spittingwisdom

Ha! I've had a few. My favorite one was a guy who brought in a drawing his friend did of a cross where the end of the cross somehow morphed into the browning buck, and a Confederate flag pattern made up the background. I didn't tattoo it, but I was so impressed by the utter essence of rural Alabama it evoked.

I can't speak for all artists, but I would say that my number one complaint is that I often feel like I care more about the person than they care about themselves. I sincerely care about the people that walk through the door and I want them to get the best tattoo they can possibly get, because, you know, it'll be there for a little bit. Often people come in who are impatient and guffaw at the idea of having to wait in order to get their tattoo. I draw almost everything I tattoo, and I take pride in doing the best job I can do. When I feel that I'm being pushed to rush the process, I start feeling like the person rather get a tattoo for the sake of it, rather than get something of quality that they'll like forever. I want people to look at the tattoos I've done and say, "wow!", and I strive to do that with every client.

I've loved drawing as long as I can remember - my mom is an artist and encouraged me to draw at a young age. However, I didn't get into tattooing until I was in my late twenties. I was working as a marketing coordinator at an equipment leasing corporation, and I had one of those "this can't be it" moments. I had thought about becoming a tattooer about 8 years earlier, but I just never did it. I made the decision right then to start drawing again, and learn everything I could about tattooing without actually tattooing, and then look for an apprenticeship. I started reading message boards, learning about machines, drawing every day, and then about two weeks later, I walked into a shop on my way to pick up dry cleaning and asked them if they needed apprentice, fully expecting them to tell me to go away. The owner of the shop asked if I could draw and I told him about all the studying I had been doing. With a sarcastic tone, he said, "Oh yeah? What machines do you think are the best then?", and I replied, "From what I've read, Mickey Sharpes are pretty good." Turns out those are the machines he used and swore by. He gave me an apprenticeship on the spot.

For about a eight months, I worked my 40 hour a week job and apprenticed at night. My son was three at the time and it was really difficult sacrificing the time with him, as well as all of the sleep. I woke up every day at 5:30 AM, took him to childcare, went to work, changed from my corporate clothes into street clothes in the bathroom when I got off of work at 5, ate dinner in my car, go to the shop at 6, and usually worked until at least 10 or 11. I worked there Saturdays from 11:30 until about 11 usually, and had a day off on Sunday. After about 8 months, I went part time on my other job, and in a year, I quit and was tattooing full time.

The hardest part was the time I spent away from my son, and the lack of sleep. I was averaging about 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I'm so happy I did it though. I have a career I love. I can make my own schedule, and take off to chaperon field trips with my kiddo. I've traveled a ton, and I really have no complaints right now.

I was surprised at how much the skin bounces! We have to stretch the skin with our non-tattooing hand when we tattoo, but the video helped me see why it's so important!

Well, technically it's not similar to a gun at all. It doesn't shoot anything.