So...you want to be a tattoo artist. There is a right way and a wrong way to become a tattoo artist. The wrong way is to buy a "tattoo kit" and begin practicing on friends, or paying to attend a "tattoo school" that claims they can teach you to tattoo in X number of weeks/months. The right way is to develop a well-rounded art portfolio and then go around to tattoo artists whose work you respect and ask if they are willing to apprentice you. You may have to relocate, you may have to pay a fee similar to college tuition. You will definitely have to work hard, scrub floors and implements, trace stencils, take out the trash and spend countless hours observing and being instructed before you pick up a machine and use it on a human being.
    Due to the absorption of tattooing into the mainstream, brought about mainly by tattoo reality shows that depict our industry as a glamorous rockstar lifestyle, there is an extreme saturation of tattoo artists flooding the industry. For this reason, the field has become heavily competitive, making apprenticeships harder and harder to find. One should not make the decision to "work from home" simply because they cannot find an apprenticeship. This behavior only weakens our industry further, preventing clients from being able to obtain quality work and a healthy, safe environment to be tattooed or pierced in.
    At Bodily Charm, we are always willing to view well-rounded portfolios of aspiring artists. One must be aware, however, that the chances of obtaining an apprenticeship at our shop or any other quality tattoo studio are slim. Anyone seeking to apprentice under a reputable master tattoo artist must have a very impressive, versatile and competitive portfolio, thick skin, a strong desire to learn the craft of tattooing and a great deal of humility.