ok here’s the situation I’m a qualified artist, went to art college, i’ve done fine art, illustration, CAD, photography, did my HND and but found it difficult to find work around my area, I moved out when i was 17 and financed a move away to find work and got a job spraying cars , and then moved into airbrushing, after a while i got a bit homesick and moved back and have been working as a signwriter for the past 5 years but do spend alot of time drawing and painting, I have a huge love for tattoo’s and have quite a few and have considered trying to find an apprenticeship before but commitments and personal issues meant it just wasn’t realistic, but now i’m 27 and i’m wondering is it too late to try to find an apprenticeship and is it financially viable as obviously being 27 I have rent and bills to pay and whatnot, I know most of you are professional artists and would think you’d be my best source of information on this subject.

If you have a passion and the drive, do it. I started when I was about your age, maybe just a bit younger. It’s worked out fine. Do what your heart tells ya to do. If you want it bad enough, make it happen, or sit in your rocking chair smoking your pipe at age 70 and wonder why the F*$k you didn’t at least try.

Cheers!

I started my training at 30 so you aren’t too old to give it a go. Having a background such as yours is a plus but you will also need a strong back being bent into awkward positions for long periods of time will really test your lower back.
A strong stomach sooner or later someone will quite literally spill their guts quite possibly all over you and sometimes when a client passes out they will lose control of their bowels and bladder. Guess who gets to clean that lot up and deal with an embarrassed,confused and very smelly client.
The ability to concentrate for hours at a stretch doing a big piece after which you will feel absolutely drained and then in walks your next client and expects you to be bright breezy and cheerful.
Infinite patience you can expect to answer the same old questions ad nauseum and have to be as polite and courteous every time you answer, and do the same design over and over till you are sick of the sight of it and wishing whichever celebrity had it done all manner of evil. Dealing with nervous,scared clients who won’t sit still no matter how many times you tell them ( like trying to signwrite a swinging board in a force nine gale) and all the other variations dealing with the general public brings.
A skin like a rhino, this can be a very bitchy business
I’m not trying to put you off, indeed I wish you all the best if you are prepared to give it 100 percent. Just trying to point out that it’s not at all like what most folks imagine.

After the advice given by Lewis and Jon I haven’t got a lot else to say apart from:
I started my apprenticeship when I was 37. It was something that I had always wanted to do but like yourself had other commitments.
I can truly say that it was the best decision I have ever made.
It has been a hard slog and that day did come when I felt “do I really want to do this”?
When that day came I thought to myself “how many days have I felt that when I wasn’t tattooing”
I have many things still to learn and am enjoying each and every new challenge.

In essence, if you want it, go for it.
The worst thing that can happen is waste a couple of years of your life trying.
The best thing that can happen is that you haven’t wasted the rest of your life wondering.

My only advice is: don’t treat it as a way to earn money rather to treat it as something you really enjoy doing.

All the best

Woodie