what did i do wrong 2nd pic

[new inker]

[attachment=0:18flopvr]untitled.png[/attachment:18flopvr]here is what it looks like now. Its cracked and scabbing. The scabs come off and the image is very pale. Was it technique or aftercare. Thanks.

[new inker]

Hey guys…I really need some help here. Lots of views and no replies?

[Loopi]

Hey,

Looks like the depth was a bit off with this one could be because the skin is a bit tougher here so you may need to allow for that.
Also this part of your body is exposed to all the elements between sun, water, wear and tear (hand in pockets etc) the cracks look as tho they are in the natural creases of your skin so looks as tho it dried up and cracked. did you cover it after getting it inked? normally in the shop the lads recommend 3 hours covered up but in dry areas of the skin they would say remove film, clean and ointment and cover it again for another two hours.(this can change from artist to artist) but its allowing the skin stay soft.

So I could look at Needle depth and also a little more TLC for the after care.

But hold in there the lads are great here they just arent on every day and the views you get mightnt be site members they could be unregistered viewers :)

[buttchinbart]

Hard to tell from the pic but the cracking is probably cause its dry. Gotta keep just enough lotion on there to keep it moist. Did it peel yet?

[new inker]

Thanks guys. As far as needle depth goes do you think i went too deep or not deep enough? I was so excited when i finished. It was nice and dark and crisp. Even the blue looked nice once the redness went away.
Its peeling now and the ink is going with it. Also the outline around the blue diamond is split wide open and bleeding. It definitely looks chapped and maybe split from being too dry. My hands are bad about getting dry and cracking. Probably should have considered that.
I am going to redo it once it is finished falling apart. Looks like the image is going to be there just really really faded. I use udder balm on my hands during the winter so maybe i should use it while the tattoo heals? Its perfume free. Its actually used on cow udders in winter so it is a good moisturizer.
With hand skin being so tough should it be kinda overworked to make sure the ink gets in better? I noticed while i was doing it that it didnt hurt at all.
Anyway, thanks for the input.

[nytemareh]

not really gonna know much till it fully healed. looks like a depth issue though.

[Loopi]

Your not going deep enough! Do you use the needle as a guide or the tube tip??

She might need a tiny bit more just to get the ink in a bit better. This all comes with practice! (I have a tattoo on my thigh and I have just solved a similar prob with it)

Also what ink are u using? I found the chinese inks are terrible in the skin almost too thick.

Eh udder cream! That’s a new one and I have lived in the green green fields of ireland just becareful with it obiviosly don’t rub it on to a cow and use the same tub later on a open wound on ur skin.

[new inker]

Ha Ha I dont have any cows…I just use the balm on my hands.
I use the needle as a guide. I have Gei Justu ink. It came in my kit so its probably not the best. I have looked into some other inks but there are so many out there its hard to decide without using them first. Is there a “best” ink or is it more artist preference? Or a combination of both?

[new inker]

By the way…the tattoo has come off completely leaving a very light grey image on my hand.

[Johnny]

Typically, a cracked, scabbed, bleeding tattoo is not a result of not going deep enough and I would hope that someone with very limited tattooing experience would not advise another rookie as such @loopi. I haven’t looked at ur pics because they are too small but either you went too deep, or you overworked the skin. Just from what you are descibing its obvious. Granted not going deep enough will result in a faded end result, but so will going too deep since the scabs that form as a result of exess skin trauma will pull the ink out with them. Also exess bleeding can push ink out since the blood will be coming from under the dermis layer. Your goal should be to not go too deep, not run your machines too hard, and get your work done in a few passes as possible. A properly tuned color machine should give you a pretty solid fill in one pass. SERIOUSLY ONE PASS. If you are tattooing someone and they are bleeding at a faster rate than what appears to be a light sweat, or when you wipe it there is more blood than ink, there is a problem. I have never heard of that brand of ink so I can’t comment on it, but im gonna take an educated guess and say its crappy cause I’m a dick, and I’ve never heard of it. Black ink you can’t go wrong with: dynamic, silverback, kuro sumi, intenze makes a grip of black inks and they are well regarded (the only one I’ve tried personally is zuper black and I liked it). Keep in mind if ur buying ur supplies off ebay, or a site that resembles the wal-mart equivalent of a tattoo supply store, odds are ur gonna get crap. Good places to buy from are king-pin, unimax, technical, tatsoul, eternal tattoo supply, national tattoo supply. Keep doing your homework, quit tattooing humans, start tattooing fake skin, or dead animal skin, or fruits and veggies, try to get a mentor, start replacing pretty much everything you got with your “kit” with better stuff, keep asking questions, be careful who’s advice you take, tear a machine apart and put it back together a million times, practice drawing, keep trying and eventually you will be a tattooer.

[new inker]

Thanks johnny. I ordered a bottle of kuri sumi ink last night after reading tons of ink reviews. I can definitely see the benefit of practicing on melons to perfect lining and shading but can you get depth right from melon canvasses? With aftercare being such a huge part of a successful tattoo until you ink skin I dont see how you can perfect your art. (although I am still going to practice on melons) My artistic skills are pretty solid. I’ve been drawing since I was young. So I’m pretty happy with that part. The mechanics are troubling me. Tuning my machines is still giving me a hard time. There are tons of videos on how to do it but the information isnt very consistent so I am still working on that.

[buttchinbart]

How deep did you set the depth of your needles for the lining and color? When you were doing the tattoo did it bleed excessively? Did the skin have an oatmeal appearance .how many passes did you go over the coloring? Im asking because from what you describe it still sounds to me like you went to shallow and you let it dry out and it cracked. If it was over worked or you went to deep then you should still have some areas that held together.

[Skincanvas]

Hey buddy,
Im sure fading has to do with ink brand. I alsohad that gei juitsu ink and its shit. I only use on practice skin,not worth shit. Try eternal ink,you’ll notice a huge difference. Kuro sumi is also great for outlining,grey wash.

[nedmanders]

@new inker wrote:

Ha Ha I dont have any cows…I just use the balm on my hands.
I use the needle as a guide. I have Gei Justu ink. It came in my kit so its probably not the best. I have looked into some other inks but there are so many out there its hard to decide without using them first. Is there a “best” ink or is it more artist preference? Or a combination of both?

that ink is crap i have gotten enough tattoos from others to know as soon as i used it it was junk. the green i got with mine didnt even go into the practice skin at all. it really is just junk ink

[Loopi]

In fairness, what I said was damn close to what the others said … :/ … was only helping.

[new inker]

Well I trashed all that shit ink. My Kuro Sumi came in and I ordered some starbright. When it gets here I will redo it and post a new pic. Thanks for all the replies.

[robroy289]

I agree with Jhonny on this dude.. I have seen the ink you are talking about when i got my first kit. ONLY use that stuff on FAKE skin. It is crapy ass ink. I use Intenze ink for my black and grey work and then i use starbrite moms inks for my color. Haveing a mentor is very importiant. I dont know if you are an apprentice somewhere by know or not? You had a good design from what i could see but i would say that Ink and needle depth played a big role in the demise of this tat…

[KitchenWizard]

My .2c, is NOT to stop tattooing Human skin under any circumstances. The first time I tattooed, it was on myself, and the following half-dozen or so tattoos were also on people (Myself, my wife, and the friend who was teaching me) For a laugh, one day my wife and I got a couple of grapefruits and tattooed them. She was able to work fine, I found my lines ‘running away with me’ as the fruit skin was much softer and less resilient than the Human skin which I was used to. I’ve also read that working on rubber mats are tougher, and a person can develop ‘a heavy hand’, so IMHO, seeing as you will be tattooing people not grapefruits, you need to learn on what you will be working on. ‘Practice skin’ is the skin between your hip and knee (and other willing volunteers :) ) Stick with it though. I’ve never tattooed ‘riding the tube’. I was tattooed yesterday by an artist who did so, so I researched the technique, and from what I can gather, while it is ultimately a matter of preference, people have said that ‘riding the tube’ can make the ink smear more on the skin, and it can be harder to actually tell where the needle is (with regard positioning within the tube) where ‘hanging the needle’ allows the artist to see precisely where the needle is going at any given time :)

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