Disadvantages of being a tattoo artist?

Answer 1

I've addressed questions such as this in the past, and it's important to note that there are just as many disadvantages to being a professional tattoo artist as there are advantages. The advantages are obvious enough in that you work in a fairly chill and artistic profession and can therefore really express your creativity and make in some instances, a VERY good living doing it. The disadvantages are not so obvious to those who merely like the field and would think that it would be a very easy job…it is NOT!

The disadvantages can vary from artist to artist, but almost all would agree that the following points are the most prevalent. Most pressing is; you work long and sometimes odd hours and you almost ALWAYS work past closing by a few hours if your shop is busy enough, you have to deal with non artistic people coming in with grand ideas of what they want but not the slightest idea of how they want it and make you do several revisions of your artwork all because they couldn't give you any cues on how to execute it, you RARELY get to work on your own art and projects, you almost always work at home…be it on designs, shirts, machines, etc., you're almost never home when you say you are going to be, you usually eat something that came in a wrapper or in a box and it will usually be cold by the time that you get to it, you have to deal with bad hygiene and bad attitudes, you have to deal with your fellow artists which is usually a major task in a lot of shops due to confliction of attitudes or professional rivalry, MOST artists live pretty much paycheck to paycheck since you can never guarantee the business for the week and you can never accurately account for cancelled appointments, we have to pay our taxes in one lump sum at the end of the year due to the fact that we get paid in full all year, we have to regularly attend health courses and keep our accreditation up to date at expense to ourselves, you have to deal with the sharks, cut throats and hacks in this industry who will do nothing but smear your work to make theirs seem all the better, we have to deal with completely talentless people constantly trying to get a job at a shop be it out of genuine want or a shallow and unrealistic notion that they're GOING to get famous, we have to continuously turn away minors and drunks, we also have to deal with normal working folks who constantly try to question why we charge what we charge for what is essentially "drawing on people" as well as dealing with the other indignities of not being regarded as having a "real job".

So, there are quite a lot of things to consider when one wants to become a tattoo artist, and the above mentioned is just for when you are an established artist, the steps to become an artist through a required apprenticeship is even more daunting in that you are devoting ALL of your free time to learning a trade. You don't get paid as an apprentice, though you should be getting at least tipped out by the artists in the shop for doing work around the place and this will require every moment of your free time from anywhere from 1 - 2 years before you even get to skate the uncertain ice of being an established artist.