Most young artists dream of making tattooing their job. But what happens when tattooing actually becomes your job? There’s a phrase — Familiarity breeds contempt — which I think is true for any professional who goes from being the new…
Read MoreWhy Is the Tattoo Business Slow? is a phrase I've been hearing from tattoo artists over and over again recently. And by slow, they don't mean that tattooing has become slower. They mean there seem to be fewer clients, fewer…
Read MoreWhat happens when you're willing to give, but you don't actually have the resources that the traditional tattoo apprenticeship system expects you to give? Why won't you just teach me? That's the question I imagine a lot of people wanting…
Read MoreWhy A tattoo Artist Needs a Website in 2026 I think social media is about to change again, and it will affect the way we build our careers. I also don’t think tattooists are ready for it. A while ago,…
Read MoreAn apprenticeship is an exchange. So, don't walk through the door of a tattoo studio thinking only about what you're going to get from it. You only get what you give. What Is an Apprenticeship? Because in tattooing, like a…
Read MoreWhat happens when a culture built around selection and belonging, like tattooing, meets companies that discover they can monetise our desire to be among the selected few? Modern Life Is Doing Someone Else's Job For Free I was driving home…
Read MoreI was sitting chatting with an old friend the other day about a new project he's starting. He was asking for some of my advice and expertise and, weirdly, as I started to explain things to him, I realised that,…
Read MoreTattoo culture isn't inherited because people love tradition. It's inherited because continuity is the mechanism through which the profession preserves its memory, values and identity. What Have We Lost? On the 6th November 2025 I published an article called The…
Read MoreTeaching yourself to tattoo isn't simply about finding enough information. The thing that replaces an apprenticeship isn't a different kind of teacher. It's becoming the kind of person who can teach themselves. Teaching yourself to tattoo, and I mean genuinely…
Read MoreCreative ownership for tattoo artists isn't about rejecting platforms. It's about making sure the value your work creates belongs to you. A company recently got in touch asking if I'd be interested in promoting their new marketplace. That’s nothing new.…
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