The Terms of Apprenticeship

At A Glance Author Chris Contact [email protected] Studio Convention Location Hamburg,Germany

I've been tattooing for about five years now, and am always being asked by aspiring artists about my apprenticeship. I usually stress the personal sacrifice and high level of dedication required to serve a truly worthwhile apprenticeship. I usually use my own experience as an apprentice as a reference point ('cause I thought I had it hard}.That was before I visited Hamburg for a convention.

Nowadays, when asked advice about apprenticesips I tell this story:

I went to Hamburg Germany to work a convention there,my host was Robert Gorlt,a native of Hamburg whom I had met at a show here in the states recently.On the ride from the airport to his shop he mentioned that he had recently aquired an apprentice whom he thought showed great promise. Unfortunately, this guy had no money to pay for the apprenticeship. It wasn't so much that Robert wanted the money, it was just that he wanted some form of commitment from Michael(the apprentice},and he wanted the commitment to be more than alot of lip service.

I agreed with Robert, too many people think they can become great tattooists without truly committing themselves to the artform itself. This is when Robert nodded and said,"You're right,Chris. That's why I took one of his fingers."

I laughed and Robert just stared at me. I kept laughing anyway, not believing him for a second...

...until we got to his shop. Upon meeting Michael Robert told him to show me his finger. Grinning proudly Michael walked over to Robert's workstation and pulled down a small mason jar containing his left pinky finger floating in formaldihyde. It's probably not necessary to say I was amazed.

Michael very quietly explained to me that Robert had been tatooing him for a few years now, and that while Robert always told him that he would make a good artist he wouldn't teach him because he felt that Michael lacked focus. And what better way to develop focus than to have something to focus on: the place where his pinky used to be would serve as a constant source of motivation for him when things got tough,or when he became discouraged. Likewise, Robert would have something to remind him of just how serious Michael really was.

In other words, alot of doubt had been removed from their relationship.

At the convention the next day this story circulated around enough so that at the artist's dinner that night many tattooists raised many toasts in praise and amazement at Michael's voluntary sacrifice.

Whether or not it's appropriate for an artist to demand a body part from an apprentice as a show of commitment, I don't know. I do know that I admire Michael for making a sacrifice that I probably would not have made. And I expect that Michael will make an outstanding tattooist,at the very least a dedicated one.

Y'know, I thought I had it hard when I was trying to get into tattooing, and I used to be proud of what I thought were the sacrifices that I made. However I only lost a girlfriend to tattooing, at least I can still count to ten. Whenever I hear stories from aspiring artists about how this artist or that one treated them like crap, and how hard it is to get a foot in the door,I usually tell this story and then gauge their reaction. If they are disgusted and think that what Michael did was stupid, or whatever, I tend to think that tattooing is not for them. I don't know why exactly. If I were to take on an apprentice I probably wouldn't ask for a finger, but I probably wouldn't demand money either. I know I would need something, something important, something that convinced me of their sincerity.

Being tattooed is a lifelong commitment, so it only seems like common sense to me that tattooing should be a lifelong commitment as well.

The thing is, there are so many amazing artists who learned to tattoo in so many different ways, there don't seem to be any hard and fast rules on the right and wrong way to do it. I love stories about where an artist came from, it tells so much about why their work is the way it is now, and no two stories are exactly the same. In fact, what might be an ironclad truth for one, might seem ridiculous to another. The one common thread that the truly great artists seem to have is an intense and sincere commitment to what they do. I might be being a bit dramatic here, but I think that this is what sees a worthy tattooist through the hardships of learning to tattoo.

Of course, the harder things are, the better a story it'll make later on.So here's to you Michael, ten years from now you'll have one hell of a story to scare your apprentice with.