I've always had an interest in Tattoo Designing. Over the last few months people have actually commissioned me to produce tattoo designs for them. Because of this, I thought having work experience in a tattoo shop would help me get a better idea of what I want to do when I leave university. Whether tattooing is a career I would like to pursue. I emailed a few nearby tattoo shops, unfortunately one didn't reply and another didn't have the time/space to take me on. Thankfully, the tattoo shop I actually hoped would say yes, did.
Loki - ink, Plymouth
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Before starting my work experience, they asked me to take in a small portfolio of my work to get an idea of my style and what I liked to draw, making it easier for them to set me tasks for when I started. I visited them on the 14th January to show them my work.
Day 1 -
Even though I enjoy designing tattoos, and seeing the finished product, I've actually never seen someone getting tattooed. My first day in the shop wasn't actually much of a busy one. They only had two people in. They didn't hesitate on setting me tasks to do though. On my first day, I produced a tattoo design and learnt about how to keep the equipment and areas clean. Below is an image of the tattoo design they asked me to draw. Personally I don't think its my best work, I'm not sure whether it was because I wasn't used to working in that particular space or that I felt a little pressured into getting it finished as they would keep asking how I was getting on and looking over my shoulder. I think if I spent more time on it, it would be something I would be happy with. Usually I spend up to 15 hours on one of my final designs., I spent under 1 hour on this one.
Day 2 -
On my second day in the shop, one of the things I learnt was how to print out the tattoos so they can be transferred onto the person skin easily. It seems like it would be a very easy process, but you need to think that whatever you print out is the exact size/shape etc. of how its going on the person. You have to scan your design into the computer, edit anything thats wrong in PS print it out check it again yourself or someone else to make sure the size would be right, if not go back and change it, then put it through a different machine if it is right. The worst part was, if your design was bigger than A4 you have to cut the design up into A4 and then put it through as it can't take anything any bigger, meaning you have to carefully piece it all back together when its out. The task they gave me on my second day, was to draw a sleeve design. Not for anyone in particular, just anything I wanted that I personally thought someone could have. I was allowed to look on the internet and through their magazines and books to get ideas. My final design ended up looking a lot like one I've done previously because I wanted to try and improve the original design and didn't want to copy anybody else's work. I found this very difficult because of the space I was working in and still felt a little uncomfortable, as usually I do my art work in the comfort of my own room, probably in my pyjamas or something. When working in the space at the shop, even though they were working around me and there was a lot of art work up, I found it very difficult to find inspiration.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of my work from the studio, but the photo below is of the one I did in 2010 which it looked very similar to, the one I was trying to improve.
Day 3 -
I only spent half a day in the shop on day 3 because I had a class in the morning. Because I was only there for half the day they didn't get me to do any drawing. I just learnt about the different needles used, how to sterilise them. I learnt about how the cash machine works and about intake. Also, they showed me the book they write all the designs in, how they go about who does what design and how they know whether the design is being done or if it needs to be done, and whether its completed or not.
Day 4 -
On my fourth day they gave me a design to do out of the book that a girl had recently come in and asked for. The notes were very brief so it wasn't easy to get a full idea of how she wanted it to look.
"I want a vine with roses to wrap around the top of my leg, with a revolver on it, if not the vine with roses a bow"
It may seem quite straight forward, but when it comes to tattoo designing the more detail someone can give you the easier it makes it, for example size, colour, maybe the positioning of revolver. Because I didn't know the specifics I decided to draw it how I thought it would look best. I was really pleased with my outline for it. This is the only photo I took of it. I also did a line of vine leaves to join up the two ends. I decided to draw the revolver seperately, so that when the girl came in to see her design she could say where she'd like it. After I'd finished the design they called the girl and she actually came in that day to see it. Unforunately, because she hadn't said exactly what she wanted, size wise, it was completely different to what she wanted. She actually wanted small roses all the way around the vines, approximately 5mm big, however, the shop owner told her it would be impossible to do as after a week the detail in the roses would merge and it would just look like a blob. That the smallest he could do with detail would be about an inch big. I kept the design anyway, as I liked what I came up with and thought if anyone else wanted it, they could have it.
Day 5 -
This was my last day, it was definitely the longest. The shop opens at 10am and shuts at 5pm, however, they change the hours depending on whether people request later or earlier times. They stayed open until 7.30pm on this day because someone booked a 2 hour slot for 5pm. I don't know whether it was because it was the final day or whether it was because there were people constantly coming in for tattoos so they didn't give me a whole lot to do, but it went really slow. They asked me to have a go at one last drawing, of a phenix, I always like new challenges and having a go at something to get an idea of how to tackle it next time, but I've never really drawn any type of bird before, so this was definitely not going to be easy for me. I couldn't even print something off to help me because the printer broke, so I could only rely on what I could find in the magazines they provided. I only did a draft of a phenix, as I wasn't completely sure on the design. But for a first attempt I was very happy with what I produced. It isn't very clear to make out as I only did a pencil outline.
Overall, I definitely got a feel for working in a tattoo shop. After working there I'm still undecided on whether I would actually like to take it up as a career. The owner of the shop actually asked me to come back, but said I think I want to finish university first before I jump into anything as I was still unsure. For now I'm just going to keep my tattoo designing as a hobby, but they have said I'm welcome anytime, and can even put my designs up in their shop, so if anyone wants it I'll get some money for it. I will definitely consider doing this, but currently I have a lot of people who have made requests for tattoos and would like to complete them first.
