Nancy – Tattoo Artist
Nancy is a final year apprentice in a very non-traditional trade: being a tattoo artist at a custom tattoo design studio, Tatudharma. She shares just how she entered the industry and what she loves about it.
“I knew from a long time ago that there was no real avenue to get into tattooing so I didn’t think of it as an option, but I always drew tattoos for myself and friends, it was a part of my world.” she shares. Nancy had a string of jobs from washing dishes and retail, to assisting photographers and making jewellery but she could never find what she considered her perfect, creative, well-paying job. “I did fine arts at TAFE when I was 17 but never really ventured into tattoo style art. I did do a lot of fine swirly stuff with jewellery which helped hone my fine motor skills.”
Nancy is an apprentice tattooist to Josh Roelink at Tatudharma in Chippendale, Sydney. It’s a custom tattoo studio where clients consult with the artist about the design, and several weeks (or months) may pass before the tattoo appointment. There are no designs to choose from and there is no signage advertising the parlour’s location.
At the start of her shift Nancy replies to emails then sets up her work station, in addition to Josh’s, “the remnants of my tasks as an apprentice”, she laughs, with only a few months left to go. “I set up my needles, make the stencil, work out what colours I’m going to use, if any at all, make a coffee – which is very important! - and just try to get organized.” Nancy says. “It’s a nice space to be in and I love the people I work with. The best thing about it is that I had so many years of not wanting to go to work, waking up and hating it and now I’ve never once not wanted to go to work, I’ll even come in on one of my days off to sterilize and draw.”
“If you had to compare it to anything it would be drawing and colouring in - yet it’s completely different. The needle is the tool and the canvas is the skin. Josh only really showed me how to actually tattoo a few times, I was pretty much left to work it out from there,” Nancy says. “Some people have good skin and some don’t - and all skin heals differently, as it’s a very organic process.”
It can take between a few weeks to a few months to tattoo someone, depending on the kind of tattoo they want. “If someone wants a whole sleeve it could take a few months to finish … depending on the design and the size of their arm.”
“I’m naturally quite anal - I like to be precise.” Nancy says, sharing the challenges of her job. “My skill didn’t match my standards at first because it takes time to get good, as with anything, and that killed me, I kind of had to let go of that which was hard.”
Nancy met Josh through a series of mutual friends. Not long after, she had a revelation that she wanted to be a tattooist and began to secretly draw. “I knew it was a very cagey industry, you can’t just go and study it and get a qualification, it doesn’t work that way so eventually I confessed to Josh that I wanted to be a tattooist and he told me I should just draw and draw and draw.”
Everyone Nancy told was very supportive. “[They] said ‘yeah you should have done that ten years ago’. I got so much support, it was great, even my parents thought it was a good idea. So I got on the dole and stayed home for 3 months and drew.”
“Eventually Josh said ‘Come in and I’ll show you how to make needles’.
I didn’t realize what the big deal was about being a tattooist,” Josh had kept warning Nancy that it was a full-on job, and that she should learn in a street shop so she could practice doing lots of little tattoos, which is the way people traditionally learn. “I was thrown in the deep end with custom design, but I’m not complaining, then one day he offered me an apprenticeship.”
For the first year of her apprenticeship Nancy drew, watched, cleaned and answered the phone. “The first project Josh got me to do was a set of flash (the designs you see on tattoo shop walls) It was a really good exercise to start with- I got the basic fundamentals of design and shading.
He knew I had other qualities that made up for the fact I hadn’t drawn tattoo art before. Someone can be a great artist but it doesn’t mean you’ll be a good tattooist.”
Nancy recommends anyone thinking about the industry should just draw. “First thing draw. Buy books on tattooing, research on the internet, get tattooed, learn what tattoo style is. Mostly I think if you want to do something bad enough it will happen, if you have the right focus it’s inevitable.”
The best part of the job?
The actual tattooing, it’s fun and there’s a serious element to it that I thrive off. I also love it because it’s not a ‘normal’ thing to do and I don’t overly desire to be ‘normal’.
The hardest part of the job?
It’s 24/7. I go home and draw and draw on my days off. It’s so variable too, things mightn’t be working and you don’t know why, that’s frustrating. Being in awkward positions and having to stretch the skin, or combine that with the customer moving and whingeing! That can be annoying. The designing is mostly fine – but we all have a different vocabulary when describing pictures, so if you get someone’s design idea right the first time, it’s great.
What personal qualities are needed for the job?
Good communication skills, you have to be friendly, you have to care about the outcome of the tattoo, being neat is preferable. Don’t be doing it for glory or ego, you have to do it for the love of it.