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you got it all twisted bro.
In bad economical times, resturantes movie thearters and tattoo shops do really well. The local flavor of looser is what matters. See most people value drugs more than anything.
So...
If you tattoo a drugee they will not be healthy enough to heal it and then blame you.
They will try to trade and scam there way into getting a lot of work and not paying for it. then they won;t take care of it because it has no value to them, and blame you.

I've already commented on your other thread, about the scratcher mils in the midwest. They exist here in upstate NY too. 90% of the tattoo artists here are people who refused to learn a trade or go to college, were possibly already hooked on drugs and alcohol and looking for a SIMPLE CAREER. Just like you said, most couldn't draw a stick figgure at gunpoint. All can't hold an airbrush or sculpt, so who are they to tattoo? Misery loves company and they have their clients.
Sounds to me what you want is a higher standard. I would ARTISTICLY look into a niche of tattooing. Maybe some really uniqe floral stuff, or a lot of stone-like work, like roman sculptures. Whatever you find yourselfe painting alot with your airguns. See if you can translate it.
Last piece of advice: women are you clients. Not girls, grown women who work. They have taste and pay for real work.
Where you live matters. For the long term tattoo artist don;t let anyone bullshit you, if you can't drive a mile around your location and circle 500 people. then your business will be used up in a year. College towns don;t count, actual residents of a small city or metropolis.
I moved from the capital region to then woods and i rarely get tattoo work now. and there are more heroine junkies here then the city. There is a small college town 45 minutes away and there are 4 tattoo shops and none of them are busy. I could stand on the corner and flick a cigerette butt to hit iether of them they are so close.
quality over quantity
don;t give up

hey, i think toreodor is right on with this one. here is my two cents worth .i think that its not where you are at,its more of how you carry yourself. i live in a small town and started out with nothing now i have my own shop and i am working on some other things tattoo related for the future. i think that people just tend to make up reasons for failure when the truth is that they are just being lazy. if you want something go get it, if tattooing is just a waste of time then why are so many people trying to get into it? here is the real reason people fail, they don't take pride nor do they have ambition in the craft, they think that if they learn the trade then money is just gonna be handed to them. i see it all the time its called being lazy. if you want to make money then you have to be money, look the part take pride in yourself,your craft and your work. be on point all the time because if that is what you are putting out there ,that is what you will get back. if you paint something worth a million bucks that is what you will get, but if you look like a gutter rat and you use crayons, then you will only sell to other gutter rats for monopoly money.you have to value yourself and your trade, the world has changed and if you are new to this game you have to be able to set yourself apart from the pack,there are too many great artist coming into this field and if you cant keep up you will be left behind.the old world of tattooing has changed folks deal with it or move on. as far as location if you are good and you know how to promote yourself you can live anywhere,i know of tons of artist that live in the middle of nowhere and they all have waiting list. why because they promote themselves. they are not lazy. i have a scratcher shop in my town and they stay busy ,why because they promote themselves. yes they aren't any good and they all are druggies ,but they work hard to make that $25 tatt look bad on their strung out drunk clients. i give them credit for that. just one more thing before i end my book. i just want to say to all the people thinking of becoming a tattoo artist. tattooing is a long hard trade with tons of things to learn if you have one day of just being lazy,then its not for you there are no breaks in tattooing it really is a life within its self and we are all just apart of it. i have worked harder at this trade than anything i have ever done. it will take all your time and energy and can give you much pain, if you are lazy or are just looking for that rock star life then this trade its not for you.we have too many of those types in this field now,we don't need anymore. if you are not willing to work your ass off it will leave you in the gutter with all the other rats...... laziness will get you nothing but dreams will get you everything