Do you want to begin to Tattoo but are wondering where to start? Not sure how the complete process works? Let’s break it down into basic elements and steps.
What are the basics of tattooing for beginners? Tattooing can be broken down into 3 basic elements. 1. Lining, or the outline shape of the tattoo. 2 Shading, which creates the depth and 3D elements of a tattoo. 3. Colour, which brings the tattoo to life. A good Tattooist excels at all 3 elements.
Beginning to Tattoo can be very daunting. It can be hard to know where to start. It’s a difficult learning process to understand the mysterious art of tattooing.
I’ll break down the tattooing process for you into a simple step by step guide to make it easier for you.
Now your stencil is on you are ready to tattoo. Wow. So much preparation involved before you even get to tattoo!.
Again, you should be practising this on fake skin. Not human skin.
You need to get all the tattoo outlining done first. Once you have the lining on you can relax as you don’t need to worry about losing your stencil.
Decide which tattoo needle you are going to use. A 7 RL [round liner] is a good all-round size to start with.
Make sure you use a layer of petroleum jelly or process butter to lubricate the practice skin and prevent ink staining.
Concentrate on creating clean and smooth lines. Move your hand smoothly and fully concentrate on perfecting each line. Keeping the hand speed slow can result in smoother lines but you need to make sure you don’t overwork the skin. You can see if you are overworking even on practice skin.
Practicing on bananas is great for improving this. If you line too heavily or slowly you will see the skin of the banana start to break up as it’s fragile. This is great to help you develop your lining technique.
Move from bottom to top so you don’t rub out your stencil with your hand. If you are right-handed move from bottom right to top left. Bottom left to top right for left-handed people.
At this stage, you may also want to consider line weights. Tattoos look much more dynamic if they have both thin and thick lines. You may want bold lines around the edge of an object to emphasise it.
Areas that you want to mark for shading, but don’t need a line can be bloodlined. This means lining without ink on the needle. It leaves a fine mark for you to follow.
This is the point where you start to bring some dynamism to the design. You can make it look 3D and alive.
Gray shading, where you use various dilutions of black ink is very effective. Black and gray tattoos are always popular.
You don’t need to buy pre-mixed grey shade ink. You can create your own dilutions.
When you are drawing, practice pencil shading to get better at understanding shading. Analyse different tattoo styles and look at how their shading is done.
Try to make your tattoo shading graduations smooth and velvety. This takes practice.
If the tattoo has colored elements, this is the time to do it.
In tattooing, you work from darker colors to light so you don’t contaminate a lighter color with a darker one.
Layout your inks, going from the darker colors in the cold colour range [blues/greens] to the lightest warm colour range [reds/pinks/yellows]. Then as you tattoo, work your way up through the colours.
This way you avoid smearing dark colors into light colours and making the tattoo look muddy and murky.
You will find that each shade of color is different to tattoo. Some go in much more easily than others. A lighter or pastel shade of color can be difficult when you first start to tattoo real people. The blood shows through the light shade of color and makes it difficult to see what you are doing.
Improving how you work with this color of ink comes with practice.
The color you will use in the tattoo depends on the skin color too. Paler pastel colors won’t show up well on dark skin. As you gain experience you will gain knowledge of what colors work nicely on each skin type.
Pack the colour in solidly and avoid “holidays” or missing patches.
If you were working with a real human client this is the point to discuss aftercare. Making sure they understand the healing process is crucially important.
The tattoo is only as good as the aftercare so you have to make sure your client understands what they need to do to facilitate the healing of the tattoo.
Most tattoo infections happen after the client has left the tattoo studio in the first few hours. However, you will get the blame for it if this happens.
People do crazy things and always want to touch and poke their fresh new tattoo with their mucky hands. Their friends will want to poke it too. People can’t resist it!
For that reason, I highly recommend you use a dressing film. That way you can immediately cover the tattoo for 24 hours away from poking fingers.
Check that the client doesn’t have sensitive skin as this can make them more prone to aftercare problems.
Explain things they can’t do such as swimming or saunas. Have a printed sheet so they can take it away with them as people tend not to listen as they are buzzing with their new tattoo.
Time to clean up.
So those are the basics of tattooing for beginners. The more you practice the more things will start to fit together seamlessly.
It’s a bit like driving a car. At first, you struggle to remember what to do but as you get better all the things flow together easily.
A basic set-up of supplies and tattooing equipment for a beginner tattoo artist will include
Ive put a gear list together for you which you can check out here. You can view my gear list here.
Whether you use a rotary machine or coil machine, the major issue in tattooing is the sterilization of equipment.
When you are working on practice skin this doesn’t matter but it pays to think ahead. One day you will be working on people if you make it to be a professional tattooist and you need to think ahead.
Bloodborne diseases such as Hepatitis and HIV can easily be spread through equipment that isn’t sterized properly.
Many people think that they can sterilize equipment such as tubes and grips at home. They think that boiling them, soaking them in bleach or flaming them will sterilise them.
THIS IS NOT TRUE.
You can’t sterilise equipment properly unless you have an autoclave. An autoclave uses pressure and high temperature to ensure 100% sterilization. Anything short of this doesn’t work.
However, to buy an autoclave costs upwards of $1500.
For this reason, I highly recommend that you work with disposable equipment. You can buy disposable grips, tips and tubes as well as all your pre-made needles and just throw them away at the end of the session.
You will need to dispose of them into a sharps bin or biological disposal system. Not into domestic trash.
It’s so much safer to use a fully disposable system and also saves you the hassle and expense of an autoclave.
The information here is to give you a basic overview of how the tattoo process works. However, you should only be working on practice skin or fruit when you do your beginner tattoos.
If you want to work on people, you need to start training to become a licensed tattoo artist. I wrote a detailed post on how to become a tattoo artist which you can read here.
I go through the various ways you can learn how to tattoo and enter the tattoo industry as a professional tattooist.
Tattooing is difficult to learn. An apprenticeship is the best and easiest route. However, with dedication, it can be done. Focus on your art, take a course in tattoo techniques and practice heavily on fake skin before attempting to tattoo a person. Tattooists practice on their own skin first.
You do need to be able to draw to be a good tattoo artist. Most people want custom work these days. However, drawing is a learned skill and something that everyone can improve with practice. Take some online art classes and draw every day to improve your artwork.
Tattoo needle depth is crucially important for a good tattoo. The needle needs to go into the middle layer of skin, the Dermis. This is approximately 1 to 2 millimetres deep. Too deep and you hit the fat layer which can cause a blurry tattoo and infection. Too shallow and the tattoo will grow out.
You need to practice tattooing before you graduate to real skin. You can buy silicone or plastic practice skin. You can also use fruit and vegetables such as bananas, oranges and squashes. Pigskin is often free from butchers and is the closest thing to human skin to practice tattooing on.
You can read more practice ideas in this post. What is the best thing to practice tattooing on?
I hope this has given you a good overview of the basics of tattooing for beginners and the basic tattoo process. If you want further tips please download my free guide below Good luck
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we will show you how to use tattoo transfer paper for tattoos. We will outline both methods, by hand or using a thermal copier, and run through all aspects of successfully using tattoo transfer paper to transfer your artwork into stencil and skin.
Deciding which type of tattoo machine to buy as your first machine can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes to learning how to tattoo. That’s why it’s so important to understand the different types of tattoo machines before you lay out any money.
A rotary tattoo machine is the easiest machine for a beginner. Dragonhawk make a reasonably priced pen style rotary tattoo starter kit available through Amazon. It includes a power supply and pedal as well as a machine and other extras. It will allow you to start learning how to tattoo on practice skin.
Is there a difference in tattoo ink? Tattoo inks vary greatly in quality between brands. The quality of the Tattoo ink you use will impact the quality of the tattoo. High-quality ink will look bright and stay colourful for years. Low-quality tattoo ink will look faded and aged within a year or so.
How hard do I press when Tattooing? When Tattooing, you need to press hard enough to get the ink accurately into the Dermis or middle skin layer. Too light and the Tattoo will grow out in weeks. Too heavy and it will go into the subcutaneous tissue and blur in the skin making a bad Tattoo. Learn how to know when you have the right pressure.
Tattooing is hard to learn. The secrets of Tattooing are closely guarded. You will struggle to find an apprenticeship and someone to teach you. Tattooing on skin is very different to drawing on paper. Having said that, Tattooing is an amazing and enjoyable career that pays well once you do learn.
Do you have to know how to draw to Tattoo? In short, yes. If you can’t draw you will be very limited in the types of tattoo you can do, and most people want custom work these days. However, drawing is a learned skill and you can improve your drawing with practice.
How do I become a self-taught Tattooist? The answer is LOTS OF PRACTICE, dedication and learning. If you have exhausted EVERY possibility of getting an Apprenticeship and find yourself looking at this option here are 13 important guidelines which will help you to learn to tattoo.
Can you learn to tattoo without an apprenticeship? Can you be a self taught Tattoo Artist? Maybe, but you need to ask yourself these 7 honest questions…
Can anyone learn to Tattoo?. Is there anything stopping you learning to Tattoo and landing your dream job? Ask yourself these 5 really important questions to see if you can realistically learn to Tattoo and become a Tattooist.
How can you stand out from the crowd and land a Tattoo Apprenticeship?. Use my Secret Method to make sure Tattooists take you seriously and want to give you an Apprenticeship.
The information on the site is for entertainment only. Anything you do is at your own risk. Consult with your own Tattooist, Piercer or Doctor for advice.
Helen is an Artistic & Medical Tattooist. She specialises in scar cover up tattoos and breast cancer reconstruction tattoos as well as bespoke tattoo design. She writes about all aspects of Tattooing.
