Is this a normal apprenticeship?

artsavvy87 · #1 06-13-2008, 09:54 PM

I have been apprenticing in a small shop in a small town for about seven months now. Its just me and the owner and I am not sure how to take it all. All arrogancy aside I feel I am a very talented artist I was in advanced art classes throughout high school as well as advanced regular classes. I attended a four year university and studied fine arts and I am now classified as a senior. I work a full time job and I am at the shop full time as well. Things started out okay but they have gotten worse and worse. I have found over time that he has taken credit for my artwork, he lies to me and the customers, and he has a very poor work ethic. He is rarely here and he expects me to fufil the positions of counter girl, cleaning lady, and tattoo artist, full time. This is a full custom shop, so this includes drawing up all of his work as well as my own. He pays me 50% of the tattoos I do, but those are few and far between since the clientelle is so limited in a small town. Tattooing is very important to me, but I am afraid his childish behavior and poor ethics are instilling in me something that i will never be able to rid myself of. He is horrible to almost everyone that comes into the shop and treats me like a cash cow half the time and the other half the time he treats me like dirt under his shoes. I feel like I am not learning anything, and I am scared that the tattoos that i have done have not been done correctly, and when i ask for help I get yelled at and treated like a moron in front of costomers and anyone who is in the shop. I want to move to a larger city and start my apprenticeship over but i need some advice. Is this what an apprenticeship is supposed to be like?

#2 06-14-2008, 03:33 AM

umm no....i would get on and i would also tell him why.

lunchboxxx · #3 06-14-2008, 06:09 PM

WOW, sure as heck does not sound like our apprenticeships at AON. If you feel you are not being taught properly; then by all means...get up and out. Go and find an apprenticeship more suited to your commitment to the artform. As far as work ethic; either you have it or you dont; and if I were you I would not let someone bring me down. You know that hard work pays off. Let him toil in his laziness and lack of success.

Big Shem · #4 06-14-2008, 09:34 PM

ummmmmmmmmm , hmmmmmmmmm, nope.... sounds like b.s you should find better......

Genghis AON · #5 06-15-2008, 05:08 PM

That's nothing like my apprenticeship!!!
It sounds like you have way more talent than the guy your learning from.
Get the hell out!! and seek out a more reputable shop and inquire within!!!
FAST!!!

Raiden · #6 06-17-2008, 11:37 AM

Yeah dude...sounds pretty shady. I kinda have an attitude problem at times and if I were you I would have told homeboy off by now. Being an apprentice places you at the bottom. But what is the point if you have nothing to work towards? That's why I chose a.o.n. for my apprenticeship. I may have been scrubbing toilets and floor tile in the beginning but I knew it would pay off. I worked my ass off for the chance to sit and watch these guys tattoo. I worked to be able to ask them a question about tattooing without being looked at like a jack ass. It takes time and you must have patience. But the thing to keep in mind is...an apprenticeship will hustle you....or you will hustle that apprenticeship.

Raiden

Nicole · #7 06-17-2008, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raiden

I kinda have an attitude problem at times and if I were you I would have told homeboy off by now.
Raiden

YOU! have an attitude problem?? NEVER! Hahahahahhahaha

FallenKing · #8 06-17-2008, 12:45 PM

bro leave that leech.
If after 7 months you feel like you haven't learnt anything then you surely need to move on.
Not to bash the shop but working at larger shops with lots of artists is better than learning from 1 single person.

Some times "old timers" think that that's the only way. The art has evolved so the mentors! Get yourself a good mentor. And if you have a portfolio of work post it here, you never know!

jerseyjaywymbs · #9 06-18-2008, 06:45 PM

never let anyone push you down. stand up for yourself and be strong about your goals. if you aren't happy, move on. i have worked for so many tattoo shops in the past, reason being, i won't take crap from anyone ever. my tools and talent keep me employed, not some jack hole with a sign and a storefront. i can do this anywhere my feet take me.

artsavvy87 · #10 06-28-2008, 08:14 PM

thanks so much for the advice! It was hard for me to realize that i wasnt giving up, just moving on to better things. I have left that shop and I am much happier now. I will begin my search for a new apprenticeship soon!