Who and what is a tattoo artist? The tattoo artist is a person who is skilled in the use of tattooing tools like tattoo ink and the tattoo machine. Tattoo artists are usually trained by experts and they stay on apprenticeship duty with them for a substantial part of their training until they get a good handle of the technique. The tattoo artist is an artist.
A school degree may help but may not really qualify the tattoo artist for immediate service much like the doctor has some kind of post-graduate internship as initial field experience before being certified as a bona fide physician. What it means is that if a person is not a born artist they cannot become a tattoo artist even when they have a degree with that.
A tattoo artist is a person who is gifted to see what others cannot visualize, and in visualizing, he can reduce his mental picture into delicate and flawless movements to create an artistic reproduction of life and show his impression not on ordinary cloth but on the ultimate painting canvass of all, the human body itself. How does one become a tattoo artist? A tattoo artist doesn't become one. He just is. And when finally allowed to practice his art the tattoo artist will have a ton of things to remember as they are the strict and basic requirements to take into the industry. He has to have a shop to work his skilled art and where he keeps his equipment which are mainly the rotary or pneumatic tattoo machine as well as the different kinds of needles, the round liners and shaders. Requirements to become a tattoo artist The tattoo artist may be required to pass a qualifying government examination in some countries the object of which is to see whether he fully understands health regulations on one hand and state or government policies on the other, as it applies to his craft.
Standard observance of proper sanitation practice is a must to ensure protection of the public clientele from unpleasant results that can be dangerous to health like cross contamination.
The modern rule, for example, is for artists to have in his studio biohazard equipment for objects and materials that have come into contact with blood and other body fluids. There must be containers for used needles and an autoclave for sterilizing tools as well.
The tattoo artist must operate with clean gloves that must be discarded after each use. He must prevent cross infection between clients that can happen with a less vigilant observance of the rules of even the basic hygiene. In some countries it is also prohibited to tattoo a minor, pregnant women and those with skin allergy.
Those who are lacking emotional stability may also be disqualified to have a tattoo. It is therefore the best practice for tattoo artists to know this and use psychology along this line when they are dealing with clients.
