stephen vanzant

My friend Cecilia was over at the house today, and we were talking about how her apprenticeship was going in Phoenix Arizona. I recorded a bit of the conversation. I apologize for the kids in the background – this

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This Video will show you some tips for grey wash tattoos as well as go over some basics of getting the ink in the skin, and machine theory. Please download the video and save it to your PC, instead of streaming it

Here is a video tutorial related to tattoo machine assembly. It also has some good info about the building of the Green Monster – which is Eikon Device tattoo machine. On this tutorial we use the “True” a-bar

Some signs of an improperly performed tattoo procedure will
be excessive scabbing, rapid fading, and pits in the tattoo after
healing. It is important to let the client know that sometimes a
small portion of the

There are several bandage materials that I have seen used in
tattoo studios. The most common is the paper towel and tape.
Paper towels are not a horrible bandage material for a large
tattoo, and will allow the

Shading is definitely where your artistic skills will be visible more
so than lining and coloring. In reality nothing is a solid color.
This is because there is always light in the real atmosphere. I
recommend

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