eMail from a tattoo apprentice

So, I got this email in my box a few days ago -

Hello Charles,

If you have a minute (or 10) I would like to share my story;

No need to apologize at all. Thank you for taking the time to reply. I just finished your book this morning and its a great read. I can really relate because I started out in 1995 scratching in my garage for my punk/skater friends. I used a needle and thread and did it old school. I went into the Navy later that year and started collecting my tats. I met Sailor Joe up in Waukegan Ill (where my A school was). He took me under his wing and started teaching me the basics. I did that for about 6 months then was shipped overseas.

I still had the bug while in the navy but had little cash. In those days all I could find was Huck Spaulding books and kits. I remember the kits cost like $500 in those days and was way outside my E4 income. So I built my own machines out of rotary motors and used pens as tubes. I fell back to my scratching ways and did probably 300 or so tats this way. Got pretty good at the jailhouse style. I then got out of the navy and had govt jobs for many years. Went into Nursing and got my Bach degree. I never forgot my tattooing and never had problems with using needles on patients.

Due to an injury I can no longer do any nursing, so I went back to art school and started mulling over tattooing again. I have been an artist one way or another since I was a kid.

Here are some of my sketches: (WEBSITE LINK REMOVED)

I also met an old navy buddy on Facebook that I taught how to scratch back in the day. He went on to apprentice and is now running a very successful studio.

He has agreed to have me be his apprentice and we are going to do this online via Skype video chat so he can watch me and give me tips.

Why I bring this all up is I was really positively impacted by your book. In the past I had checked into apprenticing and felt the abrasive and aggressive attitude that is prevalent in the tattoo community (besides 5 figure prices to apprentice). From reading your book I see it is not only acceptable to do it the way I am doing it, but looking forward I see a time where video conferencing with a teacher will be just as accepted as being right there.  Most tattooists came from scratching and very few if any admit it. Its refreshing to read that others have the same background.

Thank you for all of your positive advice and help presented in your book. I cant wait to dive into the site a bit more and see what I can dig up.

Sincerely,

(NAME REMOVED)

 

eMail from a tattoo apprentice