work in progress
missing images
2023
towards the end of 2023 I started to take seriously my idea of becoming a tattoo artist. that didn’t come out of nowhere, it’s always been on my mind since I was a teenager, but I was too busy with Flygohr and making ends meet
but AI has taken away most of my clients there, and the hours I’m putting into it are not covering my basic needs, not even close. it’s been like this since 2022, it’s taking a toll on me as the years go by. and, since I’m not making bank anyways, I prefer to “invest” my hours into learning something new rather than griding at the same shrinking thing
plus, with the Flygohr thing, the art pieces I get to churn out are all colorful, commercial fantasy art. don’t get me wrong, I very much like it, but I’m not a one trick pony and it’s been YEARS since I got the time, energy, and funds to dedicate to my other style, the stray one. tattoos would be a great way to channel that
on top of that, I’ve got friends and connections that will allow me to “skip” the usual apprenticeship bullshit that beginners have to endure if they want to become a tattoo artist, and go straight to tattooing in a studio
2024
so in 2024 I finally took up the certification program. you don’t need to be able to tattoo to be certified in Italy, that usually comes informally through a proper apprenticeship. but you have to attend a course where they teach you about hygiene, diseases, proper maintenance of tools and workstation, etc. and you have to pass an exam for that
together with my enrollment I also got myself my first tattoo gun, and some supplies to practice on fake skin. my friends also got me a fake sphinx cat made of a different synthetic material, and now I can say it’s very similar to real skin, unlike the more common fake skin sheets. I must say that learning how to use the tattoo gun was a very humbling experience, I thought I’d be better at it, especially since I already know how to draw
anyways, the exam was at the end of 2024, and I passed just fine
2025
I got my certificate early into 2025
I downloaded an app to keep track of my 10000 hours of mastery as I did practice and study. I know that mastery thing is bullshit, but I work better if I have metrics to track and targets to pursue. I became more confident and started spending more hours in the tattoo studio and learned how to print and apply stencils
it must be said that in the meantime, the only thing that is paying the bills is still Flygohr, so I have to practice with whatever time I have left after that. tattoos won’t pay for much longer still. on the contrary, I’m probably 1 or 2 grands under as of now, thanks to the course, the gun, and the supplies
2025 is where I got most practice done. I covered 10 sheets of fake skin, front and back, with practice lines, shades, doodles, and proper stencil practice. I started to use the fake cat for better practice with angles and ink penetration
in September I made my first tattoo on a long time friend of mine, a simple fishbone thing I half copied from a sheet of small tats I found online. gotta start somewhere. it went fine, went too lightly over some bits and will need to go over it one more time, but nothing that can’t be fixed
in November I did the second tattoo, something a bit more complex, a match with a small flame on top. this time I went way too light, and this one too will need another pass
2026
the holidays and a couple months of bad health delayed my tattoo progress, but I have a few friends lined up for small tattoos to be made as soon as we can arrange that, as well as the 2nd pass over my first 2 tats