i'm wanting to start working at a tattoo shop here in oklahoma...however i'm still only 17 and i'm not sure how good these artist really are...does ne1 have some advice or help for me?

save up a lot of money, most of the time apprenticeships are quite expensive. my friend went through one and it cost him thousands of dollars.

Hey all, i live in a remote area in Western Australia, i have all the tattoo gear and researched tattoing as much as i can, i have done two tattoos that turned out great but i know i need an apprenticeship to get the knowledge i need, problem, there is no one around that do tattoos, well the nearest tattooist is about 300 klms from me, the next nearest is about 900klms. does anyone know of some good books around or even better a DVD.. thanks

No one starts off the best in the buisness. Practice, practice, practice. If you have your heart into it then I am sure that you will do just fine. Good Luck! Continue watching these tattoo shows, my boyfriend has been tattooing for a couple of years and he has learned alot about coloring and shading from watching and learning.

yeppp lots and lots of money...i want one as well...would LOVE to show my art to the world... i know where you can get one for 5 grand here in houston tx....

in regards to mmorgan ur bf is a scratcher and his hands should be cut off there is no replacement for a good apprenticeships u cannot learn on ur own off dvds the end

Regards to skateboardaffiliate's comment, alot of the best artists i have known started out as a "scratcher" as you put it. if i had a opportunity to do an apprenticeship in tattooing i would gladly do it, but i dont, and i have started tattooing with incredible success.
i have purchased all the relevant equipment including doing courses in correct hyigene and airbourne blood pathogens so as not to transfer anything other than ink, people like you will never be in my position because you would turn around and say "can't get an apprenticship, oh well can't do it!" because you rely on someone else to train you instead i have gone pro-active and decided to research it all and practice on everything non-living untill i have the general tattooing understanding.
i also have people who belive in me and have let me tattoo them with fantastic results, i actually tattooed myself first (my reasoning was if i can't do a decent tattoo on myself then i wouldnt continue). Mmorgan, please disregard this persons comment and tell your bf to keep going, he rocks in my mind

Best thing to do is get the machinery and practise on pig skin. Go to a butcher or slaughter house if one is near. Its pretty cheap and you get it in pig sized pieces if you want, so lots of practise space.
And you dont need to replace your needles or be all hygenic as the pig skin isnt gona pick up anything. Just dont get into bad habbits and never clean up. Always clean your machine after, and even though it doesn't bleed, get used to wiping down the skin durring to get a feel for it.