[EDIT 7/18/2021: There have been a few concerns and objections raised in the comments section of this article and I have responded as best as I see fit. Please be sure to read for yourself and form your own opinions. If you question the veracity of the information presented here please do not hesitate to comment so that we can discuss your objections in depth. If you ever want to discuss anything with me directly or privately, please reach out via the contact page. I am happy to help in any way I can.]

[EDIT 3/5/2023: In one of the comments below this article someone pointed out that the industry should gather as a whole and propose a set of best practices for tattoo artists that would serve as the foundation for a curriculum in a school that actually did provide viable knowledge for students while creating a standardized way for people to enter the tattoo industry. This would ostensibly lower the barrier of entry while eliminating many of the potential pitfalls of apprenticeships. On the one hand I would suggest that this is already accomplished by the process of apprenticeships themselves and that the person seeking an apprenticeship bears the burden of responsibility to find a reputable artist they can trust. HOWEVER, I am open to the idea of a hypothetical institution created by respected artists in the tattoo industry that set a standard of quality which offered students truly viable education in the field of tattooing. I just haven’t seen that happen yet. When I do I will be the first to admit that it does exist and amend this article to point everyone in that direction…. stay tuned I guess?]

Traditionally, people come into the profession of tattooing through a formal apprenticeship. However, in recent years, due to the increasing popularity of tattoos, there has been a rise in the numbers of so-called "tattoo schools." These are pop-up institutes claiming to train individuals to be tattoo artists. This training is delivered through accelerated courses lasting a couple of weeks up to 2-year terms.

If you are drawn to the profession of tattooing, it might be tempting to want to apply at one of these tattoo schools. They might seem like a fast route to getting a job as a tattoo artist, but they will most likely do more harm than good to your new career.

There are many reasons for this, and the following are what I think are the most important.

1. Outrageous Cost

Tattoo schools will charge thousands of dollars for cut-rate education. Apprenticeships are free. The value of the apprenticeship is worked off in trade doing chores for the tattoo shop where you apprentice. Honestly, with the money you will spend at one of these school’s there are a dozen better-paying careers you could train for, maybe in less time. You have to really love tattooing to want to do it so if you don’t want to do it right, why not do something else?

2. Fraud

Ultimately, tattoo schools may as well be a pyramid scheme. The people who run these schools know you will not be employable at high-quality tattoo shops, so they will pressure you to open a shop under their name or offer you employment at one of their own franchise chain stores. If they succeed in doing this, they will have your tuition money AND take a percentage of all money you earn as an employee or franchise owner.

3. Ruined Career Opportunities

When applying for work at a tattoo shop, one of the first questions will be, "where did you apprentice?". Graduating from a tattoo school will automatically blacklist you from all reputable shops. When you are locked out of good shops, your options will be sub-par studios with poor business, health, and safety practices. Or you may try to start your own studio. That situation is terrible for the industry. Churning out bargain-basement tattoo artists is a race to the bottom. If you don't love tattooing enough to respect the industry, why not do something else? Tattooing isn't a get-rich-quick occupation. Learn to code instead.

4. Poor Quality of Education

Several things contribute to the poor quality of education at tattoo schools. First, very few people of high-quality skill and reputation (most likely none) want to be involved with tattoo schools. That means there are virtually no teachers at these schools who can offer the high-quality knowledge necessary to teach someone how to tattoo

Second, due to the limited options of finding teachers willing to sacrifice their reputation to teach at a tattoo school, these institutions will often hire teachers from the pool of students who have just graduated. These brand new teachers have zero experience in the tattoo industry and may have only done a couple of poor-quality tattoos.

5. Completely Missing Essential Skills

Because the education quality is so bad at these schools, many skills that are essential to learning the craft will be severely under-served or completely left out. One of the most important skills in tattooing is customer service and tattoo schools are not equipped to teach you proper customer care. When you learn to tattoo in a real tattoo shop, you learn how that shop serves its customers. This skill is not something you can quickly learn on the fly if you have no experience and no reputable shop will want to take the time to give you that training.

6. Lack of Individual Attention

The curriculum at tattoo schools is homogenous and standardized. There is no accommodation for developing your artistic style. Like customer service, style is not something an employer will want to teach you, and lacking individuality will limit your career in drastic ways. One-on-one attention is an essential feature of the best apprenticeship, and it is something that, by definition, will be absent in a tattoo school.

7. Bad Reputation

Because these tattoo schools' reputation is so bad, admitting you went to one of these schools will be no better than claiming you learned to tattoo all by yourself. No one will trust your skills to work in their shop. This will leave you with terrible options for career advancement. Everyone will see you as someone who bought their way in, a hack, and you will have to work 10x as hard to shake that reputation.

8. Bad Habits

Since it is guaranteed you will not be learning high-quality skills, you will lack fundamental knowledge and develop bad habits. That will lead to subpar tattoos, unhappy clients, and a bad reputation. If you care about tattooing at all, then you will eventually have to unlearn bad habits and re-learn best practices. All that time and heartache could have been saved with a traditional apprenticeship.

9. Profit Motive Over People

There's nothing wrong with wanting to earn a buck, but if you are presenting substandard education for profit, you are doing so at your students' expense. With a traditional apprenticeship, the focus is on individual learning because there is a vested interest on the mentor's part to make sure they are taught correctly. Tattoo schools have no such interest.

10. They are Dangerous

If all of the other reasons were not enough, the concern for health and safety should convince you. The risk of receiving incomplete or inaccurate training regarding sanitation and sterilization is high. This creates a severe risk to your health and the health of all the people you will work on in the future.

Other Tattoo Artist Education Courses

You may find other programs billing themselves as tattoo apprenticeship programs, some of them may look more respectable than others but all of them should be avoided.

Any program that claims to teach you how to tattoo for a set fee is guaranteed to be a tattoo school variation. In the best-case scenario, they only suffer from the pitfalls mentioned above. In the worst case, they are fraudulent and dangerous.

Some of these programs will set up in a state that requires a state-certified tattoo education. They will then accept tuition fees from dozens of students and promptly disappear or create atrocious learning conditions.

If you happen to live in a state like Oregon, which requires you to receive a certain amount of state-sanctioned training, keep in mind that the stipulation requires that the training come from another artist who has received this training. That means traditional tattoo apprenticeships are still possible in states like Oregon, but you must receive your training from a mentor who has been certified by the state.

Online Tattoo School

If you have been researching the process of becoming a tattoo artist, you may have come across websites offering online tattoo learning.

Of all the options, this is the worst. Under no circumstances should you consider any online tattoo course. There is nothing about the skill of tattooing that can be taught remotely via video chats.

Is Tattooing Hard to Learn?

If you are very passionate about learning to tattoo but discouraged by the length of time it may take or how hard it will be to find an apprenticeship, I can understand why options that look faster and easier would be tempting.

Tattooing is very difficult to learn and takes a lot of hard work. The start of your career will be defined by long hours and low pay with little gratitude from clients or respect from your peers.

This might sound like a reason to throw in the towel but keep in mind that just because learning to tattoo and becoming a tattoo artist is hard doesn't mean its harder than anything else. Anything worth doing will be difficult at first, then get easier the longer you do it. The same is true for tattooing. If you stick with motivation and determination, your career will reward you greatly for all the hard work. The longer you tattoo, the more confident you become, and the more people will recognize you for your skill and style. Customers will seek you out personally for your work, and you will be able to charge greater and greater fees, eventually becoming as high paid as anyone if you keep working hard.

The challenges present in learning how to tattoo is one of the best reasons to avoid tattoo schools. If you start your career on the shaky, unreliable foundation built on a tattoo school education, you will have a much harder time establishing yourself and succeeding in the ways you want to.

What is a Tattoo Apprenticeship, and How Do I Get One?

If you have read this far and feel comfortable knowing that a formal apprenticeship is the best way to go, you might be wondering where to start. Maybe even a little unclear on what exactly will be involved.

A tattoo apprenticeship is a one-on-one educational experience where a student is mentored directly under a master tattoo artist's guidance.

Because this process is so important, I wrote a whole separate article dedicated to information regarding apprenticeships and how to get them. Please click here to read that article.

Some highlights from that article are here:

Get tattooed. Find highly experienced artists in your area whose skill you admire, and get tattooed. The best apprenticeship experience will be at a reputable shop with an artist whom you respect and who will respect you.

Be patient. Get to know your tattoo artist like you would any other person you are making friends with. There is no guarantee that you will hit it off with the first tattoo artist you meet so, this might take many visits to a lot of different tattoo artists.

Look for ways to make yourself useful. If things are going well while you are getting tattooed and you have hit it off well with a friendly artist, keep your eyes open for ways that you can show your enthusiasm and be of service. Your best bet is not to just ask if there is anything you can do but take the initiative.

Look for opportunities to show your enthusiasm. If you have gotten far enough into a shop that they have started letting you mop and take out the trash, it's probably ok to start asking questions. You still don't want to be overly pushy about this. Let the opportunities present themselves naturally and ask questions as they seem appropriate.

Be prepared to move to a different city. There is the possibility that you may not find an apprenticeship in the place where you first start looking. Maybe there just aren't that many options. If this is something, you truly want, you might have to look in different cities.

Thank You for Reading and I Wish You Luck!

I am happy to help in any way I can! Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. You can contact me through the contact page or visit my Twitch channel and ask me anything in real-time! I stream Wednesday-Friday 10 am-3 pm PST