This article is from WeChat official account:Epoch Story House (ID: epochstory2017) , author: mochi, the original title: “tattoo teacher of rivers and lakes: Some people hide the scars, it was the scar text in the body” from head Figure: vision China
I don’t know when it will start, and tattoo artists will be brushed more and more frequently on dating software. In the photo, they are wearing masks, their demeanor is attentive, or they have two big floral arms or their backs are colorful. This seemingly mysterious niche profession seems to be becoming more and more popular. What exactly is the arena of tattoo artists?
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“In the past few years, there have been more and more tattoo artists, but when I see boys who claim to be tattoo artists on dating software, they will immediately draw them away. Most of them don’t even have works at all, they are personal designs. Many people may still think that tattoo artists are a niche and cool profession. The tattoo artists around me actually look like ordinary people. It’s not that mysterious to get married or have children.”
Six years ago, Hongdou, who was still in his second year of high school, suffered from kidney disease, and his condition repeated. After two or three times of advancing and retreating from campus, his studies stopped.
Later, her illness was cured, but it became difficult to return to school. She took a graduation photo for her senior year of high school, and came to a tattoo shop in Chengdu as an apprentice the next day.
She has “family learning”. When she was in elementary school, her mother opened a tattoo shop, simply because she “earned a lot”. This storefront also provided Hongdou’s childhood with relatively ample economic conditions.
It’s just that she rarely went to the store when she was a child, and her mother seldom talked about the store. Her home is in Tangshan, and the store is in “the kind of underground block that every small city will have.” The neighboring store is equipped with dancing machines or cheap clothing. The colors of the lights are muddy and dim. Most of the customers are “on the road”. There are several kinds of repeated demands: Lion, Lion and Tiger, Guan Gong, Lu Zhishen.
Hongdou would occasionally go to the store to help. It seemed reasonable to become a tattoo artist, but she quickly made up her mind and did not stay in her store to face the “Lion, Lion, Tiger and Leopard” all day long. To go to Chengdu, “Chengdu’s tattoo styleThe style is much more fashionable. “
Red Bean Works
Source: Weibo@红豆-COOLCOOLTATTOO
In recent years, the tattoo market in Chengdu has shown an explosive boom. Search for “tattoo” in Dianping Chengdu Station, and there are more than 900 related shops in major cities in China. Second only to Beijing, far ahead of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
“Because the city itself is very youthful and culturally tolerant, young people are willing to spend on decoration and play items. This is different from Beijing.” The atmosphere is not without envy.
She rented her house in Tongzhou, Beijing, far away from the city. The advantage is that the rent is cheap: for a monthly rent of more than 3,000, she rented two rooms and one living room. To be in the city, this monthly rent is enough for even a bedroom. The living room is also a studio. Occasionally, if you meet guests with similar interests, you can also stay in the second bedroom.
There is a shelf in her living room with boxes of sterilization equipment, tattoo needles, petroleum jelly, etc. on it. The workbench and chair are near the window, and the sun shines directly on the mannequin next to the workbench. There are some colorful traces on the model, which are used to show the effect of the finished product to the guests. Dumpling drawings are densely nailed on the wall, some of which are designed by ourselves, waiting for customers to buy the text; some are finished manuscripts.
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There is a legend in the tattooist’s circle that no one knows. Faced with the question of “have you encountered any strange request?”, almost everyone gave this answer: A male customer asked to make his face a dog face. He asked all tattoo artists on the market, and no one wanted to take this list.
This is a kind of potential industry ethics. If you do this, you need to bear the risk of ruin.
Customers’ requests are strange and strange. For many people, tattoos are still a memorial to the secret emotions of their hearts or the expression of personal privacy. Therefore, tattoo artists can see all kinds of secrets.
Dumplings have done a lot of covering tattoos. If the scar is on the wrist, she can basically guess a thing or two about the state of the guest, but due to a professional attitude, she doesn’t ask much.
Source: Weibo@Dumplings, did you get people today
One time, a client asked her to get a tattoo, hoping to cover the scar on her wrist. The content was that a moth flew in the direction of the light source—meaning Nirvana rebirth. Dumpling has studied moths for many days for this. For the insect-afraid, this is an unforgettable work experience.
Picture source: Weibo@文身艺术_ Patch
Many people use tattoos to commemorate those who are important to them. It is a routine practice for young people to commemorate their parents or grandparents by tattooing. Dandan’s most famous work came from a father’s request-his son had a congenital heart disease surgery, leaving a scar on his chest. His father asked for an exact same scar on his chest. Accompanying his son in this way, so that he will not feel inferior about the scars when he grows up.
This incident caused a sensation on the Internet a few years ago, and foreign media have reported it. The style of Dandan’s own works is mostly bright and colorful. The scar does not belong to the type of her daily operations, but the original intention of this father is too moving. So he really “got him a tattoo exactly the same.”
But many tattoo artists will refuse couples’ requests for tattoos or persuade them to think more carefully.
“Basically, if you ask me to do it, I will persuade you that the text should be a little bit obscure, or the text should be in a position that is relatively well covered and easy to modify… The rate of regret is really very high.” Dandan said, < strong>I have seen countless idiotic men and women coming to ask for changes or cleansing traces of feelings over the years. Some of them are not lacking in drama.: A guy brought his girlfriend to get a tattoo. Dan Dan told them that there was a female guest the day before I made a cover-up tattoo to cover up the name of the ex-boyfriend.
The boy paused and said, that’s my name.
Everyone laughed, “The atmosphere is quite relaxed and harmonious. I think it’s pretty good. It’s the way adults handle feelings.”
Even Dandan’s own boyfriend was transformed from a customer. It’s not that the content of the tattoo is special, but that Dandan feels that “this man can bear the pain, it’s really nice”.
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Jiaozi graduated from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts. Her educational background may enable her to become a designer of a large company, but she feels that life like that can end in a glance. If you take that path, you will have to face repeated overtime work, Party A’s constant negative feedback and uncreative production. She loves freedom by nature and decided to take the “path of tattooing” before graduating from university. “.
“Although my academic qualifications are an advantage in secular standards, I just like the atmosphere in the tattooist market where nothing matters except creative ideas and techniques.”
Patch is also a graduate of Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts. He chose to become a tattoo artist, largely because he couldn’t stand the constraints and restrictions on “creation” imposed by the traditional employment path.
When she entered the industry, she embraced the original intention of artistic creation, and the name of her walking rivers and lakes was “Tattoo Artist_Patch”. “Because of this, I feel that my colleagues dislike me very much.”
This is a common differentiation in the undergraduate market. Some people are pursuing artistic expression, and some people insist that this is a fair trade service industry. The commercial market has gradually matured, but this differentiation has become increasingly clear.
Patch once worked on a project called “Out of Control Emotions”, her summary of the project is this:
I pay attention to people with traumatic experiences, and use tattoos to release their emotions. One sentence explanation: The participant narrates the traumatic experience he has encountered, and I interpret it, create a tattoo of these experiences and emotions, and then complete the tattoo for the participant. Thus, the participant released his traumatic experience.
The project went well, many people signed up to tell their stories, and every participant was satisfied with the finished product. For example:
The anchor and the paper crane symbolize the inextricable pull between reality and ideals
A girl who has been well protected since childhood, hoping to be independent, the patch designed a daisy that broke through the glass cover.
Picture source: Weibo@文身艺术_ Patch
She did this non-profit project because she wanted to stick to her original intention of entering the industry in a non-commercial setting.
But this persistence is getting harder and harder. Compared with more commercial tattoo artists, those who are obsessed with creation, such as patches, often need to spend more time, more effort, and less work to ensure that their works satisfy themselves. But many times, this They are all thankless behaviors-guests don’t necessarily need artistic works, they may just want a pattern copied at a reasonable price.
“At first, I would definitely feel hurt. I gave my guests a lot of sincerity, and found that they don’t need it… But recently I felt that in fact, people have two sides, and what they want to show me may be just one side of life. . I think mature people should be able to distinguish this.” Patch said, Under the scouring of the commercial market, she has a little bit wanted to change the name of “Tattoo Artist”.
In recent years, there have been more tattoo artists. On the one hand, the barriers to entry are not high. Basically, they can be trained after a few months of study. On the other hand, it is legendary. The state of “high salary and freedom” attracts all kinds of people into the industry.Among them, there are ordinary people who lack the foundation of fine arts, as well as those with academic background and experience.People with good education background.
But there are only a few people who can get a high salary and free life as they wish. The fierce competition in the circle is on multiple levels. Technology and aesthetics are of course important, but a skilled tattooist sometimes fails because he can’t manage or understand publicity.
Like any profession, becoming a self-sufficient tattooist with a stable source of clients requires the right time and place and luck. If there is a slight difference, it may slide downhill. Dumpling said that many tattoo studios were also affected by the impact of the epidemic last year and closed down. She also lost a part of her customer base, but she was self-sufficient. She had accumulated a relatively stable customer base over the past few years and was able to survive that special period.
“The tattoo market is currently a market where supply exceeds demand. Compared with the legendary case where it is easy to make a lot of money, not only new tattoo artists, but many teachers are also beginning to be unable to receive customers… some famous tattoo artists Monopolizing the source of customers, most of the remaining people are actually struggling to survive.” Patch said.
After five or six years in the industry, Dandan began to take apprentices. At least one of the ten apprentices can successfully leave the school and persist. Although the path of tattooists looks novel and attractive, it is too easy to give up. “Most people must still prefer more stable mainstream opportunities, as long as they can find them.”
Dandan’s works
Interestingly, the market where middle-aged men used to have the right to speak seems to have gradually been occupied by young women. “In contrast, young women always know marketing and communication better.” The once niche circle has become a subculture that is gradually accepted and recognized by most people. The Internet provides opportunities for communication. The works of young female tattoo artists, before experience and qualifications, have become their business cards.
This is not the mainstream road after all, but they all showed satisfaction: The concept of the work was understood and the guest’s abstract idea was successfully realized.、Satisfying customers will become a source of satisfaction.
When Dumpling University had a course called Career Planning and Development for College Students, the teacher asked her to list 10 things she wanted, then cut them down to 5, then 3, and finally 1.
Dumplings have also deleted the income, leaving behind the lifestyle, “I want a life that can be freely created. As a tattoo artist, I now have it.”
This article is from WeChat official account:Epoch Story House (ID: epochstory2017) , author: mochi