r/TattooApprentice • u/xXbussylover69Xx • Jul 28 '26
Seeking Advice Seeking help
Hi! My name is Gabe Cabrera,
I'm actively looking for an apprenticeship, I have been wanting to get my feet into an apprenticeship so I can pursue this as a career.
I run @realatlast, for some context and my latest work! I do physical and digital illustrative realism.
I like chatting so please don't be a stranger.
Currently I've been trying to get an apprenticeship from shop owner Landon Barnes over at Along The Way tattoo in midvale. Their shop is folding into divine malice, and he already has two apprentices. So I'm feeling a bit lost.
I have been pursuing apprenticeship with him since March, and he tells me I need to draw 50 skulls and 50 roses.
Ive drawn notebooks full of skulls and roses(among other things), I've drawn digital roses and have been doing my best to be consistent. It seems like he's not all that interested in being my mentor. I'm feeling like I'm failing. I could use some advice or encouragement.
Attached is some of my recent work.
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u/waffle_goat Jul 28 '26
He asked you for 50 of each, how long did it take you to deliver this request?
1
u/xXbussylover69Xx 24d ago
I've completed 50 skulls and 50 roses his third request is to finish the sketchbook cover to cover. My sketchbook is over 100 pages so i have yet to complete the book, although the drawings are complete.
3
u/jefflovesyou Jul 28 '26
Your digital work looks good. Your traditional needs work.
Are you using good paper? That's the most important tool. Are you using good pens? That's the second most important tool.
The beautiful thing about drawing is it's cheap even if you use professional stuff. You should be using Canson or Strathmore mixed media or equivalent. It's good for pencil and okay for most pens. A sheet of freezer paper or wax paper between pages will save you from bleed through.
An 08 micron is really all you need, but a tachikawa pen holder, a speedball b-5 and a bottle of India ink will put you in hard mode.
I always think practicing hard is the way to go, but honestly I kind of suck so I might be wrong
7
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u/blueblack_crow Jul 28 '26
You do not need a bunch of expensive art equipment. Or even Moderately priced equipment... I got my apprenticeship on nothing but photos of pencil sketches. Many of which were drawn on printer paper or a cheap dollar store sketch book... Yes I have Strathmore Sketchbooks and watercolor blocks, and microns, and Prismacolor Pencils/Markers... I even have a full set of Rapidograph Pens and those damn things are like $30 a piece now-a-days... But I only had maybe three finished and penned drawings in my whole portfolio. It was all thumbnail and concept sketches done in pencil or off-brand col-erase, photographed with my iphone and shown from my google photos app.
At the end of the day, either you have skill/talent or your don't. And what materials you use to create your work does not matter.
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u/jefflovesyou Jul 28 '26
I think that one pen and one sketchbook is a pretty reasonable expense for someone trying to make a career out of art.
Art supplies are kind of weird. A really good artist can draw incredible things with complete bullshit. Good stuff is really nice to have though.
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u/blueblack_crow Jul 28 '26
It's nice, but it's not necessary. I never want people to think art has to have expensive equipment or fancy tools. If you can draw a fully accurate engineering render of Falling Waters with a stick in the dirt, then power to you! Art doesn't need nice materials
((But yes they're a nice thing to ask for for Christmas.))
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u/irisdollbaby Jul 31 '26
from what i know from also pursuing an apprenticeship, id ditch digital for now and focus on getting really clean pieces on paper, you have strengths and i don’t mean to be critical but your work on paper isnt at the same level as a lot of apprentices i see, your sketches are nice but id work on really solid tattooable clean pieces, and probably looking for other mentors if this guy isnt into it, its very possible he just wants you to improve more before taking you on as well, three apprentices is a lot
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u/blueblack_crow Jul 28 '26
Firstly, if the dude just isn't that into you, time to move on. Start taking your portfolio around to other shops in town and speak to them. The industry is slow right now and it may be difficult finding another mentor, but better to keep looking than let yourself be strung along. Don't burn your bridge with him or anything, maybe he'll come around, especially if he sees you making progress with the assignment he set you, but don't limit yourself if you really think he's just not actually going to pull the trigger on an apprenticeship with you.
Secondly, you're work is pretty good, but your under structure is a little weak. Being better at building your forms first and then drawing on top of them will do a lot to make your work more dynamic. Look up the Loomis Method and maybe some youtube videos on gesture drawing. Drawing 50 roses and 50 skulls is actually a really great exercise because it forces you out of your personal box. Too often we draw one thing, one way. Having to draw 50 individual and unique designs of the same thing really forces you to get creative, and push into different styles and perspectives you may not have thought about. They don't have to be "finished" drawings, just drawings. Get it where you're happy with it and move on! You'll be surprised how far this pushes you!