“It’s really difficult to put yourself out there and tell people, I’m worth being permanent on your body”- Cosmobotic On Making It In The Tattoo Industry
Sara MacGregor is a full-time tattoo artist in Utrecht, going by the online name Cosmobotic. Whether you want a tattoo that’s fine-line, anything anime, or lively colour; she’s the one you go to. She did my very first tattoo, and ever since I have been inspired by her amazing work and optimistic attitude. I got the opportunity to interview her about her experiences on how she got started as a tattoo artist.
As an artist and avid tattoo collector, Sara tells me a client inspired her to start her tattooing journey. “One day, I was doing an art commission for someone, for a tattoo design, and they asked me if I tattooed anywhere. When I said I didn’t, they asked, “well, why not?” And that’s when it clicked.”
In 2016, she started an apprenticeship in The US, which she later finished here in The Netherlands. “Getting an apprenticeship was hard. It’s a lot of learning to take ‘no’ for an answer. A lot of things can go wrong, it’s really hard to support yourself while being an apprentice, but it’s definitely the way to do it. (…) It’s one of those professions where you really need to put everything into it and learn from another person… That’s the hard part.”
From the moment she started searching for an apprenticeship, it took some 5 years to finally get one that was right for her. She mentions that the length of her apprenticeship was “kind of abnormal” for her. “The guy that was teaching me was pretty eager to get me tattooing people, so 6 months in, I was already able to support myself off of tattooing. Which is not usually how it goes!”
Sara tells me that full-time tattooing was surprisingly similar to what she had imagined. “I was a freelance artist doing commissions before this, and it’s not too different”, she says. “you do things on request, you do custom pieces, just with tattooing you need a physical space and put it on someone’s skin.” Aside from tattooing, tattoo artists do a little bit of everything; handling your social media, scheduling appointments. Though in Sara’s words, “so much of it is drawing”.
She tells me that it was very hard for her to deal with her social anxiety when she started tattooing. “Even with small things, like giving a price indication; you can’t help but feel a little full of yourself when you’re putting a price on your own work. And as much as you know that your work is worth it, it’s really difficult to put yourself out there and tell people, “I’m worth being permanent on your body”.”
Another thing she wishes she’d known from the start is how to tell people ‘no’. “You really want to do everything someone asks for, but in the long run that’s not always a good idea.” It’s very important to learn right away when to tell people you can’t cram all their ideas into one tattoo, or make a detailed design as small as they might’ve wanted.
Something very important to Sara when it comes to art is self-motivation. “You have to be driven, you can’t just passively do this. (…) Without that motivation, I feel like any kind of artist will just plateau; they stop learning and just continue doing the same thing, and never grow. If you stop pushing yourself, that’s where you start to see yourself fail.” When it comes to developing your personal style as an artist, Sara advises to “just let go and do what feels right, don’t try to fit any sort of mould.”
You can find Sara’s art on her Instagram page, @cosmobotic (https://www.instagram.com/cosmobotic/). For more like this, please follow this page and my Instagram page, @aspiringtattooartists (https://www.instagram.com/aspiringtattooartists/).
Thanks for reading, and until next time!
