The art of tattooing has come a very long way, not only the quality and cleanliness of the work itself but also in the way it viewed by mainstream society. People of all races, creeds and social standings are getting tattooed, from the streets all the way to the red carpet. But as with anything, this newfound acceptance also brings new dangers. The business itself is in a state of change, and it is imperative that the artists who took it this far don’t let it be watered down and ruined.
If you think back a few decades you may be able to remember a time when people used to be able to call a doctor 24 hours a day and he would drop everything and come to your house and do what he had to do, tell you what was up and what to do about it and everybody knew it was cool because he was the doctor, a highly trained professional with knowledge and skills that others simply do not possess, and that was why he was the guy calling the shots. Makes perfect sense right? The guy who does it is the guy in charge of it. But then something stupid happened. A doctor somewhere got greedy and allowed an outsider in to help him run shit and make more money instead of just doing it himself. The outsider felt that even though he didn’t have the training or skills or raw talent that the doctor had, he deserved his cut of things. So even though the doctor was the one that everybody wanted to see and the one who was doing ALL the work, the outsider still took half of everything. But that wasn’t enough for the outsider so he started a company and called it insurance and made it so big that he could tell ALL DOCTORS what they can and cannot do even though he hasn’t got the slightest fucking inkling of a clue as to what they do. And that is my very childish simplified version of how the medical industry became a laughing stock in this country. But now, on to the point…
The outsiders now, to US, are called “investors”. They do not possess any of the skills or talents necessary to do what we do, they do not have the love for it that makes it impossible for us to live any other kind of life, but they want to be paid for it anyway. There are more and more everyday, it’s getting harder and harder to find a shop that is artist owned and run anymore. As a professional I can tell you that the amount of repair work I have to do has at least doubled. Scratchers are getting jobs in shops owned by people that wouldn’t know good work if it walked up and faceraped them. The fact that at a convention the “owner” of a shop I should mention but won’t pointed to Philadelphia Eddie and asked me who that was made me need a drink. We can stop it if we stand together and recognize the outsiders for the leaches they are.
People have been using artists for their abilities and tossing them away when they don’t need them anymore since the beginning. How many beautiful pieces of artwork are in the world that nobody knows who it was done by? Because some rich asshole took advantage.
The general rule of ANY tattoo shop owner should be this:
You NEVER ask anyone to do anything that you are not willing or able to do yourself. If you are not able, you are NOT the fucking boss. You are in charge of 2 things; Jack and shit, and Jack just left town. (thank you Bruce Campbell)
This is a call to all REAL Tattoo Artists out there, the ones with the talent, the skills and the love for this that makes us get out of bed every morning. WE are the ones who make this Art and this business possible, not the leaches and the scratchers and the wanna-be’s. We don’t need them. They are a cancer that will eat away the soul of the Art of this business the way greed does to everything else it touches. The Tattoo industry should be taken into the future by the people who love it, not by the scumbags trying to feed off of the talented. If you are offended by this you are either a scratcher, an investor or a phony in which case your opinion and feelings mean nothing to me, i’m glad you’re offended and you can go fuck yourself
I take PRIDE in what I do and am HONORED that anyone would allow me to do it on their body, fuck you if you don’t feel the same way.