How to get a tattoo apprenticeship

What a real apprenticeship involves

A genuine apprenticeship is a structured relationship with one mentor in a licensed shop. You start on shop duties and drawing, move to setup and breakdown, then to machine time on synthetic skin, then to supervised tattoos on willing volunteers.

It usually runs one to three years. The first six to twelve months rarely involve tattooing anyone at all, and that's normal.

The drawing portfolio that gets you in

Mentors are not looking for finished tattoos. They're looking for whether you can draw, whether you can take direction, and whether you'll still be drawing in six months.

• 30–50 pages of your own drawings, dated, in a physical book or a clean PDF.
• Line control exercises — long clean lines, consistent weight, smooth curves.
• Traditional flash reproductions, drawn by hand, to show you understand structure.
• A few designs built for a specific body placement, not floating in a square.
• No traced work, no AI-generated art, no other artists' designs presented as yours.

Finding a mentor

Choose the artist first, the shop second. Get tattooed by them if you can afford it — sitting in the chair tells you how they teach, how the shop runs, and whether you'd survive a year there.

Then ask directly and simply: 'Are you taking an apprentice, and if not, would you look at my book anyway?' Expect to hear no several times. That's the process working, not failing.

Warning signs of an exploitative apprenticeship

Money should move carefully in both directions, and your time should be worth something.

• A large upfront fee with nothing written down about what you receive.
• No named mentor — just 'you'll pick it up around the shop'.
• Unpaid full-time hours cleaning with no teaching schedule after months.
• Pressure to tattoo customers before you're ready, or to tattoo without supervision.
• No bloodborne pathogen training or health registration being organised.
• Refusal to put anything — hours, length, what happens at the end — in writing.

What to agree before you start

Ask for the basics in writing, even as an email. A shop that runs a good apprenticeship won't blink at this.

• Who your mentor is and how many hours a week you'll actually be taught.
• Expected length, and what marks the end of the apprenticeship.
• Whether you're paid, unpaid, or paying — and what that covers.
• When you're allowed to start tattooing, and on whom.
• Whether there's a chair for you at the end, and on what terms.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a tattoo apprenticeship?

Typically one to three years. The length depends on the mentor, how often you're in the shop, and how quickly your drawing and machine control develop.

Should I pay for a tattoo apprenticeship?

Paid apprenticeships exist and aren't automatically a scam, but the amount, what it covers and the teaching schedule should all be in writing before any money moves.

Can I learn to tattoo without an apprenticeship?

Some artists are self-taught, but without a mentor you miss the hygiene, cross-contamination and skin-behaviour knowledge that keeps clients safe — and many shops won't hire you without shop experience.

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