How to Get a Tattoo Apprenticeship (What Shops Actually Look For)

What is a Tattoo Apprenticeship Portfolio?

A tattoo portfolio is a book with 10-15 of your best tattoo designs. You’ll show this to a potential mentor when you ask for an apprenticeship.

Student’s work from our portfolio-building program, Artist Hour.

Your portfolio will ultimately determine whether a studio will give you a chance or not. That’s why it’s important to know what artistic skills tattoo artists are actually looking for when you're building it.

Tattoo mentors are NOT looking for:

Tattoo mentors ARE looking for:

Should I Have a Physical Tattoo Portfolio or Instagram?

Yes - while you should be posting your work online, you need a physical portfolio to take into a shop. You need to show tattoo shops that you know how to present your work professionally. Someone at a tattoo shop will be able to immediately tell if you put time and effort into how your portfolio presents.

Get a nice black portfolio folder with plastic sleeves and place each piece of paper in its own sleeve. (Don't "scrapbook" things together.)

Don't just come in and show them your phone. It makes you look lazy and unorganized.

Each drawing in your portfolio should be completely finished and show your artistic skills. No tattoo artist wants to rummage through a bunch of half-done sketches. You want to show them the best art you are capable of producing.

What Tattoo Designs Should I Put in a Portfolio?

Include designs that people actually want tattooed. When you become a tattoo apprentice, you are making art for human skin. It’s not about what you like to draw, it's about what the customer wants to wear on their body.

Student’s work from our portfolio-building program, Artist Hour.

A successful tattoo artist studies what the common tattoo styles are in their area so they can draw what people actually want. When you do start tattooing, staying "on trend" will make it much easier for you to get clients. Additionally, knowing what tattoos people want makes you a much better investment for tattoo shops, and they will be more likely to give you an apprenticeship.

How Many Designs Should I Put in a Tattoo Portfolio?

10-15 quality drawings in your portfolio that you spent 20 hours on each is better than hundreds of average designs. An experienced tattoo artist can see your drawing skill by looking at just one piece. 

Remember to be mindful of the tattoo artist's time. They have appointments all day and don't have time to go through 100 designs.

If you can show your drawing skills and an understanding of the art of tattooing (by showcasing various styles) in just a few pieces, the tattoo shop will have a reason to hire you.

Which Tattoo Styles Should I Have in My Portfolio?

You should have a variety of tattoo styles in your apprenticeship portfolio (American Traditional, Japanese, Realism, etc.). That’s because tattooing is not just an art, it's also a business.

If you are only able to do one style, you are limiting what jobs you can take as a tattoo artist. Not every walk-in client wants a Japanese sleeve. At the beginning of your career, you’ll need to be able to do a little bit of everything.

Your portfolio should reflect this idea and show your versatility as an artist.

By showing that you at least have the basics down from a few different styles, you’ll be a much more attractive investment from the tattoo shop owner's perspective.

As you progress in your career, then you can focus on specializing in one style because you’ll have clientele built up.

How Do I Find a Tattoo Shop for an Apprenticeship?

To find an apprenticeship, look up tattoo studios near you and ask yourself these questions:

Very few shops have an actual tattoo apprenticeship program, and you don't get any formal qualifications or a degree by completing a tattoo apprenticeship. All you have is the technical skill you learn on the job. If you can’t tattoo well, no one else will hire you. (And remember, tattoo artists talk with each other. You want your skills to build you a strong reputation.)

Before you commit to putting in work at a particular tattoo studio, make sure it's doing well as a business. If you’re going to dedicate years of your life to becoming a tattoo artist whilst working for free, you want to make sure that THEY will be around for the entire length of your apprenticeship!

See what type of Facebook and Google reviews they have online and how often they post work from their artists on social media. This will give you an idea of how busy they are. Also, consider whether they do any marketing for tattoo artists that work there.

The days of being able to rely on word of mouth to get business are gone. The beauty of social media is that it lets you reach new paying clients by showing off tattoos you've already been paid to create. The studios that do well know this. They work hard to promote themselves, invest in advertising, and put an emphasis on having good client communication.

If there are a lot of apprentices working in a tattoo studio, there’s a chance they’re used for free labor (or the shop profits off of apprentices paying for “education”).

Tattoo apprenticeships require you to work full time without pay for up to 2 years. This is seen as ‘paying your dues’ and is simply the way the industry has developed. You will need to live off savings or take a part-time job during this period to support yourself.

This can be a tough time for people with financial commitments. 

Some shops will want up to $10,000 upfront to pay for your tattoo apprenticeship. Typically this is non-refundable. If an apprenticeship requires money upfront, you want to make sure that they will be a good mentor. (We’ll explain how to pick a good mentor in the next section.)

Even if you manage to find an apprenticeship that does not charge you this fee, it's still a good idea to have some cash saved so that you can purchase your tattoo equipment when the time comes.

How Do I Find a Tattoo Apprenticeship Mentor?

Find a local artist who specializes in the style you want to learn most. Check their Instagram and Facebook and ask yourself:

If your potential mentor's tattoos are low quality, then yours will be as well.

You’ll be learning directly from your mentor, so make sure you like the type of work they do. 

If you find an artist but they don't have an online presence and you can't find examples of their work, this is usually a red flag and you should probably avoid them.

This is important. Many tattoo artists' work looks good when it is fresh, but when it heals it fades dramatically. You want to learn from great tattoo artists whose work looks as good healed as it does fresh.

How Do You Ask a Tattoo Shop for an Apprenticeship?

Don’t ask directly - build a relationship first by booking a tattoo with the artist you want as a mentor.

9 times out of 10 just asking for an apprenticeship will get you kicked out of a tattoo studio. This is because most people decide they want to become a tattoo artist and head into a tattoo shop the next day asking the shop owner for help. You wouldn't take this approach with any other career, and experienced tattoo artists want to see that you're serious about the job.

Here's how to show a potential mentor that you're ready for a career in tattooing:

After doing your research on shops and artists, decide where you want to try first and book an appointment.

They don't know you yet. Book in to get a tattoo done with the tattoo artist that you want as a mentor, and don’t mention a tattoo apprenticeship yet.

Ideally, you'll want to catch them in the morning before they start tattooing. Many tattoo artists are too busy in the afternoon to look at your work, and they’ll tell you to leave the shop before looking at your tattoo portfolio.

Don’t ask for an apprenticeship yet. Ask for feedback on how you could improve your portfolio. And know that you might need to have thick skin for a while. It’s normal to get turned down by many shops.

As you continue to draw and gain experience, work that feedback into each tattoo design. If you listen to their advice they will be more willing to offer an apprenticeship.

If you keep improving each time and you keep listening to the tattoo artists' advice, they will continue to help you and might take you on as an apprentice.

Remember, don’t get discouraged! It’s very common to be knocked back the first time. Keep coming back and work on improving your art each time. If you come back more than once you will stand out. Most people who want to get into the tattoo industry get rejected once and never show up again.

Tattoo Apprenticeship FAQs

What Does a Tattoo Apprentice Do?  

Tattoo apprentices run the front desk, clean the shop, watch their mentor tattoo, and practice their first tattoos. 

During the first year of your tattoo apprenticeship, you’ll spend most of your time ‘earning your stripes.' A tattoo apprentice is usually tasked with running errands for other artists in the shop, getting lunch for everyone, mopping floors, scrubbing tubes, answering the phones, and taking bookings. It's highly unlikely you'll actually get any tattooing experience during your first year. Most first-year apprentices are not allowed to touch a tattoo machine at all. 

After your first year of the apprenticeship, you’ll finally pick up a tattoo machine and start learning about tattooing. This is where the real tattoo training starts. Initially, you’ll just watch the other artists' tattoo to pick up the basics. Then once you get a handle on things, you will start to tattoo on practice skin (as well as on yourself). Once you get comfortable with that, you'll be considered a junior tattoo artist and you’ll start tattooing a few friends and family members, slowly working up in size and difficulty as you improve your skills. 

After your mentor is confident that you are ready to tattoo paying clients, you'll start doing small walk-ins and gradually work your way up from there. 

How Long Are Tattoo Apprenticeships and Do They Pay?  

Tattoo apprenticeships are unpaid and can take anywhere from 6 months to 4 years. How long a tattoo apprenticeship is will depend in part on how fast your art improves, how quickly you pick up tattooing, and how much time your mentor can spend with you.

Once you start tattooing clients (usually walk-ins), then you will make money as a tattoo apprentice. Apprentices are usually on a 50/50 split, meaning half of what you make from a tattoo goes to the studio or your mentor. 

Where Can I Find a Tattoo Apprenticeship Near Me?

Check the list below to find the best shops to apply at, the competitiveness of apprenticeships, and the laws regarding how to get a tattoo license in each state or county. You asked us how to become a tattoo apprentice, we delivered!

Do Tattoo Schools Offer a Tattoo Apprenticeship Program?

You may have seen the term "tattoo school" floating around online. While these schools do teach you the proper sanitation necessary to become a tattoo artist, they don't require any art classes and don't provide much information about tattoo techniques or how to develop a tattoo design. Very few actually offer an apprenticeship program in a shop.

Is a Tattoo Apprenticeship Hard?

All tattoo apprenticeships are challenging. You’ll be learning a lot and helping run the tattoo studio. Most apprentices work 50-60 hours a week for no pay. 

However, abuse in an apprenticeship can make things much harder than they need to be. And it’s unfortunately a “normal” part of the process in many shops. If you’re being yelled at, harassed, or humiliated just because “you’re the apprentice,” it is not worth staying at that shop.

Do Tattoo Apprentices Do Free Tattoos?

Your first tattoos as an apprentice will be done for free while you learn the proper techniques. After that, apprentices charge a small fee (lower than the average artist fee).

Do I Have to Do an Apprenticeship to Tattoo Professionally?

For many aspiring artists, working for free for months or years as an apprentice is not possible. This is why many artists choose to learn to tattoo without an apprenticeship and keep their day job.

Online tattoo lessons inside the Artist Accelerator Program

We’ve had many students learn inside the Artist Accelerator Program and then start working at a tattoo studio right away. They either go through a shortened apprenticeship period or they are just an apprentice on paper for a time to fill out their licensing forms while tattooing clients professionally.

Become a Tattoo Artist With the Artist Accelerator Program

Having a career in tattooing is not only fulfilling, but it’s also the most stable way to make a living as an artist. However, for decades, the process to become a tattoo artist has been notoriously difficult. 

The apprenticeship process requires aspiring tattoo artists to work 50-60 hours a week without pay for 1-4 years. That, combined with the toxic culture of abusing apprentices, makes getting into the industry almost impossible for newcomers.

That’s why we created the Artist Accelerator Program. Our online course provides a simple, structured way of learning to tattoo that has been proven to work by over 8000 successful students, with many of them having gone on to open their own shops all around the world. 

Inside the program, we’ll take you through every step of the tattooing process in 9 clear, easy-to-follow modules and support you along the way within the Tattooing 101 Mastermind online community.

In the Mastermind group, you’ll collaborate with other students, get answers to your questions, and receive personalized video feedback on your artwork and tattoos from professional tattoo artists. With this friendly community of both new and experienced tattoo artists, you’ll never be stuck again. 

When you join the Artist Accelerator Program, you’ll have instant access to the full course and the Mastermind community, as well as our 30-Day Flash Challenge and recorded interviews with tattoo artists from all over the world.