Beyond the Ink

Tattoo Artists Speak On the Realities of Their Job

Tattooing is an ancient art form and it’s constantly changing. The skills and qualities have evolved; the industry is rapidly growing and becoming extremely competitive.

“Apprenticeships have changed to me, traditional apprenticeships from my experience were pretty brutal. They were one sided and now you have to focus on several different aspects of tattooing; whether it was lettering traditional fantasy, you have to do a little bit of everything. Now I see apprentices and their mentors only doing one style, and they do it really really well. If you do one thing and you do it well, you start to master your craft. That is the end goal, you know?” said Jim Mellor, tattoo artist and shop owner of Three Ravens in Athens, Georgia.

Before becoming a tattoo artist you have to train; apprenticeship is like going to school. Obtaining an apprenticeship requires a lot of talent and dedication. You’ll have to find someone to become your mentor, which isn’t easy to do. You want to find someone who has work that you admire and they have to trust that you are capable of it.

“You get out of it what you put in. There is this quote by Phillip Lou, you don’t get good at tattooing by going out all the time. You have to stay at home and draw. You have to be driven and motivated, because it is competitive. I think about it all the time. I’m always thinking about drawing and ideas,” said Jack Nixon, tattoo artist from Pain and Wonder in Athens, Georgia.

“I was talking to my tattoo friends, tattooing is like art if it were an endurance sport. We’re just tattooing consistently,” said Nixon.

Many people think that a tattoo artist’s work is easy because all they do is draw and trace over an image, but their training never stops. They are consistently working on their craft by drawing day and night. There’re many different styles and a good artist tries to master as many as they can.

“There are so many different styles that artists can really dive into. I don’t think any artist has mastered them all. You know, there’s always room for more. There are different styles to study and different classes to take. I think that’s more my path, to keep going and seeing what’s out there,” Mellor said.

Tattoo artists have to be disciplined and take care of their body and mind. Their wrist and back are valuable. They often have to find new way to be inspired and work through creative droughts.

“The toll tattooing has on your body over time. You sit down for hours on end in one position, you have to really take care of yourself physically because if you don’t it’ll catch up with you. Younger people can go out all night and live it up which is completely fine. However, tattooing takes so much strain on the body, you need to be in sync. Physically, you need to do things that help you feel better every day, for example most of us see a chiropractor. We see a chiropractor, stretch, and sit certain ways,” Mellor said.

“It’s tough, drawers block happens, drawing through it or really stepping away and going outside to get inspired again telling yourself you don’t have to draw today,” Nixon said.

It’s a real job that takes a lot of passion, these artists are working daily to perfect their craft so they can be proud of their art that stays on someone’s skin forever.