so i'm trying to apply your oft-repeated suggestion of "practice? forget that, i say do it for real!" to my life. thing is, i want to be a tattoo artist and i don't have any connections for apprenticeships or friends who want me to tattoo them. is it reasonable for me to buy green soap, needles, etc. and just start tattooing myself to get things started??
no, for that i think you're gonna want to start with something more fake, just due to the permanent nature of tattoos