Not all artists are created equally.

Pathways of Education: Tattooing why is there inequality?

Time earned education? 

Or gatekeeping?

NOT ALL ARTISTS ARE CREATED EQUALLY

Education for tattoo artists is available but rarely does it meet specific criteria for higher education requirements, and most times it doesn't even meet basic educational standards. A lot of times this makes newcomers to the profession feeling uninformed, and no true pathway into tattooing. Tattooing is a very ‘in-thing’ right now, and more so over the last 15 or so years has become a destination profession for many fascinated by its captivating lifestyle, deep history, and intrinsic need to feed our artistic selves. What is a destination profession? Simple- a highly sought after job or skill set that has low rules, minimal requirements to enter, and offers high pay based on talent and market saturation.

This can encourage predatory education practices by people looking to exploit their gateway into tattooing. For new passion seekers we encourage them to proceed with caution when pursuing their ink dreams. Some predatory business practices and lack of true regulations on education can be breeding grounds for poor ethics that will damage someone's experience in becoming a tattoo artist. I have used my experience to collect the best sources for education in an effort to prevent heartaches later on for newer artists. 

It is critical you use a discerning nature when selecting your education to not diminish your quality in our industry, or worse gain unhealthy, or bad habits. This advice can be applied to not just tattooing but other adjacent industries in body art such as cosmetic tattooing, piercing and other certification programs. This is a critical topic because tattooing is such a destination profession right now and floods of newcomers are joining daily. With the access of online education and droves of youtube videos, amazon access supplies, and people willing to get just about anything for free tattoo its really hard to know whats the right way to enter this industry. 

Sure tattooing is attractive, but really do you have what it takes to get into tattooing?

Let's talk about risk. Is it sexy? No. But, risk is a part of the job. Every single day tattooing, you will come in contact with blood. Sometimes its alot, sometimes it's a small amount. This is a critical risk factor that puts you at risk and occupational hazards. Ever heard that term before? It may sound familiar because of the term Occupational Safety and Health Administration, also called OSHA. Which is the federal sets of laws and regulations 

But just because its legal now, doesn't mean you don't have to know the laws. Tattooing was legalized in some parts of the United States as late as 2010. However there are still certain cities that have municipal bans against tattooing. For instance the city of Rock Hill, Sc has a county wide ban on tattooing that prevents a business owner from opening a tattoo studio. Due to tattoo shop regulations in south carolina tattooing is lumped in with many other forms of ‘adult’ type businesses that are unsavory in the county and the city has opted to prevent them from opening. So just because tattooing seems to be an awesome idea, prepare for some adversity when it comes to opening your own business too. 

A third but more important thing that isn't talked about is the liability you take on when you tattoo, or own your own shop. This topic is tricky and requires you to review this with an attorney. Because based on your state's laws, recent happenings, and how much your local judge hates tattoos this could range from ‘meh’ to ‘oh my god the ENTIRE WORLD IS ON FIRE!’ So say you have a tattoo client get a tattoo and they don’t take care of that tattoo and they get sick. You are partially on the hook for that.

I will explain, simply put, everything you do as a tattoo artist has to ensure you are protecting you, your business and your shop because the wrong customer will try to sue you if they are not happy for some reason, or they have a bad reaction to tattooing. So that customer that got sick after the tattoo, you could be in trouble for the outcome because you may have failed to provide proper tattoo aftercare. Especially if the client winds up with something serious such as an infection or needs medical care, you may be held liable and forced to pay.  

These among the many other fluctuating circumstances can make tattooing a challenging career. There is little education out there for new artists about all of these types of circumstances. Generally the best recommendation is to find a mentor, or mentorship program that can provide some additional support along with formal education. It is very important to consider the quality of the education you are seeking out when you are interested in joining the career of tattoos. Not only does supporting bad education set young artists up for failure, that same bad education saturates the market with sub-par practitioners and may put tattoo collectors at risk, and more devastatingly so it may spread incorrect information. That may 

There are no true standards of education for tattooing, piercing or cosmetic tattooing but there are some very strict basics you should follow. At a minimum all sanitation practices should be the first and foremost part of education, while this is the least glamorous part of tattooing it is at the very least the most important part of the craft. Sanitation is what protects you as a body art practitioner, but more importantly it protects your from a lawsuit from a client contracting a blood borne pathogen.

Above all else tattoo artists, and cosmetic tattoo artists and body piercers believe in is Do No Harm. Some things that clients may ask for may not be the best idea, or in reality just because something can be done doesn't always mean it should be. The difference in these things varies from practitioner to practitioner but without proper mentorship or education it's hard for a few body artists to know how to cultivate the right clientele. There are several soft skills that are needed for body art. It's very important that students, or newcomers to any of these professions choose wisely and look for certain trade information that offers higher level education and requirements