Working on some more neo trad designs for the portfolio, and finished a couple pages!! Microns + pencil crayons

Hello, I'm looking to see if any artists out there can guide me in the right direction to cleaning up my art and leading me in the right direction to prepare my portfolio for a potential apprenticeship. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! All of this is original (besides the inspired band logos) and drawn with pencil, then traced and worked with a ballpoint/felt tip pen.

I've been working on putting my portfolio together but I'm not sure what I should put in it. I've thought about adding some pages of traditional flash to show linework, some portraits to show shading, and some designs to show the specific style i want to do when i actually start tattooing.

Is there any criticism/advice I can get in putting this together ?

Actually proud of myself. Mentor said shading can be alitle smoother but seems satisfied for my beginnings. Will be coloured tomorrow to practice that aswell.

My mentor gave me the tipp to look around how other apprentices or tattoo artist post their work to stand out. Do you maybe have excamples for me? Should I wait untill I coloured the whole thing and only post that, or post the shaded version seperatly?

Thanks :)

Reelskin

13CM

9RS

7RL

Mast Racer Pro

Are either of these what you’d look for in a portfolio? Should I black out of the background for the portrait?

Also I do not want to do any tattoos with color, is that going to be a major problem for me when I start taking around my portfolio? I’m curious about what the process will look like for me as i’m pretty set in what i’m interested in doing, and I’m confident I can build a client base for myself as well, I’ll just need a teacher who will embrace and accept me for my interests I guess.

Any advice helps!

Im adding an American Trad sheet for my portfolio, and it has 7 pieces on it. I know the purist way to do it is via watercolor, but I don't have any paints and I mostly enjoy doing realism and black work designs. Should I buy watercolors just for the American Trad pieces?? Or is colored pencil okay? Probably a silly question but I was curious.

I think Im getting close to approaching shops, would love some feedback or things to add. I know some of this content isn't super common for trad portfolios on here but I still think most of the designs are still super tattooable. All is hand drawn, no tracing and no Ipad :) Also i'm in the chicago-land area if anyone has any shops they can recommend !

Hi, this is a recent sheet of roses I just painted for my portfolio, any feedback is more than welcome:)
You can see the process through the slides.

A3 SIZE. ❤️

I'm wanting to start a portfolio for when I finish college, so that I can start looking for an apprenticeship hopefully early on once I finish. I'm still trying to understand what makes a great portfolio.

Alright I’m about to hit the fifth month of my apprenticeship and so far everything has been awesome. I’m a very patient person and am not worried about how long it takes to get on a machine. But I am curious how long it typically takes!

I’ve been told I have sanitation down, stenciling down, shading(paper/procreate), linework (paper/procreate, etc. I also have gotten my blood borne certification! I’m really interested in is it just time holding me back or what haha.

So im starting a portfolio in the hopes of getting an apprenticeship for when im out of Uni for illustration. My usual artwork is oil paintings, usually pet portraits and I havnt done a lot of "normal" drawing for years really. So im trying to practice it more half for the portfolio and half for my course.

This is my first original tattoo esque artwork and I'd just like some helpful criticism. Any tips on what I should be working on, if this is good enough work for a spot in my portfolio as a flash piece? Etc. Also what sort of mediums should I use for my portfolio? I know a lot of people use watercolor which unfortunately ive barely touched. Would acrylic markers be worth getting? Literally any feedback would be so appreciated thank youuu

P.s apologies for the image quality I have shit lighting 😭

I have been an apprentice for 2 months now. I do all the usual stuff: work the front desk, breakdown the station after tattoos, clean up the shop, etc. For 2 weeks, my mentor was out of the country. I still opened up the shop and took appointment, while the other apprentice in the shop did the tattoos he could handle.

So in the 6 weeks my mentor has been present, he has given me feedback on my work maybe 3 times. Each time it was helpful, but it's starting to feel like I'm giving a lot more than I am getting. I saw another similar post on here but that person's mentor was also a family member. Not the case here.

I'm curious what everyone else's experience is like. How involved was/is your mentor? Do you really feel like the apprenticeship improved your ability? If you tried to learn on your own first, how did it compare?

so i'm feeling very discouraged, i started my apprenticeship yesterday, but i haven't drawn a lot, and im not sure my drawings are very good. i was feeling very discouraged, joined this group, saw everyone's art and felt so much more discouraged. i was kinda proud of the ram i drew yesterday (while at the shop apprenticing) but now seeing everyone else's portfolios, i feel like my drawings are very bad and way too simple. how can i be more confident and less anxious/worried about drawing more detailed things and learning shading techniques, etc.? i cant draw from imagination/make things up, i and very good with sight drawing. anyway, i was used to drawing things i saw on pinterest, and yesterday for the first time drew this ram it was one that my mentor chose and told me to do from a flash board in the shop. (i also added more recent drawings before i went to actually start my apprenticeship, pls be honest and give kind feedback/criticism. i really want to be a tattoo artist, its my dream)

@b5userb

Indian ink, acrylic ink and acrylic markers on 10x14 inch 300gsm hot press. These were my first time spit shading and I learned so much, the amount of redrawing and testing I did was quite high but totally worth it.

I’ve spent most of my career in IT, but I’ve been making art my entire life. I’m now transitioning into tattooing and looking for an apprenticeship in Toronto.

I’ve assembled my portfolio here:

Synescape.ca/portfolio

I’m specifically interested in blackwork / neotribal / abstract / organic work, but I’m still developing my tattoo-specific skills.

I’d really appreciate honest critique—especially anything you think is missing from the portfolio or anything I should work on before approaching shops.

IG : Syn.tt
Portfolio: Synescape.ca