Much of Kyle McCaffery’s skin pigment has been heavily dyed black and gray, which made him stand out in the brightly painted classroom in Northwest Community College’s Art department where a decade ago he was an art student.

That was before McCaffery sold his Jeep to pay for his $4,000 apprenticeship and left the state to learn to become a motorcycle mechanic. But, that’s old history. On Monday, McCaffery was able to visit his alma mater to teach NWC’s art students about tattooing as a career.

McCaffery’s mother sat diligently at the computer clicking through his portfolio on the big screen as he spoke. His wife played with their 2-year-old son on the floor near his boxed up tattoo equipment he brought for demonstration.

So what led McCaffery specifically to tattooing?

“Some of it is the permanence, but also just the meaning behind it that gets people into it,” he said.

McCaffery has been a tattoo artist at Bombshell Body Piercing and Tattoo in Billings since 2020. 

McCaffery creates art all day and he joked that when he goes home he has homework. Despite this, McCaffery finds time to paint for himself — he’s a massive Bob Ross fan, an interest he inherited from his grandfather. He was also once commissioned to paint the Seattle Seahawks logo on an urn. His one condition was that the urn be empty, he told the class with a grin.

“Whatever comes into the door I should be able to do a good job on that,” he said. 

McCaffery told the room of aspiring artists that if they tattoo, they should be adaptable and keep up with the trends. If he can’t do the art justice he’ll refer the client to another artist.

McCaffery told the class that if they already have an interest in drawing and painting, tattooing is just another medium. 

If they’re itching to learn how to tattoo they should take their time to find an apprenticeship and keep practicing their art, but not on anyone’s skin just yet.

“It’s very hard to break bad habits you’ve developed yourselves,” McCaffery said.

Looking for an apprenticeship is serious business — most shops already have the artists they need, so aspiring artists will have to go to the artist and oftentimes pay them as they would for a trade school. He told students to take their time to find an artist they get along with, who won’t just be looking for free labor. 

“Book a consult with them, go in, get a tattoo from them, see how you vibe with them,” he said.