Tattoo Artist

What tattoo artists make

Job Bank's national median is $20 an hour, about $42,000 a year full time, with a low of $15 and a high of $30. Job Bank pools tattoo artists with estheticians in one occupation code, so treat these as rough. Most artists are self-employed and keep a share of each tattoo; a well-known artist booked months ahead can earn far more than the top figure, and an apprentice earns close to nothing.

Apprentice pay

Traditional tattoo apprenticeships are unpaid. You clean, set up stations, draw and watch. Many apprentices keep a second job. Some studios charge for the apprenticeship; be careful with those.

Per tattoo

Artists usually keep 50 to 70% of what they charge and the studio takes the rest for the chair, supplies and walk-ins. A full day of clients pays well, but no clients means no pay.

What it costs to get there

Apprenticeship

Free at good studios, unpaid for 1 to 3 years

Machines, power supply, needles, inks

$1,500 to $5,000 to start

Bloodborne pathogen and first aid training

About $50 to $200, online or in class

Art school (optional)

$5,000 to $12,000 a year for a diploma or degree

Roughly, all in

$1,600 to $29,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

Good studios do not charge for an apprenticeship, but they are unpaid for one to three years, and that lost income is the real cost of this career rather than anything in these figures. The low end is a starter set of machines, a power supply, needles and inks plus bloodborne pathogen and first aid training. The high end adds an art school diploma, which nobody requires but which builds the drawing skill, plus a fuller kit. There is no trade certificate for tattooing, so apprenticeship loans and grants do not apply.

There is no trade certificate, so no apprenticeship loans or grants apply. The real cost is years of low income while you learn.

Benefits

• Your own schedule

  Most artists book their own clients.

• Conventions and guest spots

  Travel and tattoo in other cities and countries.

• Your art on people for life

  Not every job offers that.

• Health and dental

  Almost never. You are self-employed.

The path

There is no school that makes you a tattoo artist. You draw until an artist takes you on.

1. 1

   Draw, constantly

   Years

   A portfolio of 50 to 100 finished drawings in tattoo-friendly styles. Art classes in high school or college help, but the sketchbook is what studios look at.

2. 2

   Find an apprenticeship

   Months to years

   Walk into studios with your portfolio. Expect many no's. Good apprenticeships are free and strict; be wary of ones that charge thousands.

3. 3

   Apprentice

   1 to 3 years

   Cleaning, sterilization, setting up stations, drawing designs, then practising on fake skin and finally on volunteers under supervision. Unpaid.

4. 4

   Health and safety training

   Days

   Bloodborne pathogen certificate and first aid. Public health inspects studios for sterilization, single-use needles and records.

5. 5

   Working artist

   Ongoing

   Your own chair, your own clients, a share of each tattoo. Building a following takes years more.

High school courses that help

• Visual arts

  Drawing, line, shading, composition. The whole job.

• Biology

  Skin, healing, infection.

• Business

  You will be self-employed.

• Digital art or media

  Most designs are drawn on a tablet now.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school

1 to 3 of apprenticeship

Admission

An artist has to want to teach you

Total cost

$2,000 to $6,000 for equipment, plus years of low income

Paid while training?

Usually not

No licence, but public health rules

No province licenses tattoo artists as a trade. Instead, tattoo studios are personal service settings under provincial public health law. Local health units inspect them for sterilization, single-use needles, hand washing and record keeping, and can close a studio. Toronto posts results online through BodySafe with a pass, conditional pass or closed rating. Most cities also require a business licence for the studio.

What raises your income

• A recognizable style

  Fine line, realism, traditional, blackwork. Clients travel for a specific artist.

• A large social following

  Instagram is the booking engine for most artists.

• Conventions and guest spots

  New cities, new clients, higher rates.

• Large-scale work

  Sleeves and back pieces booked over many sessions.

• Cover-ups and scar work

  Hard, in demand, and paid accordingly.

Nice-to-haves

• Art school or illustration courses

  Not required, but many top artists trained formally.

• A tablet and drawing software

  Designs and stencils are digital.

• Savings

  To get through an unpaid apprenticeship.

• Steady hands and patience

  Sessions run for hours.

Owning a studio

Many artists open a studio after 5 to 10 years. A few chairs, sterilization equipment, a business licence and a public health inspection. Owners earn a cut from every artist in the shop, and take on rent, walk-in management and the paperwork.

A typical day

Morning: finish tonight's design on the tablet, print stencils, answer booking messages. Midday: set up the station, gloves, wrap everything, first client for a three-hour session. Break down, disinfect, set up again. Second client into the evening. Walk-ins on weekends. Hunched over skin for hours with a buzzing machine, then home to draw tomorrow's piece.

The honest trade-offs

Work life

Typical hours

Irregular, evenings and weekends common

Remote work

None, though design work is done anywhere

Physical demand

Moderate, long hours hunched

Unionized

No

Similar paths

• IllustratorYou draw for a living: books, games, magazines, packaging. The portfolio decides everything.
• Makeup ArtistBridal, editorial, film and special effects. A short diploma, a portfolio, and freelance income that swings with the season.
• BarberFades, beards and straight-razor shaves. Licensed under the hairstylist trade in some provinces, then it is all about your chair and your regulars.

No licence anywhere in Canada

You can legally tattoo in every province without a certificate. The studio, not the artist, is what public health inspects, and it can be closed for poor sterilization.

The apprenticeship is the gate

Since there is no school, the only way in is convincing a working artist to teach you. Good apprenticeships are unpaid but free; apprenticeships that charge thousands are a warning sign in the industry.

Counted with estheticians

Statistics Canada groups tattoo artists with estheticians, electrologists and nail technicians in one occupation code, about 71,300 workers. There is no separate count of how many people tattoo for a living in Canada.