What is included in an apprenticeship?
All apprentices are placed in a professional tattooing environment consisting of, on average, five to ten experienced tattoo artists. They may be observed daily in a high traffic shop. We start with the basics and go far beyond. Students are taught how to maintain a clean and safe environment for themselves and their customers, including sterilization techniques, auto-clave operation, set-up, bio-hazardous waste disposal, cross-contamination, and blood born pathogens. You will learn how to transfer stencils and stencil aesthetics. The mechanical side of operating, maintaining, and tuning tattoo machines, choosing the right needle groups for different effects, recognizing different skin types, as well as the artistic side of design, composition, placement, themes, custom work, and getting the most out of your tattoo flash. On the business end, you will learn the customer service and front end operations aspect of the business.
