Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

68 The Tattooist
Few tattooists make a total commitment to tattooing once they
are introduced to it as an occupational alternative. Instead, they
commonly pursue a line of "phased commitment," continuing
their current job for a time while amassing experience and making
the necessary contacts in the tattoo world.
At this time I was working ten hour days welding. I got out of
work and got cleaned up and had appointments from 6 o'clock
on. I'd usually end up working to 10 at night or 2 in the
morning. Then I'd be up at 6 to get to work. That was really
crazy. Then (this tattooist) calls me up and says that things
ain't working out with his brother and wanted to know if I still
wanted to come down. This was great. I was into trying to
learn. He was shOWing me qUite a bit as I was getting work
done. A couple of times when things got busy I just would grab
one of his machines and start working too. It gave me some
money to pay for what I was getting. I gave my notice at work
and started working down there just on weekends. During the
week I was doing work up here. I wasn't doing a lot of big
pieces but there were four or five people I had work started on.
A month after that I was working down there full time. Kept
the place going like seven days a week.
My Wife's friend's husband wanted the tattoo of a bass. He was
a great bass fisherman. So he brought me a picture. After I
had done two tattoos I was doing as good work as was coming
out of tattoo studios. They were doing pretty bad work. I looked
for a place to rent and I rented a small shop in the worst
section of T---. It was rundown but busy. Populated by all the
dregs of humanity ... crazies and pimps and whores and dope
addicts. Just about every kind of degenerate that was around
was right there. So the rent was cheap. I rented this place from
the bar next door and it was extremely cheap. I'd work at the
factory during the day and I'd work in the tattoo shop at night.
I drew most of the flash that I had. I had pretty good success.
It got to be such a good business and gradually my income
from the tattoo shop surpassed my income from the factory so I
got rid of the factory job and went into the tattoo business
full-time.