Minimal Lining - More on Shading

Hi there! It's been a while since i made my last post here, i'm here again to show you my latest tattoo work. We copied the design from google images just to practice tattoo with minimal lining, Please check the image and you will see that the feathers are pure shading. What i did is, I have mixed the black ink in to a solution to make the light shade effect. I know that the picture is in very low quality because i only used my cellphone to take a shot of it, but i will update this once i have taken it into a SLR camera and when it's fully healed.

As you can see, i also used white ink to highlight some parts of the bird.  You will be able to see those on the legs, lower part feathers and eyes and beak. Also, in the feathers effect i just followed the stencil pattern. I also, combined some colors like green and yellow to make the yellow green effect in the leaves. This tattoo ain't done yet, i still have to put some background in it, i also used a 9mag for shading and 5rl for the lining parts. actually it's a whole back tattoo, I'm just excited to show it to you guys on what have i made today.Well like i said earlier, once this whole back tattoo is done. I will take a pictures of it in a high quality camera. For beginners like me, I hope i have shared something to you guys and learned something today. Because unlike other professional tattoo artist out there, they keep their skills secret and doesn't want to share their knowledge.

Tips: Black and Grey Tattoos

Today let us talk about portraits and other tattoos that are black and grey. What is a black and grey tattoo anyway? Well, obviously is only black and grey, no other colours involved. Now that you know what is it let me start explaining on how to do it. 

In this case, let us talk about portrait tattoo, first things first is to apply the stencil that you made, make sure that you do not put lines on the shadow of the image, you can put dotted lines or dashed lines in order for you to know that is a shadow and not a line, the tattoo will look like a cartoon image or a comic character not a realistic portrait if you put lines all over it. Just want you to know that most of the portraits tattoo that was made has no solid line works, for example in the lips nose chin. So you can start shading using a 15 curve magnum so it has smooth edges and follow your stencil to make a base design. 

I usually start shading from bottom all the way to the top so that the stencil won’t be rubbed off or fade away  by my hand or while you’re applying green soap to clean the dirty regions.

With shading shadows, you can use a shading solution to break down the colour of your black ink, from dark grey to light grey and instead of using white ink you can just leave the skin behind. When applying the shading ink you make sure that you make it very light, this to avoid the skin from bleeding and making it kind of reddish looking colour. If the skin bleeds it will just push out the ink and if the skin gets really reddish there are a lot of chances that you might scar the client’s skin or you won’t be able to see the actual shadow that you have applied. 

In short, make it really smooth not too light and not too deep. It’s better to have light shading at first rather than having dark shadows already, because if you have made a little bit of mistake in applying the shadow you can always do a repair unlike when you already applied dark color you won’t be able to use an eraser to fix it. 

Well, I guess that’s it for now, I have to go and I’m really very very busy. I’ll continue again when I have a chance, hope this helps.

Know the Needles First

 It’s good to know what type of tattoo needles you’re going to use before you start your first tattoo work.  Well, you see a tattoo needle consist of several small needles grouped attached to a needle bar.  There are many types of tattoo needles – Group, liner, single, round, flat, magnum, shader. These types of needles have their specific use and depends how the artist use it. Obviously, you can’t use a liner to shade a tattoo or use a shader to create outlines. Basically, their specific use is related to what they are called.

Anyway, let’s go discuss them one by one and get into details.  There are four common types of needle groupings.. Let’s start with 

Rounds aka Loose :

These kinds of tattoo needles can come from single to 14 round.  If you’re going to check the image you will see that the round needle looks like a perfect circle.  These are commonly used for shading tight parts of the tattoo.

Flats:

I rarely use this kind of needles when it comes to shading. But, they are good in filling a tight part of the tattoo.  This needle comes from 4 to 15 needles groupings and if you’re going to check the image, the needle grouping are all straight and placed tightly together.

Tights:

This type of needles comes from 3 to 14 needle groupings. Tights are commonly used for outlining. similar to round needles this type of needle has also a circular shape but unlike the rounds tights has needles that are grouped tightly together to make a perfect lining.

 Magnums:

I always use this kind of tattoo needle when it comes to shading. Because this one has two rows and their grouping is widely spread out it can be very good in filling in solid colour. There are two types of Magnum needles, one is regular and the other is double stacked. Double stacked means that the needles are more grouped tightly together compared to a regular Magnum needle.

Curved Magnum:

Similar to a regular Magnum, but this one is much bigger and the tip of the needles has a slight arch to it. I always use this when I’m making Japanese tattoos like Wind bars, clouds etc. This one is also commonly used in filling colors into a portrait tattoo. 

Now you know the types of needles and their uses. Next post will be about types of Inks.  Hope this one helps.

Great Tattoo Artist i Like: Victor Portugal

Victor is one of the most popular tattoo artist now a days. I have checked all over the net to see his biography and I would like to share it to you guys. Anyway, here’s what I have.  

Victor Portugal was born in Uruguay and he lived there for several years before he moved to Krakow Poland to setup his own tattoo shop. He started his tattooing career back in 1998 and until now he is getting better and better specially those biomech / evil designs of his. I think his tattoo work and designs are very unique. Unlike those common tattoo designs out there like, Dragons, Buddha and common Oriental tattoo designs.

Because of his popularity in the world, some of the countries named his designs after him.  I wish someday i could be like him, just a little bit more training and perseverance and i will beat this guy! 

My Partner: Vincent

Hi there guys!  I have been busy again with work that’s why I wasn’t able to write any post these past few weeks. Also, I have not made a new tattoo work yet. Today I’m feeling that I want to write something that is why I decided to Introduce my friend, a tattoo artist who just started tattooing a couple of months ago just like me.

Well, we are planning to get in business together, but I think we need more practice and a lot of experience in tattooing before we go out and expose ourselves in the tattoo world. Also, we don’t have the money to rent a new place and start our tattoo shop. Anyway, I just want to show you the latest tattoo work of my friend. Please check the image below.

This client came by to my friend’s house and she said that she wants to be inked on the rib part of her body. We said that, it will hurt like hell for a lady to be tattooed on that part of the body. She insisted and she really wants that design to be tattooed on her body.  The process took probably 2 hours or less to be completed. He used  5RL liner and 11MAGNUM and 9MAGNUM for shading. As for the colors, he used Starbright ink (red,brown and pink), Intenze Zuper black (Back ink) and Intenze colors again for green and yellow. SPEED stick was used for the stencil stuff and Green soap for cleaning the excess ink on the skin.  I guess that’s all for now and I’ll be writing again soon to share my experience and for those beginners out there like me – I hope this information helps.

Why Get Inked

A lot of people these days don’t care what kind of tattoo they’re getting.  A very popular motto is “Think before you ink.”  That is very important! don’t get very excited, don’t haste, choose your tattoo design very well and make sure you won’t regret it.  Also, I don’t recommend putting your wife’s / girlfriends name on your skin. I think your last name would do.  Also, a lot of people are getting tattooed today when they are drunk, high or even in love! Yayks!. Well, this is based on my experience, I do have a dragon tattoo on my right shoulder and I don’t even know what it means. Obviously, I regret it.

But there are lot of reason to get a tattoo.

1.       Self-Expression:   Well, a tattoo can be considered as a work of art to be used to display your uniqueness as a person.

2.       Spiritual Growth: This can be a good reason to get a tattoo, if you just had survived a great disaster or some event that changed your life for good. Then it’s not so bad to have a tattoo related to that event.

3.       Tribal Identity: This kind of tattoo can be used to identify on what tribe, gang and organization you belong.

4.       For Spiritual Protection: This kind of tattoo can be used as a spiritual protection. Ex. Tattooing the face of Jesus Christ or any Portrait of a saint on your skin to avoid accidents or any unlucky circumstances.

5.       Marking Important Events:  A good example of an important event is a wedding or a divorce.  This will remind you every day on what just happened that day.  

6.       Paying Homage:  A very good example of this is the Portrait of John Lennon, Elvis Presley and many popular celebrities that died.

7.       To Express Commitment: Getting tattooed is no joke; this will be permanent on your skin. Unless you get a laser removal tattoo that will be very expensive.

8.       Totem Symbols and Animals: A lot of people are getting this kind of tattoo; this is to express their connection between their soul and that symbol.

9.       As a memorial: I do have a friend whose sister has died. And her portrait was inked in his left forearm to help him remember a beloved family.

10.   Enhancing Sexuality: There is this theory that getting tattooed on your lower back will help you open up the base chakra and will enhance your life force.  

I hope this helps! Always remember, Think before you ink.”    The images above are from 'google images' I do not owe them and are just used as an example. 

4th Tattoo Work: Shading and White ink

Hi there guys! I just finished tattooing my friend here and I’m very excited to share it with you. As you can see it’s a Hannya mask, a design that came from Japanese people. What does Hannya mask mean? Well, there are different types of Hannya Masks, but this design I got from google images is used by the traditional Japanese people of Noh theatre. Anyway, Enough for the Mask now (you can just google it if you want a detailed information about it) and let’s focus on my tattoo work.

 
 Again, for lining the needle I have used 12-5RL and for my shader it’s 12-11M or should I say 5 Round Liner for the Outline and 11 Magnum for the shading. The black ink I have used is Kuro sumi and I say it’s a very good ink and I have haven’t experienced any difficulties using it. Also, for the highlights i have used I have used Starbright white ink, there are some rumors that Starbright has the best white ink compare to other brands. For the light shaed part, what I did is I just mixed the black ink in distilled water. 20% black ink and 80% distilled water will do.
 Well, what can you say? Are there any improvements compare to my previous tattoo work?

3rd Tattoo Work: Mistakes

Hi there guys! I know it’s been ages since my last post, I have been very busy at work and I was not able to write anything.  Also, I have moved into a different location that is why I have to setup everything and that includes my internet connection and etc. Moving on, I have a new tattoo work and it’s my first portrait ( I considered it as a portrait). Please remember that I’m still a beginner when it comes to tattoo stuff liek this, I haven’t reached 10 tattoo work yet, as you can see .this is my 3^rd tattoo work ( see image below).  I just like share my experience for those guys who are like me that are still practicing.

I saw this design into a 2x2 sticker and I have to re draw it to make it bigger, well,, I guess it looked nice. My mistakes in this tattoo are the outlines.. my friend told me that never ever do outlines on the face if it’s a portrait. Especially the nose part, eyebrow and lips. To be exact, here are the words he told me.

“#1 rule of portraits DONT OUTLINE you can use a tight 3 on parts of the eyes but that’s it realism is REAL as in you dont have a outline like a color book on your face.


In this tattoo, I have used a 3 round liner or 3RL for outlining and 15RM or 15 Round Magnum for shading. The ink I used is Dynamic Black. I hope you like it.  

2nd Tattoo Work: Experience

Hello there once again! I have not yet finished doing research about needles and other tattoo stuff, anyway, I just want to share my second tattoo work, and I learned so much since my first tattoo work. I have learned that “Don’t or Never use a 5RL on portraits faces e.g eyes, nose, lips” depending on the portrait. It is because it will look like a cartoon character, not a realistic human face.

Check out my second tattoo work,

And here is a good news, my shaky hands thingy is now gone, you just need a little bit of practice and a lot of confidence for you not to get nervous. Just believe in yourself that you can do it and never never doubt yourself!

Next post will be my third tattoo work work. While I’m doing research about tattoo stuff I’ll be posting my first 10 tattoo project and see I have a future to be a great tattoo artist. 

Introduction: My First Blog Post and First Tattoo Work

Hi everyone! First of all I would like to introduce myself; I’m Sophia the owner and author of this blog that I just created a while ago.  I have been waiting for so long to have a blog like this, my friend just told me earlier that I can create one from blogger and I can post or write any stuff I want as long as it’s informative.

Anyway, as you have noticed, the blog is all about Tattoos, Designs, Needles, Sketches, Drawing and other tattoo related stuff. Since I was a child I have been very interested in drawings, last week my friend gave me a chance to have my first tattoo project. And I think it came out nice and not bad for a beginner like me.. Well, it’s is my first time to ink someone.

Here an image of my first tattoo work and my own design.

I just like to share what I have experienced as a beginner tattoo artist. At first you will get very shaky hands because at that time I’m kind of nervous.  My outline is just awful and the client told me that he is in a lot of pain because my hands are heavy and the depth of the needle is his skin is very deep.  Also, just want to inform you that the client is the one who is teaching me how to tattoo. In our location he is a very good tattoo artist especially in portraits and 3d tattoos.  In my next blog post I’ll show you my second tattoo work and see if I have improved or not, also I will be doing a research about the types of needles, inks, tattoo machines, artist and designs.

Hope you’ll like my blog. See you!