Emilia Cobo

Some artists will shade with quick flicks of the wrist, and apply
pressure at the starting point of the stroke, while gradually lifting
up on the end of the stroke to create a dark to light effect. Others
will

There is an endless list of ways to shade in tattooing. Recall
that it is my opinion that shading is defined as achieving
any gradient or filling that is not obtained by use of a single
solid pigment. This does

The best example I can give of coloring, in tattoo terminology,
is when you fill in a tribal piece solid black. Coloring does not
have to be black, but it does have to be solid filling of a color
in an area. It is

A lot of older tattoo artists used to have the misconception that
you should have a “liner” and a “shader” tattoo machine. This
was in essence to, well… line and shade. The problem with this
train of thought,

Some artists will call shading “coloring”, while other artists will
tell you that the two are not even close to the same thing. It is
this author’s personal opinion that shading is defined as achieving
any

Round liner groupings are not the only groupings that are required
for tattooing outlines. It is possible to outline a tattoo
with the use of magnum needles. There are professional artists
that will complete

Tips and corners of shapes in a tattoo, especially when doing
tribal style pieces, should be attacked in a methodical way. As
a new tattoo artist you may want to attempt to conclude your
lines at a junction point

You may have noticed that some artists will use a light coat of
petroleum jelly on the tattoo after applying the stencil prior to
outlining. However, it is very important that you use very little petroleum
jelly.

Sometimes the artist wants to achieve a smoky effect or a light
background effect, or even just create a piece of work that
mimics reality and does not have the solid cartoon coloring
book lines that are prevalent

Some artists prefer to build up
the weight of their lines by going
over them a few times. This is especially true for artists who
use thick lines in their work. Think of building up lines as three
parts to each

A really good practice to use when outlining is to use diamond
tips. Tips are the lower (touches the client’s skin) portion of the
tube, tip grip assembly. Tips come in round, diamond, or shovel
typically. The

Some artists will tell
you to hang your
needle out of the tip
of the tube about
the width of a dime.
Others will tell you that the needle should not be visible at all.
Some artists will even work with their needle

A good rule of thumb is that the more needles you have (up to
a certain point), the easier it will be to achieve solid and smooth
lines. Another good rule of thumb is that the fewer needles you
use; the more pain

Traditional tattoo methods include an outline. The outline is typically
done with outlining inks, which have less alcohol in them
than normal pigments. Sometimes the outlining inks are not
even tattoo pigments at

Some artists will not only have their line work on the stencil, but
light shading might be included as well. This can save time
while attempting to decipher the stencil once it is transposed to
the skin. Awesome

Gloves should be worn during all times of stencil application,
and the skin should always be cleaned prior to application with
standard 70% alcohol. The alcohol can come in the form of a
squirt or spray bottle, or

Allow the purple ink to dry. Some artists will immediately begin
the tattoo if the placement is acceptable, while others will wait 5
minutes or more. This can also be a good time to spend ensuring
that the

An old technology that is used in a new way is the stack fed dot
matrix printer. This is a pretty cool way to print directly from your
personal computer right onto the Spirit masters paper. The pressure
will mimic

There are two ways to get that award winning design, you spent
hours on, into a transferable medium. The first way to properly
use Spirit Masters style paper is to have your completed drawing
out, lay it on top of

Liquid applications are always the preferred method
in stencil application. There are unlimited numbers
of chemicals that are in a liquid form that can be applied to the
skin and will achieve similar results.