Career As A Tattoo Artist
Not everybody in the world wants to follow the same old career paths. In fact, there are some who want to walk the road less traveled by. Though, breaking the normal trend of opting for medical, engineering, law etc. is not an easy task, but there are some free souls who do not love to bind by even their professions. It takes a lot of courage and determination to take up something that is not taken by many. But some are actually meant to do different professionally, they simply want to live their passion in the name of profession and one such profession is Tattoo Artist.
Tattoo artists are the ones who take art to a whole new dimension. If you also think that you’re not meant for 9-to-5 job, and have the courage to do different from the crowd, then buy quality tattoo supplies and consider a tattoo artist career.
TATTOOING – WHAT IS IT ACTUALLY?
Tattooing is an ancient art, an art, which belongs to many different cultures across the world. No more outlandish art, in fact, the craze for this peppy artwork has increased worldwide. Tattoos are both temporary and permanent. But temporary tattoos do not stay on the body after a certain period. Whereas, permanent tattoos stays forever on the body. More often than not people prefer to go for permanent tattoos.
It is believed that the oldest known tattoo on human skin to date is found between 3370 BC and 3100 BC. The Tattoos were first found on the mummified skin. Ötzi, the Iceman, who was reckoned between 3370 and 3100 BC, had 61 tattoos of simple dots and lines on various parts of his body, made with carbon ink.
Ötzi’s body was found in the Otzal Alps and hence he got this nickname Otzi after the name of the Alp.
REQUIREMENTS TO BECOME A TATTOO ARTIST:
Entry Requirements:
The best thing about becoming a tattoo artist is that there are no specific requirements as such to become a tattoo artist. More often than not, tattoo artists are trained in an informal, more often unpaid, apprenticeship by some experienced tattoo artists or body piercers.
However, there are some art courses, which a tattoo artist can take forward. Especially, small business courses are often useful for those who want to have their own tattoo parlor in future.
Secondary Education:
To become a tattoo artist, there is no specific secondary education is required. If one is creative and have an interest in painting, photography, Maths, sculpture, printmaking (combined), te reo Māori, design and visual communication, and health to at least NCEA Level 1 can be very useful for a person who is interested to pursue his career in this field.
SALARY OF A TATTOO ARTISTS:
There is no fixed salary for a tattoo artist however, but according to job portals the average annual salary for a tattoo artist can be around $32,000 – $55,000. The salary is not constant, it varies based on the location, tattoo artist’s skills and much more.
JOB ROLE OF TATTOO ARTIST:
Tattoo artist’s job roles consists:
- To explain tattooing and piercing procedure to the clients
- To help clients choose images or design or jewelry based on their requirement.
- To help clients with the placement of the tattoo
- To copy the design or image for the clients
- To make stencils of those images
- To prepare and sterilize the area or the skin, where tattoo needs to be done.
- To prepare needles or fill in the ink in the needles or tools in order to create decorative, cosmetic or paramedical (covering scars or buns) tattoos.
- To pierce skin to etch tattoos or cut skin and insert jewelry
- To sterilize all the equipment and tools in order to make sure that the studio meets health and safety standards
