Apprenticeship gone bad...

[wezzy9w]

Ok, so I had this guy that just left. He was apprenticing or at least trying to at the shop. He is an amazing artist. So amazing that he works for Disney and milton Bradley. He's in his early 50's. Like I said, he is an amazing artist. But here's the problem. He jumped into it and was balls to the wall. He bought 2 numa machines, a compressor and the whole nine. I told him the deal with an apprenticeship from the get go. Of course he can draw circles around everyone in the shop as far as fine art goes, but he doesnt grasp the fact that not everything that is drawn can be tattooed like it is drawn. I had patience with this guy over the last few months. Understanding that he had projects for Disney and thats how this guy makes a living. But when he came into the shop, he wouldnt even work on line sheets, refused to clean the bathroom, do anything apprentice related because he felt he was more of a benifit to us. The problem I had is simply this, he has no tattoos, refused to tattoo himself, or even work on the s&!tty fake skin. He made it clear that he knew his art was way better than ours, which is true. I couldnt hold a candle to the things he does. But, he lacked the true desire to learn the machanics. I told him to wait on buying any equipment but he insisted on buying numas. He did not ask any questions other than "what needle you using for that?" When I told him today that I wanted him tracing line sheets. Only one a day, he flipped and said his linework was perfect. That to me was a premadona statement. So I told him to pack his numa s&!t and screw. I was trying to give this guy every opertunity to learn, but when he only puts 3 hours a week in and doesnt want to try anything, why bother right. I let him tattoo some of his friends and a few came out good. Not great, but pretty good for an apprentice. He had a bad one one day that really rattled his cage and I was hoping for that to clear the ego that was comming. Then, last week end I ws out, so I told the next in comand that he does nothing without my approval. He did it anyway and it looked like crap. Lines were terrible. So I gave him an ass chewing and he didnt like it. Tried to tell him what he was doing wrong, he didnt wanna hear it. I have another guy with know experience other than getting tattooed a bunch. But this guy is balls to the wall. Tracing 5 sheets a day, making attempts to get the art skills, and the guy keeps my shop spotless and paperwork on point. Why waste my time with Mr Disney? Because I thought he had it after a few months. But when he thought he was grasping it, he slipped up. Time after time I gave this guy the chance to sit and learn, he never came around. Didnt even call half the time. Was I wrong in my descicion? I am just venting because he blew off a mandatory meeting today, and when he came in, he confronted me infront of a customer. He got me going and I lost my composure when he said this shop was doomed. I am comming up on our first year in business and we have been rolling along, not having to put anything back into the shop from day one. I would say that things are going really good. The only thing I see in the future is a major boost in our clientel and bigger and better things. Thanks for listening. If any other shop owners have any advise for me, please, let me hear it. I want to be at the level as the Hope Gallery, wich is about 50 miles away from us. We have it goin on right now, I only see it getting better, and soon we should be at that level.

[Kowai]

Coming from a background in animation, and aspiring to be a tattoo apprentice myself I would say that this guy's behaviour is absolutely disgraceful. He's obviously used to being top s&!t and is looking down on everyone around him. (Anyone who gets to work for Disney is pretty much treated as a god in the animation world)..

No matter your age or experience you need to have humility and the willingness to learn and do your job properly! You'd think someone with his background would appreciate this.. You should ask him - would an animation intern be allowed to act in such a way? To just ignore their mentors, draw whatever the hell they wanted, never practice, talk back etc etc.. I can bet you a million dollars that intern would be out on their ass in no time!

He doesn't seem to appreciate the industry he's going into either - didn't you say he has no tattoos? He only works in the shop a limited amount of time per week? Seems like this is a hobby to him, nothing more..

Good luck dude!

[snatch]

i say you should not have let him tattoo anyone espicailly if he wouldnt tattoo himself. It sounds like your waaaaaaay better off with out him, weather he can draw like a god or not! if there is no passion for the career then nothing but bulls&!t will come from the apprentice. I dont tattoo, im retarded, but i have an apprentice in my field and he wants to learn and to succede. he keeps my tools and tool box clean, he keeps cars clean, he reads books, he keeps old parts and tears them apart and puts them back topgether in his spare time... Point is, he has the passion to succede. It sounds like you new apprentice will be a huge benefit to your shop and its future! f@#k THAT DISNEY ASS RAMMER!!!!!!

[561design]

You were right to do what you did. His behavior is uncalled for even in the design industry. I think it's BS that he wouldn't practice his linework. That's one of the core fundimentals of many artistic fields. And each field linework is treated differently.

He's working with different tools and a different medium. He should have just taken a step back to take it all in. I'd love to tattoo but I know I don't have the time right now to really get into it. So I suppose it'll be something I may persue when I get older.

Hopefully this doesn't leave a negative note in your head when someone similar comes along. Atleast you gave him a chance and you're a better person for it.

[jamesrowe]

I came into this industry at the age of 35 with at least 15 years experience as a professional illustrator/cartoonist. I've been designing t-shirts and cd covers for punk and metal bands forever, but I never came in with an attitude that I didn't need to learn this medium or that I was better than anybody.
I spent my 1st year working every available hour that I could, reading any and all books, articles, etc that I could get my hands on (and I still do). I watched tattooers in our shop all day long working on various pieces and then spent hours picking their brains on how they did what they did and why they did it that way as opposed to the way others do their work, etc., etc. Basically, I had the desire to learn to tattoo, no matter what it took. I cleaned bathrooms, scrubbed tubes, mopped floors, ran errands, ran for lunch, cleaned parking lots, etc....me, the middle aged accomplished artist, cleaning toilets?...damn right.

it sounds like this dude has no respect for the industry or those that came before. I don't care what medium you come from, tattooing is hard work....my line work is extremely polished (much like a Disney animator), but I still got my ass in here and traced line work, colored flash copies, drew custom designs, etc. I had to learn a whole lot about what will translate to a tattoo and what won't....I'm still learning, every single day.

So, personally, I think you did the right thing. Sounds like this guy has a big ass ego and someone needed to bring him down a bit. You can't just waltz into this industry and kick ass, it takes dedication and hard work (not all of that hard work is gonna be a fun as tracing line art either!). Some of us really want to learn and succeed and some of us don't...looks like your guy was one of the latter.
Best to work with the kid that really has a passion for this business, you'll get better results in the long run...sometimes it's just too damn hard to teach an old dog new tricks....especially if they already think they know it all!

[travelingtom]

i say good for you. that guy is a f@#king b1tc4. look at bob tyrell. him and his father are both kick ass artists, and bob was very humble when he first got into the industry. people like disney fag, will never make it, and if they do get real good, they will piss off everybody around them and burn all of their bridges. there is a dude like that around me. thinks he is way better then he is. he lost all of his clients because he was always talking s&!t on one of the other shops that had a very good name. f@#k DISNEY. besides when i went to the art institute of pittsburgh, my illistration teacher(who worked for disney for 10 years)said that anything that you create for them does not belong to you, it's thiers. so once he leaves disney, nobody will no his name. he will just be another asshole that can draw good. maybe thats why hes trying tattooing, because he is fifty and his carreer is f@#ked. good for him. mother f@#ker

[wezzy9w]

Thank you everyone for the encouragement. I wish he would have asked Brandon for an apprenticeship. That would really f*ck his mind up. He also had an idea to do a japanese mirrol on the wall. So my other artist and I started drawing on it. He never put a pencil too it because he wasnt getting paid for it. Then when my business partner made a comment to him about working on it, he looked at him and said, "I dont paint anything I dont do." That right there pissed me off. He had the idea, never helped out, so we started it and then it got busy. We had no time for it. But I agree, man, my apprenticeship was a pain in the ass. I had to do things that had no relation to tattooing a lot of the times. But let me just say this, I learned how to respect this industry. When I meet other artists, I pick their brains. I am always learning. I am not the best drawer by any means and never claimed to be, but like I told him, you need to pay your dues or no one will ever respect you in this industry. He had the nerve to tell me I still have dues. As far as I am concerned, after 7 years in this industry, one full year as a shop owner, I am paid up for the most part. We are starting a convention tour in January starting with Miami. This is where I see my career starting to flourish. I hope to meet tons of other artists, whatch them all work, and soak in the knowledge of others for as long as I am in this industry. I have worked along side Dave Lukeson, Cliff Evans, Larry Johnson, and Gabrial CeCe. These guys had me when I was still a journeyman in the business. I would drive them nutts asking questions and practically sitting on their laps when they tattooed. I think these guys gave me the influence to strive to be better early. Today its harder as an owner, but I hope to soon get a guy in my shop that is 10 times better, so I can learn from him or her. If anyone is looking to do a guest spot, let me know.

Damn dude, that s&!t wouldn't fly around here. You do an apprenticeship to learn from people who know what they are doing, and a cocky "better than you are" attitude is going to keep you from learning. That blows my mind. You did the right thing for sure.

[travelingtom]

hey man i checked out your myspace, keep up the good work and dont let anyone get you down. i know how bad it can be. i just recently left the shop i was at, over some childish bulls&!t. to bad you arent in pa or i would be ramming down your door.

[terryhaddon]

just to lightening things up......you said "ramming"...hahahaha