize they’d been sabotaged when they found their posters full of holes—eaten by cockroaches attracted to the sugar.
“Everybody has their secrets and they don’t wanna tell anyone else,” Leever says. “You have to earn the right to gain the knowledge.”
You will be a savior if you are lucky enough to get an apprenticeship. “Being an apprentice, we can make you do anything,” Leever says. Leever was required to have his navel punctured during his apprenticeship. “They picked out the most ridiculous navel ring,” he says. “It was this colorful rainbow thing and I had to leave it in for 10 days and show every person who came into the shop. It was horrible.”
This ritual is meant to determine how willing an apprentice will go to get the job. “It’s tough but you’re gonna find out if someone’s gonna make it or not based on how much they wanna sacrifice for this career,” says Bang Bang, a celebrity tattoo artist in New York City and author of the book Bang Bang: My Life In Ink. “Do you love it or do you just wanna be part of the show? You have to prove you are just the humble, humble student.”
Artist-in-training may not be able to use a tattoo gun for the first time in years. When they finally get their first shot at inking some real human skin, it’s often attached to their own body. “I just had my apprentice tattoo himself,” Leever says. “It was terrible tattoo. It was horrible. He messed it up and he’ll learn from that but now things will make more sense the next time he does it.”
Occasionally they’ll get to tattoo their close friends or even their teacher. Bang Bang says he was the subject of his apprentice’s first tattoo attempt. “If I’m not brave enough to get it, how can I suggest other people do so?” he asks. “I wanted to show them I believe in you, you can do this.”
Orange peel, fake skin and pig ears are other non-human practices materials.
iStock.com/Portra
If you’re looking for support for your burning desire to get a neck tattoo, you probably won’t get it from your local tattoo parlor unless you’re older and have a steady job. Many tattoo artists won’t do neck, face, or hand tattoos for teens because it can have a negative impact on their life.
“I don’t feel like at 18 you understand the risk of that,” Leever says. “That’s huge. I feel from a moral and ethical standpoint, I could do this and get paid however much, but totally change or ruin this kid’s life.”
According to one survey, 61 percent of HR managers said a tattoo would hurt a job applicant’s chances of getting hired. “People are like that’s money you turn away,” says Jeffery Page, a California-based tattoo artist, “but it allows me more time to do something more positive. Otherwise you’re screwing that person out of at least half of their job opportunities.”
Whatever your age or employment status, there are some tattoos artists just won’t do, either because it’s not their specialty or they know it won’t look good or heal well. Professionals will tell you this.
Small, intricate designs might not age well, and finger tattoos won’t last. Good artists will inform you of these possible complications, and even decline to do the work. Since so much of their business is dependent on referrals their art serves as an advertisement. It should also be well done. “A good artist will tell you no because your money is not worth their name,” says Page.
But this isn’t always true, especially for less-experienced artists looking to make as much money as possible. “They probably didn’t train under somebody that taught them well,” Leever says. “It’s become this cash-cow industry where people open up a shop that know nothing about tattooing and hire a bunch of people who don’t know anything about tattooing and it’s just about making money.”
One big pet peeve of artists is when customers don’t even peek at examples of their work before asking for a tattoo. It’s a bit like asking an interior designer for a renovation of your house without seeing their past designs, or even checking their Yelp reviews. But it is much more permanent.
“I want my work to sell itself,” Leever says. “I want you to look at this and realize, yes I am the one for you.”
This is also a sign a customer hasn’t done their research, another pet peeve. “If you’re in such a rush to get a tattoo that you can’t look up a person, then you probably shouldn’t be getting it done,” says Page.
iStock.com/_lolik_
This tattoo trend is not going anywhere. According to Leever, there’s been a huge increase in requests for the infinity symbol (which sort of looks like the number eight on its side) over the last few years. “A guy I worked with did four or five in one day,” Leever says. “It’s a poor, boring design. Maybe it’s on Pinterest or something.” Indeed it is, but it’s also on a lot of celebrities, including Kristen Stewart Taylor Schilling. Celebrities have an enormous influence on tattoo trends.
“When Megan Fox got lettering down her ribcage, it seemed like for a whole year we’d have girls come in asking for messages down their ribcages, saying it means a lot to them,” says Page. “But they never would have gotten the message on the ribs, because it’s more of a painful area, [except] the fact that she had it meant it was a cool summer addition to their body.”
These artists know exactly how to hide them so that the customer doesn’t notice. “Every tattoo artist messes up,” says one artist on Reddit. “We just take the time to fix it as we go, adding a flourish here or there, a little bit more contrast. No client would notice.”
All tattoos do not have to be paid in cash. “I actually love bartering, because both parties involved always get what they want,” says Leever. “No money exchanged, makes it easy. My best experience in barter would be the 1977 Kawasaki KZ750 motorcycle and sidecar. It was quite the deal.”
iStock.com/Glenofobiya
According to Page, women are more comfortable having their skin punctured repeatedly with needles than do men. “Usually the funny thing is, the more alpha male the guy is, the less of a pain threshold they have,” he says. Leever tells the story of a man who wanted a “tough guy Metallica tattoo” but who couldn’t handle the pain. With a single line of tattoo on his lower thigh, he left the shop.
Many aspects of the tattoo business are self-sustaining. People rarely get bored with tattoos. The Pew Research Center found that half of the millennials who have tattoos have at least one and 18% have six. [PDF].
But there’s also a lot of cash to be made in covering up old designs. “I make more money from guys down the street than from new customers,” says Leever, meaning bad tattoos from his competitors. “There’s always a name to cover.” And speaking of names …
According to tattoo artists, if you’re going to get a name inked on your body forever, it should only belong to your pets, your kids, or a dead relative.
iStock.com/PeopleImages
“If your back’s not hurting, you’re not trying hard enough,” Bang Bang says. “I have a bad neck now after many years of being hunched over. As are eye, hand and neck problems. It takes a toll.”
This article first appeared in 2016, and was updated in 2019.
