Hey everyone, very new to the craft here and want to see if I could pick the brains of the members here.
I want to start by giving some context, I have been drawing and sketching tattoo designs since I was 12 when my mom gave me my first sketchbook. I would draw doodles for people all through out school and even got voted most artistic in my graduating class. Tattoos were something that fascinated me and I spent hours treading through flash art books and copying the pieces within them. Hell, doing those designs are how I met my GF of 10 yrs back in 2011. I had a small apprenticeship for 5 months at a local shop by me, but at the time I was young, impatient and interested in gaming over art.
Fast forward to now, I am 28, working at a gaming company as a Project Manager and this year I decided in a self fulfilling bout of inspiration, that I would finish what I started at the age of 17 and give an actual asserted effort to try learning tattoos. I am a digital Illustrator with a lot of miscellaneous doodles and designs (Light Portfolio here) However, I suffer from what I call "Artist FOMO" where I keep chasing all these different styles and forms of art. From Resin, Sculpting, 3D Modeling, Illustration, Screen Printing, Carving, Tattooing, etc. My mind is constantly wondering from one art form to another. I'm left at the end of the day with imposter syndrome feeling like my work won't amount to the industries expectations
Tattooing however is something near and dear to my heart and something that I want to go all in on. Which brings me to this post. For starters, at 28 with a full time job and a mortgage, am I too late to this game? I want to explore the potential of something like a weekend apprenticeship, but I have no gauge how absurd something like that might be to established industry professionals. Am I better off just learning on my own and figuring it out?
What are tips or pointers that you wish you knew when entering this field? Be real with me because I genuinely want to dedicate myself to this and I feel like right now I am at a disadvantage with where I am in my career as I try to pivot.
Right now, my biggest weakness is Shading, Lighting, Color; are their any good videos or tutorials out there that you can send my way.
Lastly, as I dive in, I am trying to build up my arsenal and using a CNC Q2 and a standard Chinese coil machine. What is a great foundation machine recommendation for a beginner in addition to where I should buy them, seeing as how Amazon is known for fake or misrepresented products.
Appreciate you all feeding in! I was excited to find this community and I plan on being an active member with in it. If this post is too broad let me know and I can provide more focused questions.
TL
R I am new please help! <3
I want to start by giving some context, I have been drawing and sketching tattoo designs since I was 12 when my mom gave me my first sketchbook. I would draw doodles for people all through out school and even got voted most artistic in my graduating class. Tattoos were something that fascinated me and I spent hours treading through flash art books and copying the pieces within them. Hell, doing those designs are how I met my GF of 10 yrs back in 2011. I had a small apprenticeship for 5 months at a local shop by me, but at the time I was young, impatient and interested in gaming over art.
Fast forward to now, I am 28, working at a gaming company as a Project Manager and this year I decided in a self fulfilling bout of inspiration, that I would finish what I started at the age of 17 and give an actual asserted effort to try learning tattoos. I am a digital Illustrator with a lot of miscellaneous doodles and designs (Light Portfolio here) However, I suffer from what I call "Artist FOMO" where I keep chasing all these different styles and forms of art. From Resin, Sculpting, 3D Modeling, Illustration, Screen Printing, Carving, Tattooing, etc. My mind is constantly wondering from one art form to another. I'm left at the end of the day with imposter syndrome feeling like my work won't amount to the industries expectations
Tattooing however is something near and dear to my heart and something that I want to go all in on. Which brings me to this post. For starters, at 28 with a full time job and a mortgage, am I too late to this game? I want to explore the potential of something like a weekend apprenticeship, but I have no gauge how absurd something like that might be to established industry professionals. Am I better off just learning on my own and figuring it out?
What are tips or pointers that you wish you knew when entering this field? Be real with me because I genuinely want to dedicate myself to this and I feel like right now I am at a disadvantage with where I am in my career as I try to pivot.
Right now, my biggest weakness is Shading, Lighting, Color; are their any good videos or tutorials out there that you can send my way.
Lastly, as I dive in, I am trying to build up my arsenal and using a CNC Q2 and a standard Chinese coil machine. What is a great foundation machine recommendation for a beginner in addition to where I should buy them, seeing as how Amazon is known for fake or misrepresented products.
Appreciate you all feeding in! I was excited to find this community and I plan on being an active member with in it. If this post is too broad let me know and I can provide more focused questions.
TL
R I am new please help! <3
