Tattoo Forum - Great Tattoo Discussion! - View Single Post

bojie · #9 (**permalink**) 13-11-2009

Hey man no problem! You have any questions just ask!!! Here's the plain truth... everybody preaches apprenticeships, the trade is set up to give the artists a certain level of control over their competition this way. The fact is there will always be scratchers, heck most of the pros started out as scratchers! Now do we want all the scratchers out there using unsafe practices or tearing up peoples skin increasing their risk of infection, not to mention giving people horrible tattoos? Of course not! I am one of many against these hush hush policies so commonly found within the trade. I believe educating new and upcoming tattooists in safe procedures and proper techniques promotes safety to not only their clients, the tattooists family from contracting diseases from the tattooist, and the general public who loves tattoos and want a quality tattoo without paying rediculous prices. Believe me I understand why shops charge $100 per hour! Overhead, licensing, and insurance are devastating! That means all tattoos through the shop must be charged at full price, but it doesn't mean because people can not afford a quality tattoo they shouldn't have one, just as it doesn't mean these people won't turn to scratchers for tattoo work within their price range! Simply because someone needs to save a few bucks doesn't mean they deserve to be put under risky situations. Aside from all this, aspiring new tattooists are met with closed doors at every turn often frustrating them enough to prevent them from doing what they truly want to do. This is simply wrong because I can tell you now I've seen better work coming from many scratchers than I see coming out of a lot of shops. If someone has talent, desire, and a love for art then if tattooing is what they want to do they should be doing it! Unlike the popular belief, it's not about the money... it's about having people proudly display your artwork to the rest of the world for the rest of their lives! The money is just a bonus side effect.