Tattooing must be done on tight skin. It will have to be stretched by the free hand of the tattooist. It creates a taut and solid surface to work on. For all practical purposes, it is impossible to tattoo loose skin. No matter what style of stretching is used, just make sure the needles go into a tight skin surface. (Refer to Skin Chapter for more on this.)
When putting ink into the skin, the machine should take on a subdued sound as soon as the needle touches skin. This is called “choking down.” If it doesn’t sound like this, the machine is probably running too fast, try to slow it down a little. It doesn’t take a lot of power to do good tattoo work.

To begin, start with a few insignificant lines near the bottom of the tattoo. This is for settling yourself in and the client down to the feeling and to warm up yourself with some practice. Somewhere on the design are a few lines that are less important, or secondary, to the major or more important lines. These secondary lines are the ones to start on and work your way up to the primary lines. Make sure the bridge is solid for the area and make a practice stroke. Do this over every time you tattoo. It rehearses the movement for the fingers and gives you time for any last minute shifts or adjustments. Have the machine off the skin, press the footswitch to turn it on. The machine should be running before you put the needle into the skin. Never start it while in the skin. Make the line without hesitation and continue in this manner. Don’t wait until the machine has run out of ink, refill it every few lines and keep it full for the whole job.
Keep a paper tissue wrapped around the two lesser fingers of the tattooing hand for wiping. As the work progresses, the working hand neatly tilts over to wipe the work when it is necessary and then just continue tattooing. It’s efficient and close to the work. Press gently straight down and then lift straight up. You tattoo, then wipe, then tattoo some more, and wipe, etc. Keep a fresh supply of tissues nearby for this purpose.

Posted on September 1st, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Outlining | No Comments »

When outlining letters, a good general rule to follow is that the less stops and starts you make, the better the lettering. It makes for a more consistent flow. Blot away the ink after each step so you can see what you have done and where you are going for the next stroke.
Some customers prefer names in a handwriting style. If they have better handwriting than you do, they can write what they want on a guidelined piece of paper, which you set-up, and then you can copy it and stencil it on the skin. This appeals to some, because their tattoo inscription will be in their own handwriting.
Discourage the use of girlfriends’ names in tattoos. These names are usually outdated in the majority of cases, and it leaves the customer with a name they no longer want on themselves. When people insist on it, just say no. If a compromise must be made, tattoo the name in a light red ink so when they return to get rid of it (and they will), you can tattoo over it to hide it. See Chapter on Cover-ups for more details on this.
One more important thing to bring up is spelling errors. You would be amazed at how many people are walking around with misspelled words tattooed on them. This looks bad and is very unprofessional. Never guess at a word that you don’t know and have a dictionary handy to look them up. Be positive at what you are spelling. If they are foreign words, have the customer spell them out for you, and the same goes for names.
Be careful and practice every night, and you will soon master lettering, an important category in professional tattooing.

Posted on September 1st, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Lettering | No Comments »