The world of tattooing is a competitive and high pressure one. Your work and performance are constantly under scrutiny. You’re in the service industry, which means you have to cater to the needs of your clients exactly how they want it. There is absolutely no room for error, unless you want to be fodder for bad tattoo blogs. No, the right tattoo artist puts effort, passion, and time into their trade. With the right traits, a tattoo artist can become successful in this industry.
Artistic
If you can’t draw, you can’t tattoo. It’s as simple as that. You could very well open up the first tattoo shop that deals with gimmick tattoos and only lettering, but even that still retains a level of artistic ability that is necessary. The debate as to whether or not you can teach someone to draw and be artistic is still a hot button issue in the art community. However, aside from being able to tattoo, you have to be able to appreciate the nature of art and what you are creating as well. Every piece of work that goes onto the stencil paper needs to be treated like a masterpiece.
Work Ethic
Successful tattoo artists don’t just stop and start when the shop opens and closes. They are students of the trade. Tattoo artists who are serious about their industry spend time learning new techniques, reading from the pros, and researching the latest tools of the trade. They constantly want to improve upon their talents in order to put forth the best work every time.
Attention to Detail
Artistic ability and a strong work ethic can help cultivate an amazing attention to detail. People who are artistic are already a little more attentive to detail than others. However, as we have all seen time and time again, sometimes a word is misspelled or a wing is missing from a butterfly in a tattoo. Something was lost in the transfer from pen to stencil paper and stencil paper to ink. Devoting yourself to becoming better at what you do can help you train your eye to being more attentive to the details. Additionally, you’ll notice that the better you get details, the better your tattooing will become.
