Learn to Tattoo at Cloak & Dagger
We have been tattooing on Fountain Street in Antrim since 2012. There are two ways to learn with us: a two-week intensive course, or a long-term studio apprenticeship. Both happen in a working shop with real clients coming through the door, because that is the only place this job is actually learned.
Two-Week Intensive Course, £2,500
Ten days, Monday to Friday over two weeks, in the studio. First intake January 2026, up to 8 places.
Most courses put you on synthetic skin for a fortnight and let you tattoo one model on the last afternoon. We finish with a full flash day. You will tattoo multiple real clients back to back, off your own flash sheet, with us beside you, exactly the way a real shop day runs. That is the difference between having tattooed someone once and knowing what a day on the floor actually feels like.
What you will cover
Week one is the groundwork. Machine setup, tuning and needle configurations. Sterilisation and cross-contamination control. Skin types and how they take ink. Line work, shading, packing colour and depth control. Stencil making and application. Building flash that is actually tattooable.
Week two puts it to work. Design consultation and reading what a client actually wants. Placement, sizing and flow on the body. Supervised work on synthetic skin until your hand is steady. Pricing, deposits and how a booking system runs. Aftercare and what to tell clients. Then the flash day itself.
What it costs
£2,500. A £500 non-refundable deposit holds your place, with the balance due before day one of the course. That covers all materials and machine time for the fortnight, and we arrange the models for your flash day. You will need your own kit to work with after the course, and we will talk you through what to buy and what to avoid. You finish with a Cloak & Dagger certificate of completion.
Who it is for
You need to be over 18 and able to draw. You do not need qualifications or any previous tattoo experience, but you do need to turn up ten days running and take instruction. Bring a portfolio when you apply. Sketchbooks, digital work, anything that shows how you think about design.
For someone who’s already said they want this
Some of the best students here didn’t sign themselves up — someone close to them did. If you know someone talking about a career change, or ready to actually stand in a working studio instead of just thinking about it, a deposit holds their place. They take it from there.
Tattoo Internship Programme
Our Tattoo Internship Programme is a studio-based apprenticeship. You learn on the floor of a working shop in Antrim, alongside artists who tattoo every day. It’s unpaid — you’re trading time for training, the same as most trade apprenticeships.
What you will learn
Machine setup and needle configurations. Stencil application and design preparation. Hygiene, cross-contamination control and sterilisation. Skin types and how they take ink. Client consultation and aftercare advice. And how to build a portfolio that actually gets you hired.
How it works
The programme runs alongside the shop, Tuesday to Saturday. How long it takes depends on how quickly you progress, but expect a commitment measured in months rather than days. You start by observing and assisting, move onto practice skin, then onto supervised work once you are ready.
Who it is for
You do not need formal qualifications. You do need to be over 18, able to draw, and willing to turn up consistently. Bring a portfolio, whether that is sketchbooks, digital work or anything else that shows how you think about design.
Which route is right for you
The course is for people who want a fast, structured start and a certificate at the end of a fortnight. The internship is for people who want to end up working in a shop and are willing to give it months rather than days. The course teaches you to tattoo. The internship teaches you the trade. Plenty of people do the course first and come back for the longer road.
Why here rather than an academy
We’re not a training company, we’re a tattoo studio that teaches, and the difference shows up in what you’re standing in for two weeks. Established in 2012, thirteen years on the same street in Antrim. Rated 4.8 on Google, with a 96% recommend rate from 352 reviews on Facebook. Award-winning, with a genuinely international clientele, clients fly into Antrim for this work, and it runs both ways, with guest spots taking it to clients worldwide too. Taught by working artists between real client bookings, not by instructors who’ve left the floor, and finishing on a real flash day rather than one model on the final afternoon.
To apply, fill in the form and tell us about yourself. Link or attach a portfolio if you have one.
stefangettytattoo@gmail.com
028 9446 4666
25 Fountain St
Antrim, BT41 4BG