The Tattoo Apprentice
350+ pages on how to land an apprenticeship, survive it, and grow into the artist you're meant to be, written by someone who's done it, taught it, and watched too many talented people fail for reasons that had nothing to do with talent.
Live in the Studio
Real Work
20 Years In
The Complete Guide
Nobody Tells You
What Actually Matters
Starting out in this industry is hard. Not because the art is hard, because nobody tells you what's actually worth your time. I spent years figuring that out the slow way, through trial and error, wishing someone had just told me.
I've trained apprentices for over 15 years. I've watched people with real talent fail, not because they couldn't draw, but because nobody taught them the dozen other things that go into becoming a tattooist.
This book isn't a replacement for an apprenticeship. Nothing replaces hands-on time under a real mentor. It's the thing you keep beside you through one.
350+ Pages.
Nothing Generic.
Hundreds of original diagrams, examples and illustrations, every one of them drawn by hand. These are real pages from inside the book, not mock-ups.
Tear-down and rebuild. Coil vs rotary, stroke lengths, voltage saturation, and the needle soldering logic nobody explains properly.
Skin stretching technique, and why the body bends the rules a flat page never has to.
How changing the light source changes the entire design.
What actually gets a portfolio looked at, and managing the conversation once it has been.
Composition, structure and the design theory behind every piece, not just the finished line.
The mechanics behind the tool, before you ever pick one up.
Built into the book. Print them out or work through them digitally.
For the Next Generation
No Shortcuts.
No Scratching.
You're not just trying to get a job, you're trying to build a craft that lasts decades. This book speaks to the people who want to do it properly, not the ones looking to skip the work.
What actually gets a portfolio looked at by a studio worth being noticed by.
Technique and discipline that hold up over a 20-year career, not just a first year.
Tattoo history and theory, for anyone serious about understanding it properly.
20 years tattooing
Taught by Someone
Still Doing the Work.
Choose Your Copy
Same complete book, two formats. Hardback is exclusive to this site for now, while the first print run lasts.
The full 350+ page guide, printed. First print run, limited stock, website-exclusive for now.
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Also available on Amazon & Waterstones · eBook only, for now
The Broken Puppet
My name is Rick Shaw, but I'm commonly known as The Broken Puppet. I'm a tattooist, an artist, a teacher, a designer, a YouTuber, and a dad of three little crazy boys. Art has been the centre of my life since I was a kid filling sketchbook after sketchbook, through some genuinely hard years that could easily have ended that obsession, but never did.
At 18, my health took a harsh turn: rapid weight loss, severe anaemia, a Crohn's diagnosis, a collapsed lung, and a coma I was lucky to wake up from. A friend who visited me in hospital said I looked like "a f***ing broken puppet." The name stuck. The art never stopped.
Since then I've built a career around tattooing for nearly 20 years: two studios, countless apprentices trained, awards, magazine features, and a YouTube channel that's let me teach this craft to people I'll never meet in person. This book is the next step.
Read the Full Story
Every Great Tattooist
Starts as an Apprentice
Not every apprentice becomes a great tattooist. Give yourself the best possible chance.
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