Four Tattoo Tips For Top Notch Tattooing

The difference between a flat outlined tattoo and a top notch, 3-dimensional piece of skin art lies in the shading skill of the tattoo artist.
A skilled tattooist knows how to use outline and shading to create a life-like work of art on the skin of the client. The best tattoo artists know how to choose the correct tools for the job, including a tattoo machine and the right needles and ink.
They are able to find the perfect design for each client and position it perfectly on the body.
Finally, they know how to use the tattoo machine like an artist uses a paintbrush to create a work of art.
The best way to learn the fine art of tattoo shading is from a seasoned professional tattoo artist. As an apprentice to an experienced tattooist, you'll be given tattoo tips that will help you gain the skills to create a 3-dimensional tattoo image that seems to come alive on the skin.
Here are 4 tattoo tips for beginners who want to learn the secrets of top notch realistic tattooing.

Tattoo Tip #1 - Choose a design that's suitable for shading

 

Some tattoo designs are more suitable than for shading than others. Portraits of people and images of animals, flowers and skulls are good subject for shading, as are fantasy creatures like dragons. The design should have some larger rounded elements that can be filled in with graduated color to create the illusion of depth and shadows. Look through tattoo magazines and study designs that show the effective use of shading. Soon you'll get a feel for which designs can be shaded and which are not suitable.

Tattoo Tip #2 - Use a tattoo machine

One of the most important tattoo tips for top notch tattooing is to use a tattoo machine, also referred to as a tattoo gun. A skilled tattoo artist wouldn't dream of attempting to apply a shaded tattoo design without a tattoo machine. The tattoo machine uses a group of needles to automatically inject ink at the correct depth in the skin. The machine is connected to an electric motor that rapidly moves the needles up and down at a rate of 80 to 150 times per second. This rapid needle movement allows a shaded area of a tattoo design to be filled with ink quickly and evenly.

Tattoo Tip #3 - Mix the tattoo ink

 

Tattoo shading uses ink in shades from light to dark. Lighter shades of ink, often referred to as a wash, can be created by mixing ink and sterile water. The more water that you add, the lighter the wash. One of the more useful tattoo tips for shading from tattoo artists is to create washes ahead of time in the exact shades that will be required for a shaded tattoo. This eliminates the need for stopping and mixing ink while the tattoo is being applied.

Tattoo Tip #4 - Use the tattoo gun like a paintbrush

A group of needles called shaders is used to fill in the outlined tattoo design with shading. Shader needles come in many shapes and groupings. Knowing when to use each type of shader is one of the more valuable tattoo tips to be learned in an apprenticeship.

Realistic tattoo shading is created by tilting the needles on the tattoo skin and using the tattoo gun like a paintbrush.
Most tattooists first cover the skin with a thin layer of lubricant to ease the needles smoothly across the area being shaded. For dark shading, the tattoo gun is moved slowly across the skin and the ink is injected deeply. For lighter areas, the gun is move quickly and ink is injected less deeply.
As soon as a small area of the design has been injected with ink for shading, the tattoo artist wipes off the excess ink with a clean cloth. The finished effect can then be viewed and the tattoo artist can decide if more ink is needed.
If a darker effect is wanted, more ink is applied. Making a dark area lighter is more of a problem, since the dark ink has been permanently injected into the skin. This is why a skilled tattoo artist works carefully to make sure no area of shading is too dark. Some tattoo artists use white ink to lighten dark areas of a tattoo and to smooth out transitions between different shades of ink.

Three Steps to Tattooing Success

Tattoos have become a popular form of self-expression and even a fashion statement. The growing demand for tattoos and the potentially high income available to tattoo artists has led to an increase in the number of people who want to learn how to tattoo.
Because tattooing is both an art form and a body treatment, it's important to learn the best procedures for safe tattooing before embarking on a career as a tattoo artist. No one should consider buying a tattoo kit and starting to tattoo without becoming familiar with the best procedures for tattooing.
Learning these procedures will help any tattoo artist achieve lasting success.
There are many steps to becoming a successful tattoo artist, but here are 3 of the most important steps to tattooing success.

Step #1 - Build an Art Portfolio and Find a Tattoo Apprenticeship 

If you want to be a tattoo artist, you should be comfortable with your drawing skills. Tattooing requires a good sense of line and color. If you're not confident as an artist but have a desire to learn, then take an art class or buy an art book and begin to practice your drawing. Look at tattoo designs by tattoo artists (known as tattoo flash) and begin to create some designs of your own.
Assemble your best work and display it in an artist's portfolio or binder.
Once you have a portfolio of your best art work, you'll be better prepared to find a tattoo apprenticeship. An apprenticeship is a form of on-the-job training, where an experienced tattoo artist teaches you how to tattoo. Don't expect to be paid as an apprentice - in fact, you may end up paying for the privilege of learning how to tattoo from a master tattoo artist. Prepare to save money for an apprenticeship and to work at another job while you're apprenticing. Finally, give serious thought to which tattoo artist you apprentice with and make sure it's someone whose work you respect and that you can get along with well.

Step #2 - Create Stunning Tattoo Designs 

As you learn how to tattoo in an apprenticeship, you will become more skilled in creating tattoo designs. Each tattoo you apply becomes a permanent feature on the body of your client, so you want to make sure you deliver a stunning design. This doesn't mean you have to create each and every tattoo design. A client may come in with an existing design from a tattoo magazine or clients may select a flash design from the shop's collection.
The important thing is to listen to the client's requirements and provide suggestions about how to get the most impact from a design.
Often you will begin with flash and then customize it for the client by adding or removing design elements. It may be necessary to provide a client with several paper drafts of a design before you arrive at a piece of art that you both love. Don't worry too much about the time you spend doing this - it's all part of the job. Just be sure to charge the client enough to cover the time you spend on the design stage of the tattoo.
Once an eye-catching tattoo flash design has been chosen, it's up to the tattoo artist to create a work of art on the client's skin. Different outline and shading techniques can be used to enhance the basic design. Color should be carefully introduced to help bring the tattoo to life. As you learn more about how to tattoo and your experience in tattooing grows, you'll learn how to use the right amount of detail in a design, how to position it correctly on the body, and how to create clean outlines, graduated shading and even color.

Step #3 - Practice Sanitary Tattoo Procedures 

The final important step in knowing how to tattoo is to understand and follow standard sanitary procedures.
A tattoo requires penetration of a client's skin, so you must recognize and eliminate the risk of infection and disease transmission. One of the most important sanitary procedures is making sure that tattoo needles and ink caps are single-use only and replaced for each new client. In addition, the work area where the tattoo is applied must be cleaned thoroughly with disinfectant before tattooing begins and the tattoo artist must wear gloves during the tattoo procedure. Following sanitary procedures will help ensure that each tattoo client receives the best possible treatment during the tattoo process.