1st tat on skin

[gunny247]

I just started tattooing about 3 weeks ago, ive been practicing on fake skin and grapefruits, this is the 1st tattoo i did on real skin last night, its just the outline so far and i will shade and color after it has healed. This forum wont let me put the whole pic of the tattoo on here for some reason.

[ben.catterall]

Its much easier if you load it onto a photobucket type of website and then post the link to the photo on here.

Looks pretty shakey, and not very even depth. Where abouts is this on you?

Have you read the book sold by this site? If your only just starting out I highly suggest geting it! It has great info on everything from setting your machine up to using disposable grips and tips and info on differend inks etc.

Just a suggestion, but I would personnally hold off on the shading and the colour if you have only been doing it for 3 weeks. Keep practicing lots on the fake skin and fruit and even pig skin.

Cheers,
Ben :D

[KitchenWizard]

I’m going to say the reverse. Don’t practice on anything other than Human skin. You’re not going to be tattooing rubber mats or fruit, so why waste the time developing techniques and ‘a feel’ for applying them to mediums which feel totally different to Human skin… Practice skin is the skin between your knee and hip… The only way you’ll learn is by doing it. Keep at it, just don’t try and run before you can walk, and you’ll be fine :)

[ben.catterall]

@KitchenWizard wrote:

I’m going to say the reverse. Don’t practice on anything other than Human skin. You’re not going to be tattooing rubber mats or fruit, so why waste the time developing techniques and ‘a feel’ for applying them to mediums which feel totally different to Human skin… Practice skin is the skin between your knee and hip… The only way you’ll learn is by doing it. Keep at it, just don’t try and run before you can walk, and you’ll be fine :)

I do agree with you in the fact it feels completely different, I just like to practice on fake skin first at least until i can do semi smooth lines. Just basically so i dont fill my legs up with crap tattoos. But once again, only in my opinion. :D

[KitchenWizard]

@ben.catterall wrote:

I do agree with you in the fact it feels completely different, I just like to practice on fake skin first at least until i can do semi smooth lines. Just basically so i dont fill my legs up with crap tattoos. But once again, only in my opinion. :D

I read an interview with a traditional Irezumi Master a few years back, where he revealed that during his apprenticeship, his Master’s wife told him about how her husband had used his own legs as his practice area, so I would say that that is the sacrifice that any prospective tattoo artist must be willing to make for their education/progression. I think the secret though, is to either not do crap tattoos in the first place, or do stuff which can be covered, re-worked or revised. My personal aim is for a traditional full Irezumi suit, so rather than just tattooing random crap on myself for practice, I chose to do the designs which were planned for the thigh areas anyway myself, with the knowledge that if I really badly screwed anything up, they could eventually get covered by the professional Irezumi :) Apart from the shabby lining on the back of the maple leaf, which can still be blended away by background wind bars, I’m happy to have my thigh work included in the finished suit, rather than covered :) The cherry blossom was my first ever tattoo, the rest were added gradually, with the maple being an experiment in running a 5RL through a 9 round tube (The first lines didn’t work out, but I got the hang of it, and it was a useful lesson) Sorry for the crap photo, but I wanted to try and include as much as possible to highlight the point, rather than simply focusing on a single tattoo for critique :)

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r44/TreadstoneArt/DSCN4775.jpg

[ben.catterall]

That does make sense what you are doing with your legs, seeing as you have a plan for them. I unfortunately dont have a plan as yet for my legs so I am just being careful as to what I put where on my body. I have tattooed myself a few times so far, and have done plenty on friends and family. I just personally waited a little bit until I had a bit of an idea what I was doing before putting ink to real skin. But like I said, just my personal opinion on how I do things.

I like your kanji. what does it say? looks very steady and clean…

also, the symbols on your left outer thigh… are they the symbols from a playstation controller (please excuse my ignorance, no offence meant by that)

[KitchenWizard]

@ben.catterall wrote:

That does make sense what you are doing with your legs, seeing as you have a plan for them. I unfortunately dont have a plan as yet for my legs so I am just being careful as to what I put where on my body. I have tattooed myself a few times so far, and have done plenty on friends and family. I just personally waited a little bit until I had a bit of an idea what I was doing before putting ink to real skin. But like I said, just my personal opinion on how I do things.

Totally understand, and absolutely, makes perfect sense to be careful and specific as to what you put on yourself, afterall, no point in just tattooing crap, but as the Irezumi Master’s wife inferred, thighs are the sacrifice a tattoo artist must be prepared to make, when practicing :)

@ben.catterall wrote:

I like your kanji. what does it say? looks very steady and clean…

Thanks :) Right thigh reads ‘ai shimai’ (translated as meaning ‘beloved sister’) left thigh reads ‘aniki’ (Yakuza slang meaning ‘street brother’) (references respectively for my sister in spirit, and my best friend since childhood )

@ben.catterall wrote:

also, the symbols on your left outer thigh… are they the symbols from a playstation controller (please excuse my ignorance, no offence meant by that)

None taken, and no need to apologize, that is precisely what they are :D The theme of my bodysuit is family. One of my best friends is a hardcore gamer, so that is my reference for him. I simply did the symbols to resemble kanji strokes so they would then blend in with the overall aesthetic when the additional work is done :)

[Viper65]

Hard to tell, upload a picture in photobucket and post….we will comment then!! ;)

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