backgrounds?

[taurbaby1313]

just wondering what everones backgrounds were besides tattooing.
for me i have a degree in commercial art,painted custom motorcycles for cosmic airbrush for about 10 years,painted t-shirts and pinstriped and i am an art intructor for the DOE/ hawaii and the lahaina arts society.
i work for samson harp at sacred center tattoos /kihei maui..come visit if your in the hood.

[SkinSkribe]

I'm a quality control inspector at a code fabrication shop. At 21 years, I've still got some time before I open my own skinart shop but it's just as well since they're illegal right now in Ok. I currently play guitar (for about 3 years now) and airbrush/paint/pinstripe in all of the free time betwwen tattoos and work. I've been into art all my life, its the way I relate to the rest of the world.

[Anonymous]

I am 24 and have been licensed for exactly one year now , before that I have worked my share of crappy jobs the last was a kinda promising , at a machine shop , great benifits and retirement package ...but it just wasnt for me , I have always done tats on the side , for about 8 years . I have never had ANY real insruction until my apprenticship , I got licensed a year ago and then did nothing with it for a whole year until now , found work in a peircing shop two and a half months ago , its really starting to work out for me . Eventually I will own my own shop , but for now this will do nicely .

[txtatz]

I was in telcom for 5 yrs then got a chance to go overseas with a Gas an oil pipeline company. I have drawn and painted all my life and p-layed guitar, I am now 33. I started tattooing about a year ago cause my best friend wanted a pic I drew for him, and he bugged me to death about me doing it. I have many tattoos and I started collecting when I was 17.

[Jillsta]

I have always had art in my life. My mother is an artist, so I always had supplies around to develop my skills. I have been an art teacher for the last 11 years. I'm getting tired of the politics at my school and all the drama and all the cutbacks (my job was on the chopping block 2 yrs ago). I decided I needed something to fall back on "just in case", so I got me a tattoo machine. Now I find myself secretly hoping I'll lose my job, so I can throw myself into this completely. I LOVE tattooing. I think I have found my calling.

[Anonymous]

and if u never acually get to do it full time , then its still a great way to make money on the side ...thats what I did for about 6 years til I went through the apprenticeship (had to here in oregon) and got licensed , now I can say its the best job I ever had ....

[SkinSkribe]

Damn, I wish my teacher was a tattoo artist, I was always the kid who got in trouble for drawing while the teacher talked etc. Kids just have it too easy now.... :D

[Jillsta]

hehehe Skinscribe... just because I'm the coolest teacher ever doesn't mean that my students have it "easy". I know how to regulate! :twisted: LOL

[Anonymous]

What ever happened to you Jillsta ??????

[gremlin]

I am 38 years old, I got into tattooing mainly because I have always drawn, and painted and most of my stuff is in the Tattoo flash style anyway. a lot of it would fit right in on a Molly Hatchet album cover or a dungeons and dragons book. I have played guitar for about 27 years now, Mostly 80's metal, blues, southern rock. I started collecting tattoos at age 18 while enlisted in the Navy. I am a master welder, and Journeyman machinist. I finally earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. I am currently working as an engineer at a power plant here in georgia. I would like to use my knowledge of mechanical engineering to do some bio-mech tatts when my tattooing skills progress. I love old school stuff and have been getting more and more into the celtic knotwork. One day I hope to own a shop and maybe have a couple of awesome artists working there. I cant see giving up a 80K year engineers salary for the uncertinty of the full time tattoo artist at this time, Maybe ill open up a shop and let the wife run it (she tattoos as well)

[Preacher]

Hello,
I have been tattoing sinse i was about 14 now i am 34. I am a disable vet in a wheelchair. I am a full time college student. I am going for am art education degree. This is so i can teach our younger generation to be artist. I have always like tattooing sinse i was a kid. I love putting art on people. You could say art is my life. :D

[MedusaQueen]

24 years old, 2 kids. I have always drawn and painted, dabbled in clay sculpting, and have picked up quite a few of miscellaneous awards for art all through my school years and local competitions as a smaller child, but unfortunately have not continued my education beyond a diploma. I have bounced between art and music all my life--I play guitar, piano, and sing blues/rock as well; got into tattooing young, 16 yrs old when I got my first, but did not begin myself until about 22 years old. Through a lot of drama (I could turm this into an all-nighter but will spare you) I have a total of almost 2 years experience of needle in skin, but have been tattooing from home for a couple months due to much unecessary bullshit from the shops I worked. I have a "professional" job working for Toyota/Lexus Financial Services, which I hate with all heart and soul but it pays the bills. My aspiration in life is to open my own shop and continue to learn and grow as an artist as I provide a stable future in the trade to pass to my kids.

[Duger]

I would like to say thank to all of that have posted my simuler question and to those that took their time to share the thoughts and answers.

37 and a mechanic, fabricator/welder for Fire Apperatus of 15 years, and have allways have a strong intrest with tattoos, my ex-dragon(wife) of 13 years wasn't a supportive induvidual, I did try looking for a apperenticship but with no luck from there either so with all that tattooing was pushed aside.
I would sit a draw up flash as a escape from home and work, and foolish me would just give them out.
But now I have a very supportive woman in my life and have to say has pushed me back in the tattooing pasion i once had, and after reading so much from this forum and some others, and just soaking in asmuch as I can, and practicing and practiing on grapefruits, pig ears.
She pretty much forced me into her being my first(a brave soul) well it was a domino effect people saw my work and more tattoing has followed.
I could babble on and on about it..

[Papa Gee]

I left school at 14. Sold charcoal and pen and ink sketches in Jackson Square in the French Quarter to get by for a couple of years. Worked for a silk screen printing outfit for a few years but got tired of making real estate signs. Worked on off shore rigs for two years in the Gulf of Mexico.

Joined the Navy when I was 19 and went all over the world twice. While stationed in San Diego I apprenticed at Hoss's Tattooing on Broad street for about 9 months. During that time I learned to make stencils, clean tubes, clean workstations and run the autoclave. I left there with a tattoo machine and a power supply. Tattooed by appointment for a year then moved back east. I couldnt give a tattoo away back then so I hung it up.

Moved to Atlanta in 1986 and have been here ever since. Married, had three kids, got divorced. Broke my leg in an accident and couldnt work for a while so I got to thinking about what I could do to make a meager living that didnt require a lot of standing. Tattooing came to me one night so I started reading and looking for equipment. I ordered a kit from Kaplans and started tattooing in my circle of friends.

All my life I've wanted to make a living with art. I dreamed as a child of being a famous painter or illustrator. Tattooing for me is at the very least an indirect fulfilment of that dream. I dont make much money and I know I have a long way to go as a tattoo artist. But while I'm laying ink to skin I love every second of it. What more could a person ask for. To make a living doing something you love to do.

[Preacher]

Hello,
Amen papa gee.
"To make a living doing something you love to do."
Hopfully this is the way we all feel. :D

[MedusaQueen]

I hear ya...I hate my "real" job so much only because it keeps me from tattooing full time, but I'm trying to save for a bigger place (among other things...). It's a passion, plain and simple, and I strive to learn all I can to constantly improve, until the day I die. I'm a firm believer that no matter how skilled or talented, you can never stop learning. I'm also driven by a competitive nature, but I'm a scorpio, so what can I say? :wink:

[Bigfish]

I'm 45. Like most of you, been drawing all my life. Work in my families restraunt for 20 years. Had my own residential construction business for 5. Always had a sideline job of some sort. Been a glass engraver. Am still a taxidermist working in a fulltime studio 4 days a week. Have a traveling Karaoke show that I do 2-3 nights a week at a local biker bar and a couple other spots in town. Got a decent guitar collection that I hate to admit I hardly play anymore.I've been riding bikes all my life and that along with the karaoke finds me plenty of tattoo work. I had 4 mismatched tattoos that I had collected starting at age 16 that I just didnt want anymore so had them lazered off ( Now that shit hurts!)and decided that I'd do my own. Read everything I could find. Bought the books and videos and read the internet,everything I could find . Started small and simple and have been working my way up. I've done 100+ tats and havent pissed anyone off yet. Learned something every time and still got a lot to go.

[oz tattoo]

I'm 26 and have been an artist all my life, dabbling in all mediums. Like you Medusa, I work in an office job which I hate thoroughly, but which pays the bills. I'm a licensed insurance agent, and recently started a position in marketing for the agency that I work for- ZC Sterling. I work in a call center type environment that makes me want to blow my brains out every day- I'd rather bust my ass doing manual labor outside in the fresh air than sit behind a desk all day under florescent lights! Sucks the life from you. I also am a certified nurses aide- the lowest ranking of nurses- shit work. :roll: I tattoo on the weekends out of my home- have been doing so for about 7 months now- I'm just a baby, I know. I wanted to get into something that can feed my desire for art and make money- I plan to get into airbrushing as well- would absolutely love to spend my days painting cars & bikes (not to mention the $$$). I hate working for others- I'm an entrepeneur all the way & my goal is to get a few years under my belt & open up shop in small town Iowa, where we live. I have a husband, a daughter (2 yrs) and a baby boy on the way (coming in July). My husband and I are musicians as well, and were in a National band called Waterface (AZ), signed to Aezra records with EMI/Capital records distribution. I oroginally joined when it was Grey Daze, replacing Chester Bennington, but we later changed our name. We had a couple of tours, and a good run, but typical band politics got in the way & we all parted. My hubby & I decided to settle down, move back to my roots and start a family. We still record at home quite a bit- just a two man band- much easier than dealing with all of the egos you find in a normal band. :roll:

[bane84]

I'm a "half-assed" shop owner and manager of the local Domino's in this little hick town in south georgia called Cairo (K-Roe). I am a pressman by trade but broke my back in a car accident a couple of years ago. So I had to stop running presses. I couldn't do the work which consisted of pulling around skids that weighed about the same as a full size Buick. I started tattooing when I was younger and have always said I would have an art bassed job. I tried engineering and arcitectual design. I learned AutoCAD 12, 14 and 2000 as well as 3-D Viz and 3-D Studio Viz. Never really got a real "grove" for it. So I figured, tattoos, decsent money, art, which I love, and enflicting pain, j/k. What could be better. So now I'm here trying to figure out if I should try my hand at tattooing and becoming an apprientice or try something else and just tattoo for fun.

[Luckyshot]

33 yrs old,2 kids did my first tattoo when i was 15,just like almost everyone else involved in our Industry ive always drawn,Dropped out of Highschool,and started installing car audio,video and security,went back got a GED,last job i held outside of tattoo shops,was a Tech Support and Reasearch and Development for a Car Audio manufacture located here in sunny So-Cal,i can still remeber the look in my bosses eyes when i gave my two week notice and he asked me what i was going to do......Priceless

[voodoo]

i cant wait to give my 2 wk notice(VEGAS SUX) and say im off to taxas! right now i work as an apt. maintenance tech.(2 years ex.) before that i was an a/c tech & also did installs (new & retro)been drawing/painting all my life,as well as doing some airbrushing! moved from minnesota to vegas 2x in the last 5-6 years! but we have decided to move to texas and try to do our thing!(wife-daycare/me-find an apprenticeship/get my ass going!)

[leonard]

Im 28 i was a graffiti artist when i was a kid and fell in love with the permanance of tattoos i started tattoing at sixteen and got into the shops at eighteen when thru 7yrs of heavy drinking and drugging and through it all away i've been clean for 4yrs and had to start all over again but the love i have for the art keeps me content i had to rebuild all my clients and in some cases gain there trust again i worked as a manager in a hair salon for three years and just gave my two week notice to be happy i make more money tattoing and just like somebody just said to make a living doing something you love is probably one of the biggest gifts anyone can get :D :D :D