Student draws career as tattoo apprentice
A typical career for a college student may start out in a suit and tie or conservative dress.
Mackenzie Kouba’s career doesn’t have the typical dress or style of most students.
As an art student in high school and college, Kouba realized she wanted a different lifestyle with more challenges. As a tattoo artist, Kouba faces new challenges everyday.
Kouba first experienced tattoos when she was 16 years old while watching a friend receive one.
“ I thought it was a really interesting medium,” she said. “I started hanging around the shop and became friends with the artists.”
Paul Johnson is one of the artists Kouba became friends with at Discontent, a former tattoo and piercing shop in north Fargo.
In September 2004, Johnson decided to take Kouba under his wing as an apprentice.
“ It’s easier for an artist to become a tattoo artist,” Johnson said. “They already have lots of painting skills.”
Kouba accepted the apprenticeship and began learning the skills of body art. The first step she learned is the sterilization process. She memorized how to set up the ink for the tattoo and how to clean the ink tubes used in the tattooing process.
When Kouba began practicing her designs, she used an unusual canvas for her artwork. Kouba’s first tattoo client was a grapefruit. The fruit has a skin comparable to a human’s.
“ It won’t all click until we’re actually working with skin,” Kouba said.
After poking grapefruits for six months, Kouba was ready to try a different canvas, her own skin.
“ We have to tattoo ourselves before we tattoo anyone else,” she said. “If you’re putting the work on yourself, you have to live with that.”
An anime women stares up at Kouba from her right calf everyday because of her new career. The tattoo is only in black ink, but it allows Kouba to add more coloring to her design over time.
Johnson has opened his own tattoo shop, 46 And 2 Tattoo, since Kouba became his apprentice.
Since beginning her apprenticeship, Johnson has noticed much improvement in Kouba.
“ She is still working on the basics of tattooing, like blending colors,” Johnson said.
After realizing her calling as a tattoo artist, Kouba broke the news to her family and friends. Her family knew about her love for art and drawing since she was a child.
One of Kouba’s family members wasn’t as joyous about the new decision. When Kouba first told her mom about the idea of having a tattoo on her own body, she fired back with a response of removing the tattoo with “a cheese grater or belt sander.”
Kouba’s mom lightened up to the idea of her daughter as a tattoo artist since first hearing the idea. Her mom is even thinking of getting a few tattoos of her own.
“ My family is pretty accepting of the idea,” Kouba said.
Kouba has become familiar with the lifestyle of a tattoo artist over the last year and a half. She has seen her share of disasters and hilarious moments.
One common mistake seen at the shop is homemade tattoos. Clients will visit the shop with a homemade tattoo and want to have an artist cover up the mistake. The process is not a simple touchup.
“ It’s a matter of tricking the eye to not see what’s underneath it,” Kouba said.
The most entertaining tattoo Kouba has designed was the phrase “rock star” on a man’s left buttocks. The tattoo took an hour and a half to design, mainly because the artists and Kouba were laughing at the act, Kouba said.
An apprenticeship can last 3 to 5 years, depending on the mentor. An apprentice must pay a fee to begin the learning experience. The fee can range from $2,500 in North Dakota to $50,000 in California, Kouba said.