How to Become a Tattoo Artist: Career Guide
Should I Become a Tattoo Artist?
Degree Level None
Degree Field(s) None
License/Certification Licensure required in most states; voluntary certification available
Experience 3-year apprenticeship recommended
Key Skills Creativity and artistic ability; tact, patience, and communications skills
Median Annual Salary (2019) $34,555
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, PayScale.com
Tattooing is an age-old form of body modification that involves permanently embedding ink in skin to create designs or images. Tattoo artists are professionals who design and apply tattoos to all areas of customers’ bodies with specialized needles. When dealing with customers, tact and patience may be required. Long periods of sitting are often a part of the job, as some designs take a considerable amount of time to create. Evening and weekend work is usually necessary as well. According to payscale.com, tattoo artists earned a median annual salary of $34,555 as of December 2019.
Compile a Portfolio
Aspiring tattoo artists should possess great artistic ability and creativity. Before an artist can gain an apprenticeship working in a shop, he or she needs to complete a professional portfolio exhibiting his or her best works of art. The portfolio should showcase the artist’s versatility and ability to draw a variety of subjects. A portfolio can contain both original works and high-quality photographs of drawings.
Taking art classes, either in high school or through a local community center, can help an aspiring tattoo artist learn various art skills, including scale, proportion and shading, all of which are necessary to work successfully as a tattoo artist.
Complete an Apprenticeship
The Alliance of Professional Tattooists, or APT for short, recommends an apprenticeship of at least three years. During an apprenticeship, a prospective artist will work in a shop alongside a professional tattooist learning to design tattoos, to operate a tattoo machine, and sterilize equipment. Additionally, some apprenticeships include lessons on business aspects of tattooing and may prepare aspiring artists to have their own shop. According to the APT, free apprenticeships are rare. An apprentice often pays the artist to teach him or her or signs a contract agreeing to work for the shop he or she apprentices in for a set number of years after the apprenticeship is complete.
Take Tattoo Artist Education Courses
Many skills needed for a successful career as a tattoo artist can be learned from an apprenticeship with a knowledgeable artist, but some health departments and other state and local regulatory agencies also require classroom experience. Seminars in disease prevention, skin diseases and infections and training in blood-borne pathogen prevention may be required for licensing.
Get a License
Most states require licensure for tattoo artists; however, requirements vary by state. Oregon, for example, requires licensees to complete a minimum of 360 hours of training under an approved artist as well as 50 tattoos. A written exam and a skills assessment also are typically necessary for licensing.
Continue Education for Advancement
Some states require tattoo artists to complete a specified number of continuing education credits to renew their license. Continuing education options are available in the form of seminars and classes.
Joining a professional organization, such as the APT or the Association of Professional Tattoo Artists, can provide a tattoo artist with a variety of continuing education options as well as networking opportunities in the industry. Some organizations, for example, provide services that link potential customers to tattoo artists’ online portfolios and hold contests where artists can hone their skills.
Expert Contributor: Jared Ward Jared has MA and PhD degrees in religious studies and Asian history. As a professor he teaches history, philosophy and anthropology
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