How Do Trainee Tattoo Artists Practice?
| Updated: 10 Feb 2026
Mystery Hour Question
How do you learn to be a tattoo artist? Surely they do not practice on real people? Jason, Raynes Park
Name: Luke, Slough
Qualification: Tattoo artist tutor and business owner
Answer:
***Definitive***
They practice on the skin of dead pigs.
Pigskin is often tougher and does not quite move the same way as on human skin.
Tattoo artists have also started using synthetic skin and vegan ink for tattoo artists who do not like working with meat based products.