It’s been a while since my last post, but my exploration of the tattoo world is increasing each day!
I’m so excited. Soon I will be free for the summer to pursue an ambition that is fast becoming real to me. Of course, I’ve read enough to know that getting into the tattoo world takes time, patience, dedication and unbelievable talent (for those who actually appreciate fantastic art) but for the first time in my life I feel positive that I have found a place that I may belong in the art world.
However, everywhere I look I end up selling myself short; because I feel I am nowhere near up to scratch. I haven’t had the benefit of tattooing since I was 14 like some artists, but I have had the benefit of learning to draw throughout my entire life. I feel that the precious stone of my artwork is there, but that it really needs polishing and refining, which could take a while.
I have been reading up non-stop on tattooing, watching documentaries, investigating for over a year now, but I am still missing hands-on experience. In the tattooing world, it seems, there are literally millions of people gunning to be tattooists nowadays, and apprenticeships are harder to come by, because artists are reluctant to hire just anybody.
Which is why I need to create art that is worth its weight in gold.
I get that people don’t want shoddy artwork besmirching their skin, and many’s the time I have drawn something, only to hate it minutes later. I would feel awful if I were not a really good artist by the time I approached a tattoo studio, if not a great one.
And so, to prove to myself and to prove to others that I am not just in this for the so-called fame and glory of tattooing, that shows like LA and Miami Ink glamorise (although I love those shows, they are unrealistic), I asked myself why I want to become a tattoo artist:
1. To create artwork that fascinates people.
2. To gain further insight into a historic practice that intrigues me.
3. To become a better artist and a role model for my brothers.
4. To see the World.
5. To help people, most notably a close friend who suffers from Vitiligo (a skin condition that causes the pigments in the skin to fade).
6. It will allow me to learn a vast array of art styles: no limits.
7. It embodies a lot of styles that I am already familiar with.
8. It requires no phony degree, only raw talent.
9. I want to be an approachable woman in a predominantly male profession, and one other women and girls can look up to.
10. I wish to find my own “Mr Miyagi”: my sensei who will guide me on my path to artistic enlightenment!
11. I want my dad to want me to tattoo him.
12. At the end of the day, it feels right.
So I hope you can see that any passion I have for art is exclusively injected into this ultimate form right now!
On a final note, I can now be found on the forums of Big Tattoo Planet, under the name JemimaLee. This promises to be a very insightful website and a great way to communicate with fellow artists and skin-art fans, so if you happen to be on there don’t be afraid to add me as a friend!
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