I don’t know who Hank P is, and I don’t know where he is getting his information from other than this “Rip-Off” site where we have posted rebuttals for all of the negative postings on it. But for those of you who don’t follow through on this site, and read the rebuttals, I’ll answer this one more time.
First off, we don’t accept just anyone in our program. When we were in Austin, there were so many people who wanted in that we gave a lot of people a chance that no one else would give them. Some of them went on to become outstanding professional tattoo artists; JonZig, Garrett Meyers, Evil Dave Slayden, Craig Sheets, Scott Ellis, Chris Chaos, Gayle Austin, James O’Connell, and many more; some didn’t. None of these artists would have made it in this profession if it hadn’t been for Mike Burford, and the Tattoo Apprenticeship Program that he established.
Yes, they worked long hours, and they passed out flyers, and they kept the shops clean. They also made a lot of needle bars and tubes, and mixed a lot of ink, but that’s how you learn. There’s a lot more to being a professional tattoo artist than just being a bad-ass artist, and buying a bad-ass tattoo machine, and a bunch of blister-pak needle bars, and pre-mixed inks. All tattoo apprentices work hard, and put in long hours.
We tried to help out these artists, so we let them pay for their tuition on a weekly basis, (most of them were behind in these payments), and after we had gotten them to the point of being able to actually tattoo, many found it easier to walk away, and take their newly aquired knowledge down the street to work in another shop rather than pay for the education that we had given them in good faith. It was also a lot easier for the other shops to let us train them, then hire them out from under us, rather than take the time to train them themselves.
When we moved to the Brazos Valley, we decided to advertise across the country for artists who wanted to apprentice, but who for different reasons couldn’t find an apprenticeship in their own areas, to come here to apprentice. But this time, we required them to pay the tuition “up-front”. This is a major commitment on the part of the apprentice; they have to come-up with the tuition, relocate here, and have enough money to live on for 3 months until they have established themselves in the shop, and can then support themselves. They are not “every Tom, Dick, and Harry” as some would like you to believe. They are serious artists who are making a major investment in their future. They are all too aware of the commitment that they are making, and the risks that any such undertaking involves.
Since we have moved to the Brazos Valley, and restructured the program, we have been able to pick and choose from a much wider field of artists, and the average apprentice is of a much higher caliber than we had access to when we were in Austin, Texas.
This is a very intense, and concentrated course of instruction, and is not for everyone, and not just anyone can do it. It requires a great deal of dedication, discipline, and hard work to succeed. For this reason, we require all of our potential apprentices to come here to Bryan / College Station for a personal interview where we will review their portfolios, discuss their reasons for coming into the tattoo profession, and their expectations from their apprenticeships. We also take them on a tour of the shops, and introduce them to the other artists and apprentices. We don’t hide anything from them.
So if you are truely serious about becoming a professional tattoo artist, come and see for yourself. Anyone can throw stones at something that they don’t understand, and it’s always easier for someone to shift the blame, and sing the “Sour Grape Blues” than it is to shoulder the responsibility, and take the blame for their own failures.
So Hank P, whoever you are, get your facts straight before you start throwing stones, lest you toss one through your own window.

Notorious Ed