Some tattooing tips
#7: Practice on practice skin. Do not tattoo people until you and other people are certain that your tattoos are worthy of living tissue.
#8: Gray Wash Shading: To shade using gray wash tattoo ink first set 4 ink caps up in a row and fill the first one all the way with your Kuro Sumi gray wash tattoo ink, fill the 2nd 3/4 of the way, the 3rd 1/2 of the way and the 4th 1/4 of the way. Fill the partialy full ink caps the rest of the way with water. Fill one large ink cap all the way with water. Now that you have 4 different intensities of gray/black ink you can begin the shading process. Rinse your machine in the large water ink cap when moving from a lighter shade to a darker shade. (kind of like washing out your paint brush when painting). You can do this same technique with outlining ink if you use three times less ink to water.
#9: When outlining, your needle should penetrate the skin about a millimeter. This is about as wide as a quarter.
#10: When shading, your needle should penetrate the skin about half of a millimeter. This is about the width of a dime.
#11: Proper depth control (tip#9 and tip#10) can mean the difference between a beautiful tattoo and a horrible catastrophy that can never be repaired. Measure depth at the tip. When done properly you will not see the needle unless the machine is running, and then just a millimeter or less. This way you wont be able to go to deep. (when you are dealing in millimeters, you can't trust your hand to control the depth, its just not possible.)
#12: Color: Tattoo color should be layed down in a certain order to avoid bleeding into the next color. Dark purple, Blues, greens, light purple, browns, reds, oranges, yellow, white.
#1: Do not mix different brands of tattoo ink. Tattoo inks have very different bases. Some water, some plant extract, some alcohol. Only like bases should be mixed. The best way to make sure you dont mix bases is by buying the colors you need, or by only mixing same brand inks. Tattoo ink consists of a pigment and a carrier. The quality of the tattoo you create can only be as good as the ink you use, so dont under estimate the importance of quality tattoo ink.
#2: Needles labeled as RL are round liners. These needles are for outlining and script. Round liners are also used to fill in tips on tribal pieces, with sharp points, once the outline is complete.
#3: Needles labeled as RS are round shaders. These needles are for creating blended areas of color, such as shadows, and depth. Round Shaders are great for fading color in and out of a background.
#4: Needles labeled as M, M1, M2 or Mag are Magnum. These needles are used when filling in large areas of solid color or for some shading. Magnums are great to use on large solid pieces of tribal. Magnums require a more experienced hand then your round liner and shader. M1 are pulled farther apart than the M2. An M1 is like a shader. The M1 is good when wanting a large area filled with color that fades out to another color or to cover a large area fast. The M2 is great when wanting an area of solid color that comes to a crisp line with no fading or variation in hugh or color. An M2 is like a liner, the needles are pulled together real tight (these wont work with normat flat tube numbers).
#5: Hold your machine at a 45 degree angle to skin when tattooing. You are inserting ink under the skin, if you put it in without the propper angle you will either release the ink (holding it to straight) or have fuzzy lines (to much of an angle).
#6: Keep records of all your clients as well as pics of all your work. If you are serious about working in a shop these records are just as important as a good portfolio. These records not only can release you from liability, but also show future employers that you have a following which means $$$.
#8: Gray Wash Shading: To shade using gray wash tattoo ink first set 4 ink caps up in a row and fill the first one all the way with your Kuro Sumi gray wash tattoo ink, fill the 2nd 3/4 of the way, the 3rd 1/2 of the way and the 4th 1/4 of the way. Fill the partialy full ink caps the rest of the way with water. Fill one large ink cap all the way with water. Now that you have 4 different intensities of gray/black ink you can begin the shading process. Rinse your machine in the large water ink cap when moving from a lighter shade to a darker shade. (kind of like washing out your paint brush when painting). You can do this same technique with outlining ink if you use three times less ink to water.
#9: When outlining, your needle should penetrate the skin about a millimeter. This is about as wide as a quarter.
#10: When shading, your needle should penetrate the skin about half of a millimeter. This is about the width of a dime.
#11: Proper depth control (tip#9 and tip#10) can mean the difference between a beautiful tattoo and a horrible catastrophy that can never be repaired. Measure depth at the tip. When done properly you will not see the needle unless the machine is running, and then just a millimeter or less. This way you wont be able to go to deep. (when you are dealing in millimeters, you can't trust your hand to control the depth, its just not possible.)
#12: Color: Tattoo color should be layed down in a certain order to avoid bleeding into the next color. Dark purple, Blues, greens, light purple, browns, reds, oranges, yellow, white.
#13: Piviot palm place ment: Make sure to keep a contact with the hand that is holding the tattoo machine on the persons skin that you are tattooing. This will provide stability and give you a pivot point when making a curved line. The machine hand needs to maintain this contact or you will get lines that are not crisp or consistent.
#14: The 5 "Ps": I have already listed these in the previous tips, but they cant be gone over two much, so here they are again. Propper Setup, Propper angle (tip #5), Propper depth contol (tip #9, 10, 11), Palm Placement(tip #13), and Practice Practice Practice (tip #7). If you are consistent about these basic tattoo priciples then you are on the right track to a successful career as a tattoo artist.
#15: Wearing gloves and using disposable tips, tubes, and needles will help reduce the spread of diseases like hepatitis. (avoid steel tips if you dont have a state approved auto clave device. Dispoabale tips are much safer , easier to use and save time). We will include disposable tips for free when you purchase 20 or more needles.
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