Guy Aitchison answers some of tattooing's toughest questions
Q) So I went in to try to apply for a tattoo apprenticeship, and basically they told me that flamer like me has no place in the tattoo industry and would never be able to break in. They were the only tattoo studio within a four hour drive of me that even offered tattoo apprenticeships and now I've got no clue where to go from here. Am I basically bashing my head against a brick wall? Give it to me straight, am I a fool for trying to pursue this? I got a fucking degree in fine arts, I do photo realistic oil paintings, I can do really high quality realistic watercolor. Is how "cool" and butch you are really so much more important that how good of an artist you are?
A) Excellent question my friend! There's an elephant in the tattoo shop here, and its name is Homophobia. And of course this isn't just a tattoo thing... but tattooing is a relatively macho industry, so you'll see perhaps a bit more of it than elsewhere. You're basically experiencing the same thing that women went through a couple decades ago- a general discomfort on the part of the established artists to let in any different kind of energy to the shop. Now, of course, there are plenty of women in the industry- including some openly gay ones (although men aren't threatened by lesbians, so that was never really a big deal). So what will it take to break through this wall?
Funny thing is, there's a notable precedent that many have already forgotten: The late great Cliff Raven of Chicago. Cliff was one of the few artists who stuck around in Illinois after the age limit for tattooing changed from 18 to 21 back in the late 1960s. He was already enough of an artistic heavyweight that this didn't hurt his business; rather, he redirected his efforts toward large custom work. For that period, with the exception of Sailor Jerry in Hawaii, Cliff was one of the few American artists who specialized in those kind of large multi-day bodywork projects, and collectors traveled from all over to see him.
For most of his career, Cliff was open about his sexuality. Of course there were people who had issues with this, but it didn't prevent him from having a stellar career, and from making large advances not only in the artistic elements of tattooing but also in peripheral things like creating a tranquil environment for the client, handling them in a less aggressive/more therapeutic manner, that kind of thing... he was a pioneer in doing the large custom work, and his influence has trickled down through the generations. I learned to tattoo from Bob Oslon, who was one of Cliff's apprentices and had nothing but positive things to say about working with him. Bob talked about how the other Chicago tattooers used to rag on him about his gay boss- "hey, waddya have to do to get that job?" and the other obvious quips... but it was still the best shop in Chicago to work at.
So what happened? Where are the gay tattooers now? Well, they are all over the place, and working in the closet. Why? Good question. I believe the industry is more than ready to deal with this issue- in my opinion, all it will take is one really good gay male tattooer getting stuff published in magazines, someone good enough that collectors want his work regardless of any sexuality issues. That will open the door and the big change will happen quickly after that, same as when Kari Barba started publishing her amazing painterly work back in the mid 1980s and women everywhere realized that they could do it too... as well as collectors everywhere realizing they could happily wear work done by a woman.
So maybe you need to be that first really good openly gay male tattooer. The shop you talked to- obviously the wrong environment for you to work in. You will most likely need to do a lot of networking and be willing to relocate in order to find the right shop environment, but if your artistic cred is anything like you say, you'll find a place. It won't be convenient, but I like to remind apprentice hopefuls that most careers with tattooing's financial prospects involve having to relocate and go to Harvard for 6 years before embarking on two decades of paying back a student loan. So if all you have to do is move across the continent to get into the right shop, it's worth it. Get your portfolio together, make it short and concise, keep it up to date, write out a cover letter stating who you are and why you think you'll make a great tattooer. Be prepared for an uphill climb. But you'll find the right shop, and then you can be a part of the inevitable change that will come. Good luck!
Q) I have been tattooing for about 15 years and I am well-known in my area. I do well and I am also a High School Art teacher of 23 years. Unfortunately my shading does not have a smooth transitioning look to it. I see others and it is beautiful. I am stuck in the midwest with two jobs and a sick wife, and cannot tavel and learn as my peers do. I have tried a variety of different solutions....i am not there. Can you help me through this forum?
A) To get really specific, I'd need to see a picture of your work to really know what it needs. But here are some good general guidelines for keeping it smooth:
1) Spread magnums! If you are trying to get smooth shading with round shaders or stacked mags, the odds are stacked against you. Spread mags are ideal because they have the widest spaces between the needles, making it easier to work the skin more like an airbrush and less like a fat marker. One nice thing about spread mags is that because of the large spread between needles, the hole pattern they make in the skin is fairly diffuse. This allows you to work the skin a few passes in a session, making it easier to achieve a smooth gradation without creating trauma.
2) Smooth hand movements. With a spread magnum you want to work in smooth overlapping oval hand movements, keeping these motions tighter and more concentrated in areas you want the shading darker, and quicker and larger in areas you want lighter shading. Imagine these hand movements being used with a really dull pencil on paper... in fact, shading with a dull pencil or colored pencil is good practice for shading with a magnum. Keep the skin tight, keep your motions smooth and even, and your healed results should look smooth. You can read more about specific hand motions in the technical chapters of my book Reinventing The Tattoo.
3) Washes where necessary. Whether you are shading with black or with color, dipping occasionally into water to dilute the ink is a good way to smooth out your blends. Washes can be worked a bit more than undiluted pigment, allowing for a more evenly distributed hole pattern in the skin, making for the smoothest gradients. You'll want to use undiluted pigment in the darker parts of your gradients, with more dilution where the shading is lighter and possibly some highly diluted pigment in areas where the gradient fades out into skin.
4) Follow-through with the liner. Once you are done with your magnum shading, try going back with a small round- ideally, in a slower running machine than a basic fast liner- and working the shading through the tight spaces, along the edges and outlines, etc. You can also use it to smooth out any small holes you see in the shading in a surgical manner. This sort of a "tightening" pass is not strictly about shading, but also addresses edge crispness, detail etc. in a way that leads to a smoother and more developed overall look.
5) Make sure your shading strategy is strong to begin with. You need enough drawing skills to understand where and when to use long, high-contrast gradients in the piece in order to separate the elements. Often tattooers don't have enough of an understanding of shading, and end up using small tentative areas of shading throughout the piece in fairly equal amounts. There should be some elements with deep gradients and others with only light shading- and there is no rule for determining this... you just need to have enough artistic vision to know. That takes a lot of drawing experience... and many tattooers have way more experience with needles than with pencils. It should be the other way around... and for all the best artists in the industry, it generally is. You can't skip the drawing education and just focus on tattooing technique... the two are inseparable when it comes to creating clean, smooth work.
Q) When im tattooing and the tattoo requires to use a solid black in some areas, the tattoo doesn't look damaged or swollen when it's fresh, but when it starts to heal it tends to look damaged- a heavy scab and shiny look to it... what could this be?
A) It sounds like the solid areas might be just a little overworked. Sometimes you can work the skin a little past its limit but it won't necessarily show when it's fresh unless you go far enough to actually trench or chew up the skin. When surrounded by other fresh swollen work, it won't necessarily look overworked. If your healing problems are confined mostly just to these solid areas, try either working them a little bit less- lower power, or getting in and out quicker. Another thing you could try is different needle groups- if you are using round shaders or stacked mags, it's easy to overwork the skin. Spread mags are good for creating not only smooth gradients but solid black as well. If you are already using spread mags, maybe try a smaller one, even a 5 or 7 mag, for the purpose of doing the solid black areas. Get in and out quickly. Then, to ensure its solidity, clean off the area and squirt some clean water onto it, and look at it closely when wet- you'll see the flaws and gaps in teh shading more clearly this way (works great on dark skin!). after doing the water test, go back in with your liner and try zipping through the gaps- by finishing out the solid area with a smaller needle you can be more surgical about where you poke holes, potentially avoiding any overworking. When in doubt, underworking is preferable- better to have to touch up something that healed light than something that scabbed heavily, cracked, got infected etc. It's one of the hazards of the business- but try these steps and you should be able to minimize the problem.
Q) I'm still early into my apprenticeship although I am pleased with my progress, im am still looking for a really light gray wash, i want to use a really light gray and get more values into my tattoos.
Could you advise me what gray systems you use and what you mix them with?
A) The answer is deceptively simple- use more water! The more diluted the ink, the lighter the gray. Simple as that.
A number of pigment manufacturers are now marketing graywash kits with a range of dilutions... Silverback was one of the first on the scene. I know that Eternal (whose pigments I use for about 75% of my tattooing) also has a graywash kit. You may enjoy using these kits, as they provide several degrees of dilution and because they are prebottled, you'll get predictable results each time. When you pour your palette, make a gradient arrangement: undiluted black on the far left, next to it the strongest mix, next to that the medium strength mix, etc. and you'll have a basic idea of where to dip your tube for each strength. Without putting them in order like this, you'll have a hard time knowing which is which, as they all look the same in the cap.
But the answer isn't all in using these kits. Personally, I make all my own washes by simply putting a few drops of black in the bottom of each cap and filling the rest of the way with water. I'll pour an undiluted black, then a half cap of black, then a quarter cap next to that, then a cap with only a couple drops in it... the I fill the partial caps the rest of the way with water. So far, not much different from using the kit. I also keep a rinse cup handy that I won't be using for rinsing color or white- just for diluting black. Then, by dipping back and forth between the various different mixes and the water cup, all strengths of graywash are theoretically available... it's just a matter of developing a touch for it.
One thing that's conspicuously absent from all of the graywash kits is a truly dilute wash- an extremely low percentage of pigment. Most folks just don't see the use for these 3-5% mixes, but a lot of the smoothness you see in really good graywash work comes from using them. Mostly you can get these dilutions just by dipping into a light wash mix and then into the rinse cup. In a good black and gray portrait, for example, only a small area- if any- of the portrait will be truly untattooed skin- a lot of the subtle value range you see in the cheeks and forehead come not from using a medium wash with quick brushstrokes, but from a thorough working with extremely light washes. The highly diluted washes allow you to work the skin a bit more, getting things smoother, without going too dark
For the best overall look, you need to aim to use the whole range of values fluently, with gradients starting at the black end of the range, a good sampling of mid-range values and plenty at the very light end, plus everything in between. Some of the weakest looking graywash tattooing comes from artists relying too much on one bottle of wash, and not exploring the whole range.
As with many of these topics, though, it's not all about technique- there's a drawing skill component here as well that can't be ignored. If you can't get a smoothly shaded look with pencil on paper, you'll have a real struggle achieving it on skin. You really need to log a lot of hours on paper to get the best look with your shading- and using the various softnesses of pencil (HB, 2H, 4B, etc.) you can practice using the different values of wash... obviously there are a lot of differences between paper and skin, but the thought process that goes into the shading is as important, if not more important, than the pigments and techniques you use. The concept behind how shading works is far more crucial than any of these relatively minor technical details... with a good idea in your head of how to shade, you can easily get by with a cap of black, a rinse cup and lots of dipping between them. So, not to sound like a broken record or anything: The better you can draw, the better you'll be able to tattoo. Good drawing skills are the crucial advantage in any style of tattooing.
Q) I'm having a real problem with blowing people out, left and right... any advice?
A) Blowing people out... Outlines you mean? This can be mediated a few ways, all in combination with each other:
1) Tight stretch, always! Nothing else can go right otherwise.
2) You should have plenty of needle extension- at least 1/8" with the armature bar in the down position.
3) Using a combination of tight stretch and enough needle extension, the points should penetrate automatically to the right depth... The skin resistance should balance the power output of the needle group, so it naturally goes to the right depth and then retracts. The tube tip should not serve as a "depth gauge" and should never touch the skin, in theory.
There is no secret ingredient- it's all about having the right touch. These guidelines should help. When in doubt, lower your power, then add as necessary. Thinner skin (inner arm, etc) is more blowout prone and needs lower power than thicker skin... When outlining a sleeve you will need to continually adjust your power as you move from place to place- there is no one size fits all power setting.
If your power unit has a meter, I recommend that you begin ignoring it and learn to gauge your power output by feeling the armature nipple. The strength of that is a real indicator of how the needle will hit the skin... While the meter is just a number.
Q) I've been tattooing close to a decade now and one of the things I still have trouble with is getting black in tribal tattoos to lay down smooth and in as few passes as possible. I've watched artist I've worked with do it, asked how they do... and I still have trouble getting that flat black layed in on the first couple passes. I've tried the way I lay my tube to allow the needles to hit, tried the way I pack the color into the skin, all the ways i know of, but still a tribal tattoo that should only take 2 hours will take me four. I know there is no magical way, but what am I doing wrong that is preventing me from getting my ink to pack in smooth and completely on as few passes as possible?
A) I guess my first question would be, what needle group are you using for packing in the black? You'll most likely have the smoothest results with spread magnums- 7 or 13, depending on the size of the piece. Rounds or stacked mags may seem like they would pack the black better because the needles are closer together, but in reality that only makes it harder to get an even, velvety coat over large areas. With spread mags, the needles are far enough apart that when strokes overlap each other enough times, the hole pattern averages out to a nice even distribution. Rounds will leave concentrated chunks of darker areas, unless they are spread enough. Mags are also better for maneuvering in and out of tribal points, like a calligraphy pen.
One thing to keep in mind is that there really is no such thing as "solid" black on skin- it's really a matter of getting a nice even coat. It will always be at least a few percent translucent, no matter how many passes you make. Some experienced tribal artists are able to get a nice even pass really quickly, with one heal- but if you were to compare their work to a piece that's been gone over more thoroughly, you may notice that it's actually lighter than the more thorough one... but because it healed so evenly, no one questions its solidness.
One thing I usually recommend is to make a final pass through the piece with your liner or another small round group after you finish with the mag, to tighten the shaded areas up against the outlines. You'll get a darker overall look this way, and can avoid that slight gap you often see along the inside of the outlines, the result of working carefully with the mag as not to overrun the lines. A tightening pass like this only takes a few minutes.
Last but not least , when you are just about done, clean the piece thoroughly, then put a layer of clean water over the whole thing and look at it wet. This can help to reveal the remaining imperfections in the piece and allow you to address them. This is particularly effective in working on dark skin.
Q) I have a question about clientele approach...
I work in a (custom) street shop where most of our clients want to get tattooed the same day or shortly after. I find this suffocating and wish I had more time to research their art and play with different ideas and mediums before their appointment. I'm criticized by my coworkers for being emotionally vested in my clients and their art. It kills me to just slap some on-the-fly design on someone. Even if it's good, I want it to be great. I can't help it. I care about them, even if they're not "cool" or interesting, or easy to deal with. I'm not sure this kind of environment is right for me, and would love to work in a shop that is as concerned (if not more) with the art it sends out than the amount of money they're bringing in. Do you think I should look for another shop, or is there a lesson I'm missing in this that is helping me become better some how? Any thoughts you have on this would be greatly appreciated.
A) Well, let me start by speaking one of the basic truths of the tattoo industry: It's hard to find the right gig. Most tattoo artists, custom or otherwise, will spend the first 5-15 years of their career trying to find a work environment where they feel at home and can work in just the manner that suits them. In many cases, artists end up opening their own shops just to avoid the pifalls of working in the wrong environment- and this ends up often being an out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire situation, with a suddenly unexpectedly high overhead, co-workers or employees with the wrong attitude that you have to count on to keep the doors open... whole different bag of worms. Some artists are now working just in private studios (myself included!) but in my own case this was after a dozen years working in various shops, including my own street shop, and literally hundreds of conventions, which I continued to attend for the next decade after going private. Working alone is the wrong thing for an up-and-coming artist, as you'll miss the rich opportunities for inspiration and new perspectives offered by being around other artists.
So as you can see, any of these situations come with one kind of cost or another. You simply can't avoid it- law of the universe! So you have to ask yourself where you are at in your career, if you are prepared to take on the headache and expense of creating your own work environment, if you are prepared for all the unexpected costs, financial and otherwise. Then ask yourself if your current shop environment isn't something you can ride out- or even improve- for a while, until you're ready for the big move. In the meantime, network with other artists as much as you can and see what other kinds of opportunities come up.
Q) Sometimes when I am tattooing an outline I notice the needle sometimes sticks in the skin of who I am tattooing. Am I not using the correct amount of power to outline the tattoo?
A) This is usually due to one of two reasons- too much needle, too slow of a stroke cycle (not enough pokes per minute). You are working faster than your machine can keep up, so it hangs up. Sometimes it's as simple as turning up your power a hair, but usually it takes a bit more than that. For lining you are looking for a shorter (therefore faster) machine stroke- that's why some limners are "cut back" with the machine frame altered to keep the contact point close to the hinge end of the armature bar, shortening the stroke length and speeding up the machine. Some machine frames have adjustable binding posts to allow the contact to be moved forward or back, lengthening or shortening the stroke.
A change in stroke length often will need to be accompanied by a change in spring tension... and if you are not experienced tuning machines, this can be a whole ordeal in itself. Be sure to have a few extra backsprings before making any tension adjustments, and if possible, only mess with your machines if you have backup ones in case things go wrong. You can find detailed instructions on adjusting spring tension in the technical chapters of my book Reinventing The Tattoo, available here at this website.
You may also find the hanging up problem to happen when using rotary machines. If you find it happening no matter where you set your power or how much needle you have hanging out, then the problem can only be fixed my going to a more powerful rotary machine, or in some cases a power unit capable of higher voltage. When in doubt, though, turning the power up more and more is not the answer, and can lead to damaged skin.
Q) I'm tattooïng for five years now. When i put in color, i always have to give it a second pass after three weeks, when the tattoo is healed, because it's never bright and smooth enough. Doesn't matter if i work fast or slow. I was wondering if i'm doing something wrong?
A) Most likely it's not the pigments- these days most tattoo pigments are capable of looking bright and rich in the skin if applied correctly. So your saturation is going to be affected by either your machines or your technique. You need a good machine with a long stroke, opposite of a liner. it should have minimal spring tension- not much more than needed to keep the front spring in contact with the contact point when the machine is at rest. A gap of 1/8" or more is about right. This gives you a slower stroke that allows you the right kind of overlapping hand movements that allow for good color saturation. I also recommend spread magnum needles, which are a good point arrangement for making overlapping strokes without the multiple passes causing trauma.
As always, make sure you have a consistent tight stretch, and take your time doing those overlapping strokes until you have the rich saturation you want, keeping in mind the skin's natural limits. If you find it to take too long, try a larger magnum- the mag size should be proportional to the size of the tattoo.
When you're done with the magnum, you can improve saturation by doing a tightening pass with a small round group... use it to tighten color areas against their outlines, pull it through tight spaces or saturate areas more that you didn't hit evenly enough the first time around. By doing a tightening pass, you not only give the piece a sharper look but also add more pigment to the piece, improving the saturation. Most of the tightening work is done in areas the magnum couldn't really saturate very well, meaning that you can do this without undue risk of overworking the skin.
Even with stellar technique, a second pass will allow you to apply more pigment than the skin could naturally handle in one pass. That's a fact of life- two passes is better than one. For my large custom work, I usually try to get the client to come back for a follow-up pass, but not after three weeks- that's barely enough time for the skin to heal, and not nearly enough for it to settle. 6 months or more is probably better, if your client is committed enough to the process.
Last but not least, your use of shading and color- from a design sense as opposed to an application sense- will contribute to giving the piece a high-contrast saturated look. Having a good sense of color theory can more than make up for some weakness in application. Draw and paint as much as you can to really experiment with color. You can also read more about color theory in Reinventing The Tattoo, or in Nick Baxter's awesome painting instructional book, Tight-Focus Realism In Oil.
Q) What is the proper way of obtaining a apprentice ship. when you have no tattoo experience but quality art work.
A) That's the big question, isn't it? I'd like to start out by pointing out that tattooing is an amazing career to have- especially when approached the right way. If you end up with poor skills in a crappy shop, it can be a fairly bleak way to make a living, so you need to start out right. That said, I'd like to lay it on thicker by comparing it to any other career in this pay bracket, which in most cases would require a college education. For higher education, students are expected to relocate and/or go into a decade or more of loan debt just to have a chance at a job that would make them that kind of money. So if you can find a good opportunity to learn from a quality artist at a solid shop, that's worth relocating for, worth borrowing money from your family to live by while going through the apprenticeship stage, which usually will entail a period of months where you make no money at all, yet are expected to be at the shop full-time. Good apprenticeship opportunities are so valuable that you need to be ready to treat it like a rare break and make the necessary sacrifices.
I am not really down with those pay-per apprenticeships, which can run ten grand or more and usually leave you with little more than nominal tattoo skills and a contract stating you won't work within 300 miles of the shop where you learned. If absolutely nothing else comes up, I'm not saying you shouldn't pay to learn, but an ideal situation is one where the shop owner wants to teach you so you can be good enough to work in their shop. You will get a better education from an artist who knows your future success will reflect on them, otherwise they won't make the right investment in you.
If you are in fact a skilled artist, you need to get your portfolio together. In the old days, this meant making 8x10 glossy prints of 10-20 of your best pieces and putting them in a nice view binder with a cover image and an introduction letter. These days this physical portfolio is still helpful but you also need a good online portfolio, presented in a clean and professional way. Show the range and variety of what you are capable of, including drawings that are specifically meant as potential tattoo designs. Keep it short- make the point with as few images as you can, but then maybe include a link for anyone who wants to see more. Most attention spans are short... plus, the first impression will happen while they are viewing the first 2-3 images in your portfolio. Keep that in mind when you put it together, and be prepared to update it regularly as you create new, fresher art. Show your dedication to the art- shop owners won't even bother with a portfolio that looks unfinished. Lazy tattoo artists are a dime a dozen and a pain in the ass to the shop owner, who is trying to keep their doors open. It has to be a good first impression on all levels: Art, presentation, professionalism, thoroughness. Provide a short statement on who you are, what art experience you have and why you think you'll make a great tattooer, plus relevant contact info.
Then it's all about networking- online, at conventions, by looking at classified ads in tattoo magazines. I hear stories from topnotch shop owners who have ads running in magazines for a year at a time without any really serious inquiries. Be that serious one, and you may find yourself a job.
Long story short: it will not be easy or convenient to get started. Be prepared to reconstruct your life around your new career.
Q) I was wondering about reactions to red pigments and any solutions to the very difficult heal that comes from it...any advice on severe reactions to red inks?
A) Pigment reactions are always a shock and a disappointment to both artist and client. When something like this happens, the first (and most important) thing is to determine that it is in fact a pigment reaction and not an infection. Infections are more common than pigment reactions, so first look for the telltale signs: Swollen and irritated areas in the tattoo, a red angry zone growing on or around the tattoo, possibly with a vein-like line or lines radiating away from it, accompanied by a hot overall sensation. Blisters or open sores are signs of a more advanced infection. If this seems to be the case, if you catch it early your client may be able to control it by cleaning thoroughly and regularly with antibacterial soap and water, using triple antibiotic ointment, and keeping their dirty hands, pets and greasy car parts away from it. Worse case scenario, they need to see a doctor and get on antibiotics. However, if it is not an infection but a reaction to a color, you won't see the characteristic radiating red lines; instead, the parts of the tattoo containing a particular color will take longer to heal or never quite completely heal; this color will appear as a rash or raised area, sometimes looking milky and thick. In mild cases, a week of hydrocortisone ointment will overcome the skin's irritation and allow it to heal, and that's the end of the story. However, in other cases, months will pass without the skin settling down, causing the client itching, irritation and worry.
In these cases, it's obvious that the skin is simply very unhappy about having to share space with that particular substance and is trying to reject it. Dermatologists generally don't seem to have effective means of dealing with this other than to keep you on antibiotics. If there is no infection present, my advice is to work over the inflamed areas using a magnum needle, low power and distilled water or witch hazel. The purpose of this is simply to open the skin and give it a way to reject the unwanted ink. In most cases you will only need to do this once. After the area has healed and settled, you can judge whether it needs a second pass. Usually the inflammation will go away after this procedure, along with much of the unwanted color. Give it 6-12 months after that before re-coloring it; this time, though, use a different color. If you have a pigment that causes reactions in more than one client, throw it away. If you are using a brand that has more than one or two problematic colors, stop using that brand entirely. However, if you have a particular client that seems to have color reactions more than other people because of sensitive skin, try doing small test dots of each color somewhere that can easily be covered later; let these test dots settle for a year, see some sun exposure etc.; only after this can you proceed on that client with confidence. But this is an extreme case; most of the time, pigment reactions are rare and can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Q) I've been tattooing about 5 years now and feel I've hit a barrier. I want to push myself in new artistic directions. Other artists at our shop seem to be happy doing only traditional and Oriental style tattoos (which I completely respect). I, on the other hand, am dying to learn the insanely smooth color transitions and blending, and I feel I won't be able to learn these techniques from the artists here. I guess my question is: Would going to an art school open my eyes a little? I know conventions are a really good source to learn, I just can't travel too much because I have a family. I'm extremely hungry to learn, and frustrated. I watch artist's DVDs and it helps a little. I know there are more routes like getting a tattoo by someone I can learn from watching, etc. Any advice?
A) Well, if you are looking to find an answer that creates the least disruption for your family, going off to art school probably isn't the solution unless there is a good school nearby that you can fit into your existing lifestyle. That being the case, look through their catalog and see what classes you think would help the most. Some basic drawing and painting classes will show you a lot of techniques that are applicable to skin. If this isn't really an option, you can still learn a ton from within your existing situation- you just need to be more proactive. For starters, even if you are not specifically aiming toward doing traditional or Japanese tattooing, you can learn a lot about drawing and composition from your co-workers. Watching DVDs can be somewhat helpful, but unless they are accompanied by exercises or you are able to create your own learning program based on them, you won't get much new technical skill out of them- watching alone is never enough. Many of the books and DVDs offered at this website focus on specific technical improvements, but it is up to you to do more than just watch- you need to immediately apply what you see toward your work. Take notes, keep a journal with your sketchbook, regularly sit down with your latest photos and make an assessment of how well you are sticking to the program. This really is about how self-determined you are... having learning material available is one thing, while completely digesting this material and making it one with your own technique is something that comes from regular daily practice. The most successful artists in this industry are the ones with the strongest self-determination: If there is something they want to learn, they look it up, find the best available material, get their hands on it, and put it to use in every way possible.
That said, I agree that conventions are excellent places to learn. Sitting in on a seminar- and being able to ask the instructor specific questions that apply to your personal artistic learning path- is a couple notches better than watching a DVD. Even better, attending a seminar by an artist whose teaching material is already in your library and familiar to you puts you in a position to get the absolute most out of the experience by knowing exactly what questions to ask. Conventions are great because of seminars, but they are helpful in many other ways too; simply sitting with other artists and passing around portfolios can be a very inspiring learning experience. And as you mentioned, getting tattooed by an artist you respect puts you one-on-one with their technique. Many conventions these days are family-friendly, so bring the whole clan. If you are serious about tattooing, the whole family should get used to the idea of going to (and having a lot of fun at) tattoo conventions.
Q) My hands shake a bit; what is the best way to focus my hands during a tattoo? I started using 1 inch grips and that has helped smooth my hand out some, but I was wondering- is there is something I could practice or some exercises I could do to help with my light shaking?
A) Trembling hands are a sign of underdeveloped muscle control. Here's a question for you: How much time do you spend drawing and working in other mediums besides tattooing? If the answer is "a lot", then maybe you could focus on working with your art tools in a way that is similar to tattooing. Try putting larger grips on your pencils, and meditate on using your hands smoothly. The big tube grips can be helpful, but in addition to this, try a couple alternate options. Many artists I know really like the flexible Red Rat grip covers, which cushion the grip in the hand. I personally have been using Morphix ergonomic grips, and I feel that they've made a big difference in my hand comfort. Next, a sort of obvious question: Are you a big caffeine nut? Cut back by half and that may also make a difference. There are also some basic orthopedic stretches you can do to keep your hands limber and prevent cramping- if you are overusing your hands the trembling could be at least partly because of that, and stretching could be the answer. You can speak with an orthopedic doctor or licensed massage therapist about specific stretches (I also have a couple pages on the subject in my book Reinventing The Tattoo, available at this website).
With all this in mind, the human hand does tremble a tiny amount, even in the best of circumstances. Once you pick up the machine and rest the heel of your hand on the client's skin, you should be braced well enough to calm down most of this. But if you are getting shaky lines, try some of these other measures and it could make a difference. One thing I haven't asked yet: How new are you to tattooing? If it's been less than a year or two, then that's really your whole answer: Tattooing equipment is different from any other set of tools and requires a unique set of hand movements. You may simply need more time and practice to get acclimated.
Q) I'd like to lighten my tattoo before doing a coverup... but instead of using the laser, I want to do this by putting in a few layers of white pigment over the old tattoo before starting the coverup. Will this work?
A) When you tattoo light pigments over dark ones, they will eventually all settle into the same layer of skin, so what you get is a pigment mix. You aren't actually putting a layer on top of an older, deeper layer, but mixing new pigments with the existing ones. White will lighten black by about 8-12% on the first pass, an additional 6-8% the second time, and 5-8% the third time, with diminishing returns with each additional pass. It may look impressive when it first heals and peels, but the actual amount of lightening you effectively get is far less than that when you take settling into account. Then, when the time comes to add a new tattoo over this, it needs to be mixed with all that milky pigmentation and usually results in a milky, muted overall look. I will always recommend laser sessions first- I hate to say it, but there are no other alternatives that are even close to as effective. I've been extensively lasered myself, and although I didn't enjoy it, it gave me a second chance that would simply not be available otherwise. The only time I will pump in light pigment over older inks is if I am creating a coverup and have already done my darker lining, shading and detailing, allowing me to see exactly where the old piece needs lighter pigments pumped in. Usually this will be a final stage in the process, rather than a preparatory one.
Q) I'm an experienced tattooist with a record of good healing. Recently, two of my clients have had rough heals on a couple occasions, both in the same areas- their wrists and forearms. It's not confined to a particular color, but seems to be a random bad heal all over their forearm areas. I can't explain this- any ideas?
(This question was followed by a long phone conversation where I found out: (1) the clients were brothers, (2) one of them has dogs, (3) the one with the dogs has a new baby in the house and has been getting a lot of help with the dogs from his brother)
A) I generally discourage a "blame the client" approach to healing problems, and always try to look for weaknesses in my own routine before blaming the client. But I have definitely found that there is a pattern to healing problems of a certain type- localized bacterial infections. In a large proportion of these cases, the clients are pet owners. Owners of large dogs are especially susceptible. Pet owners are generally very comfortable with their animals and don't really think of them as being dirty, but around fresh tattoos, you should always expect the worst. If you know your client is a pet owner, try to encourage them to keep their fresh ink away from contact with furniture that the animals (and their private regions) are often in contact, and recommend that they wash their hands thoroughly before handling their tattoo. When in doubt, wear loose clothing over the fresh tattoo when around pets. These precautions are really only necessary for 4-6 days, but can make a huge difference.
Q) A lot of artists I know are switching to disposable tubes. I have tried them a couple times and am not sure if I like them. What's the deal with disposable tubes, and do you recommend them?
A) For a long time, our industry was reluctant to take on disposables, and many artists used them only for travel. One of the big changes that's happening now is that you will find completely legitimate tattoo shops with no autoclave. Many shops are switching to disposables as a way of eliminating the need for a scrub room and the no-fun labor that goes with it. On the other hand, you give up some quality when you switch to disposables, so it's worth asking yourself what is important to you. I personally still use steel tubes. I have been using Morphix grips on these, which are lighter than steel grips but heavier than disposables. I do this because I have no choice- my setup has to be light or my career is over. I use lightweight machines, which go well with the lighter tubes- a heavy machine coupled with a lightweight tube creates a situation where the machine is continually pulling back on your hand, causing you to have to pull forward all the time. I know of a few artists who use heavy machines along with disposable tubes who developed severe wrist problems as a result. So balance is an issue. The tip is another issue as well- plastic tips react differently to friction against steel needles than a steel tube tip does, effectively slowing the needle down and causing the machine to work harder. This is something that you eventually can compensate for in the way you run the machine. My other issue is with the shape of the tips themselves; almost without exception, plastic liner tips tend to be bent back and away from the straight line that the needles move along. This is a by-product of the way the tubes are made- as the plastic cools and hardens, the tip bends away from the rinse hole (the cooling plastic shrinks more than the hole does) and ends up pointing in not quite the direction we need it to. If the plastic tube manufacturers actually did tattoos they would have figured this out a long time ago and reworked their molds to compensate for this hardening problem... maybe one of them will read this blog and decide to fix the problem. Until then, you will have to bend your needles back an extra couple degrees to keep them in contact with the back of the tube tip. I personally find this to be so lame that I won't use them, just out of principle. Also, I have a clave and a scrub dude, so I have no potential benefits from switching to plastic. I'll even admit that I am slightly opinionated about the subject... but plastic disposable tubes are improving gradually and will one day be almost as good as steel. I wouldn't be surprised at all if in ten years, steel tubes are almost totally a thing of the past. For now, though, I prefer steel.
Q) I'm fifty and want another tattoo. I went to a shop on the Islands and the artist I spoke with made a negative reference to older skin. I decided not to work with her. I am not a sun worshipper, but I do see a difference in my skin texture. If tattooing on more mature skin is not a good idea, I'm okay with that. What are the pros and cons, and the realities of dealing with older skin?
A) It's true that as we get older, our skin changes, but only in the cases of severely sun-damaged skin do we not recommend tattooing it. I can understand why a tattooist in the islands might feel a certain frustration when working on sun damaged skin, since it's common for clients to walk in off the beach with a sunburn with the intention of getting tattooed and then walking back to the beach to burn their skin some more. Island tattooers tend to see their walk-in clients through this lens... but you should feel welcomed by your artist, not put off. If your skin does have any sun damage (which persists for life, although a decade later it will improve some) you should expect to have at least 2 sessions done to the piece to give it the best smoothness and saturation. Even if you had flawless skin, you'll get a better tattoo from 2 healed passes than you can with one, simply because of the skin's limitations. With some sun damage, these limitations are greater but are not any big deal in the long run. Bottom line: If an artist doesn't seem happy to be working on you, find another one.
Q) I did a name and the first letter came out fine cause I only made one pass. But the rest of the letters were a little sloppy so I went back through them to clean them up and they ended up blowing out. Can I only make one pass on the wrist area? Maybe from going over them twice I ended up cutting the skin? I was using a tight 5 round at about 6 1/2 volts, moving slow so I wouldn't mess up. Any advice would be great because now I'm affraid to do wrists!
A) The wrist is a tricky area to put detail into, but you shouldn't be afraid to work it. Since you are wanting to slow down for precision purposes, try turning your power down as low as you can get away with; tattoo for a minute, wipe, then see if you need to add more power. Some parts of the body- the wrist and inner bicep are good examples- are more prone to blowouts because of the skin's thinness and relative lack of fatty tissue padding it; in these areas, the best approach is simply caution with your power levels. When moving slowly, you need to use proportionally less power, or you'll hit the skin too many times in too small of an area; which can also cause blowouts. This is a relatively simple issue, but its solution lies not in any simple fix but instead in an overall more cautious, steady approach to those types of skin.
Q) I am a apprentice and i was taught also to work with the least amount of voltage. Sometimes when i set my voltage low and the machine sounds good, when doing the tattoo colour it seems like the needles are catching the skin,. The only was i can combat that is by increasing the voltage... is there any other way?
A) If you are experiencing a snagging sensation, the first thing to try is more power; this may help you to find and work with the machine's natural rhythm. This kind of snagging is relatively rare in coil machines, and is much more common with rotaries- if you are using a rotary machine and dealing with lots of snagging problems that increased power doesn't seem to help, you may prefer the action of a coil machine. If it is a coil machine and increased power seems to make it run rough, you may need to adjust your point gap slightly to accommodate the different power setting. Often, increasing the gap can help resolve snagging issues by increasing the length of the stroke, therefore the travel speed of the needles: Moving faster, the needles can get in and out of the skin faster, making them less likely to snag. It's true that it's a good practice to work with as little power as you can get away with, but at times that can leave you with too little punch for the job- don't be afraid to use power when necessary.
Q) I was wondering what type of markers you use to draw on the skin? Your drawing are fairly well detailed before you begin... how do you get it to stay on for long periods? I'm having trouble finding a marker in Australia that will stay on the skin. Any tips about type and ways to getting a drawing to stay for long periods on the skin will be much appreciated.
A) I've been using Sharpie markers for a long time, along with many other tattooists, and have found them to do well with their longevity during the tattoo process. I like them for several other reasons as well: they come in a wide array of non-toxic colors, and they can be used to blend already dried color on the skin, almost like using watercolors. Since my drawings on skin tend to be fully shaded renderings instead of just line drawings, this is especially helpful (see my book, Reinventing The Tattoo, for more information on this freehand technique, including video footage). I DO NOT recommend using red Sharpies or any other red marker, as these dyes, although labeled as non-toxic, tend to cause issues with the healed tattoos, sometimes years later. The rest of the Sharpie colors have been extensively tested by many tattooers without problems. I recommend starting your drawing with a light green marker to rough it in, then move to a medium and then a dark marker as you develop the drawing further; this eliminates the need for most erasing. When your drawing is done and fully dried, you have the option of using Spray Stuff (developed by Mike Devries and Mario Rosenau, who brought you Stencil Stuff) over the drawing, which can help protect it from wearing off prematurely. If you can't find Sharpies in Australia, I recommend that you put pressure on a local tattoo supplier to start carrying them. I don't, at this point, know of another line of markers that performs as well for this job.
Q) Layering colors seems to be an effective way of getting a painterly look to your tattoos, but how do you know when the skin has had too much before you start chewing it up and running the risk of scarring?
A) Layering color this way is actually a good way to prevent trauma, since you can run your equipment with way less force than if you are trying to pack it in solid with one pass. That's the first important point- when layering, you don't want each pass to saturate the skin. Try to keep in mind roughly how many passes of different colors you plan on layering in a given area, and work accordingly... if you plan on layering 3 colors, for example, each pass should only be 1/3 as solid as if you were packing in only one color. This way, as long as you work with smooth overlapping hand motions, the pattern of holes in the skin will be no more closely packed than with one solid pass. It's important for all tattooists, though, to develop a good intuitive feeling for when the skin is approaching its limits; you will learn to look for certain telltale signs of trauma, such as small trenches, roughness or that "wet tissue paper" look that the skin takes on when it's been hit too many times. Ultimately, it's a matter of paying close attention and developing good habits.
Q) Do you use a power suply with digital readout? If so, what would be your typical power settings for lining, shading and coloring? If you use this type of power unit, I'd appreciate your suggestions about voltage, speed and so on.
A) This is a simple question with a complex answer. I have used a variety of power supplies through the years, including a few with digital readouts such as the Eikon power supply and the all-digital unit being marketed by Critical. These are both good solid pieces of equipment that have proven themselves in our studio, but I have gone back to my old fashioned non-digital unit simply because it has settings for 3 different machines, which is my usual way of working. Honestly, I never looked at the readout- since beginning my apprenticeship I was always told to feel the armature nipple to see how it would hit the skin, and adjust the power accordingly. Learning to do it this way will teach you to trust your intuition rather than a digital readout, which can sometimes give you misleading information. Even if I were checking the readout to see what my power is, I would still insist on feeling the armature nipple before hitting the skin, just to make sure. When in doubt, I always start with too little power, work for a few seconds, wipe to see how my saturation is going, then add power accordingly. This is better than accidentally using too much.
If you are still curious to know about power levels, I can give you some rough figures. This will of course vary from person to person, depending on how their machines are set up, how many needles in their shader, how thick their pigments are, etc. In general, it's a better measure of performance to read the strokes per second (Hertz, or hz) than to measure power alone.
Fast Liner- 130-160hz
Shading liner- 115-135hz
Shader- 100-120hz
Q) I would like to talk to someone about becoming a tattoo artist. How would I go about doing it? How did you get started?
A) That's a big question. Where to begin? First, what is your artistic experience? and I mean real experience, spending long hours making your art. Without some kind of artistic experience, there's not much you can do. The next suggestion I'd have is to gather together your best art examples into a portfolio, then spend a few days or weeks drawing sheets of tattoo designs. The purpose of this exercise is to show yourself and any potential employers how you would handle the kind of basic tattoo requests that come in a shop on a day-to-day-basis (hearts, birds, crosses, flowers...) but in your own artistic style. This is also a demonstration to any potential employers about your willingness to do the homework. Next, you need to shop around. Try local shops first, since relocation is a big deal. It's a competitive market, so be prepared for resistance. This step can be frustrating and takes some persistence. What you really want is a shop owner that recognizes your potential and teaches you for the purpose of having you as an employee. An employment situation like this is the most likely to get you taught the quickest, since they would have nothing to gain by holding anything back. Many apprenticeships are frauds, where you are charged $5000+ for the honor of scrubbing toilets for six months, and your signature on a contract promising that you won't tattoo in a 500 mile radius for the next 20 years or some crap like that. Avoid these situations like the plague. If you have trouble finding any good prospects, try attending a few tattoo conventions, go to some seminars, watch artists work, and introduce yourself to as many people as possible. Join some tattoo forums online, make an attractive web portfolio for yourself and network in any way you can. Show your portfolio relentlessly, ask for feedback and express a willingness to relocate. In the meantime, continue drawing on a daily basis any subjects that you find interesting and tattooable. Let your style evolve; get feedback whenever you can. This gives you a big head start when you finally do get the chance to sit down with an actual client and work on their skin. Last but not least, don't get discouraged and avoid trying to start out with a beginner's tattoo kit and no guidance. You will learn more in a long search for the right teachers than you will hacking away at people in your kitchen. It is easy to learn the wrong things early on and to carry these bits of misinformation as burdens for your entire career. If you have any real potential and you are sincere, you will find an opportunity to learn the right way.
Q) I wondered if you have any good idea how to handle the skin on those more sensitive areas, i.e. the inside of the elbow joint/lower arm, the shoulder just above the crease of the armpit, the back of the neck/uppermost spine area?
A) These kind of areas can be especially tricky in tattoos that span over several skin types, where part of the piece is on tough skin and part is on delicate skin. The thing to do in a case like this is to outline the whole piece, making sure to turn down the machine when working the sensitive zones, and then work the piece to completion or almost-completion in sections, starting with the tender area (just to get it over with). You'll want to keep your machines running as lightly as possible in these areas. Since the skin is thinner and softer, it takes less power to put in the color. It's also easy to scar these areas of blow out lines and edges. Start with your machine running way too slow, and add power gradually until it's putting the color in. This way, there's no risk of pounding the skin too hard. Work with the machines in smooth, even overlapping ovals, since smooth motions are easier on the skin and less irritating for the client. This is way too little power to use in the other, tougher areas of skin. That's why you want to work these areas separately, since the right amount of power for the tougher parts will be too much for the tender areas, and vice-versa. More so than with other types of skin, you need to be sure not to enter the skin at too great an angle with your needles. The angle between the skin and the tube should be a minimum of forty-five degrees. Any less, and you risk slicing this delicate skin. Be sure to use a light layer of petroleum jelly on the area you're about to work, which makes it easier to clean up excess pigment without having to scrub the skin, which can get quite irritating later in the session. When the sensitive areas are finished and you're working near them in tougher zones, keep plenty of petroleum jelly on the finished area to protect it from stray gobs of pigment, which would later have to be painfully scrubbed off. You can even cover it with a paper towel while you're working nearby, eliminating the need to clean it almost entirely.
Q) I know this has nothing to do with education, but I'm curious. I've heard your name pronounced ten different ways... what's the right way?
A) It's a long A, like when you pronounce the name of the letter H. It gets spelled a zillion different ways too... the most common ways are Atchison, Atchinson, Atkinson, Acherson, Ackerson, Atchesen, Achison and Acherson. But please feel free to pronounce it any way you want.