First Tattoo ever on fake skin

sallakiki · 30 Mar 2022

Holy crap. This shit certainly is not easy! Attempted my first ever tattoo on fake skin tonight and it was a nightmare. Appreciate tips for things I struggled with:

1. Ink blobs - alot of the time after I had just filled my catridge with ink I ended up with a large ink blob when trying to pull a line. Can I avoid this?

2. Sometimes a line would pull empty, guessing this was because lack of ink although at one point I tested on another line and there was plenty of ink to pull a line there?

3. How the hell do you keep that fake skin clean when working?!

4. Obviously learning depth is going to be a pain in my ass. As you can see from my shit lines here.

So how did I go guys? Is this a shit first attempt or what? I'm only using a cheap mast tour machine while I learn and used a 5rl and 9rl with triple black mast ink which came with my machine.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Image of my attempt is here

https://flic.kr/p/2nbw8WT

whippet · 30 Mar 2022

Setting your starting needle depth, just shy (inside) of the tip, should stop ink blobbing out and give a consistent flow. The amount your needle protrudes when the machine is running will be determined by your stroke length. The machine you have probably has a 3.5mm stroke, so you should see ‘about’ 3.4mm of needle protruding when tattooing.

Of course you do need to dip regularly too.

Spread Vaseline (A&D) on the skin before you pull each line, as you would on skin. Just a bit where you are about to tatoo. You can also use A&D as your cleaning agent…not water. Smear it over and it will literally pick the ink up, then wipe off with a paper towel. A lot of people seem to be using dettol wet wipes too, but I’ve done ok with A&D.

It’s not bad for a first attempt, but if that is a cheap fake skin (not Reelskin or pound of flesh), you’re probably making life harder for yourself. Investing a little in a good quality fake skin is so worth it. Reelskin sell a bag of offcuts by weight and this would be a great place to start.

If you don’t mind a bit more advice, I use something I call the ‘nail test’, as it’s easy to get heavy handed on fake skin, noone to say it’s hurting too much or smack you in the mouth. After I pull a few lines I run the back of my fingernail over the lines. If I feel the click of my nail on the line, I’ve probably sliced the skin or gone too deep (or both). You should, with an appropriate hand speed andprobably slow at the start, achieve full saturation without damaging the skin surface.

If you do use reelskin, you can also evaluate your depth control by looking on the reverse side. Lines that are too deep show up like a sore thumb (obvious).

Don’t be deterred if your ‘first attempt’, or many more, don’t result in the perfect tattoo you saw in your mind. There is no short cut and you have to practise. After a while you’ll see improvements.

Think in percentages rather than perfection. If 20% of your lines were sunk in a single pass and look good this time, aim for 25% next time…and so on.

BTW I’ve seen much more worse first attempts on fake….and some of my early attempts would be included in that.

Big Pete · 30 Mar 2022

I find that Whippet always gives good advice, so please take notice of what he says.
It looks like a pretty good effort for a first attempt, and as they say, Practice makes perfect, The ink Blobbing is probably being caused by the tip of the tube touching the skin, try protruding your needle out from the tip a little more so the tube doesn't touch the skin, Riding the tube (when the tip of the tube touches the skin) gives you good depth control but causes the ink to spread over the skin.
Also just call me old school, but I am old fashioned and think that when starting to learn, you should start with a coil machine as it's probably the hardest machine to master....if you can tattoo with a coil machine, you can then use any other style machine with confidence.

sallakiki · 31 Mar 2022

Thanks so much whippet. You're a big help here. I'll definitely look into the reelskin and try out your nail trick. I'm here to learn so absolutely love any tips and advice. I'm on a big tattoo love journey and will continue practising for as long as it takes to have some clean looking tatts

whippet said:
Setting your starting needle depth, just shy (inside) of the tip, should stop ink blobbing out and give a consistent flow. The amount your needle protrudes when the machine is running will be determined by your stroke length. The machine you have probably has a 3.5mm stroke, so you should see ‘about’ 3.4mm of needle protruding when tattooing.

Of course you do need to dip regularly too.

Spread Vaseline (A&D) on the skin before you pull each line, as you would on skin. Just a bit where you are about to tatoo. You can also use A&D as your cleaning agent…not water. Smear it over and it will literally pick the ink up, then wipe off with a paper towel. A lot of people seem to be using dettol wet wipes too, but I’ve done ok with A&D.

It’s not bad for a first attempt, but if that is a cheap fake skin (not Reelskin or pound of flesh), you’re probably making life harder for yourself. Investing a little in a good quality fake skin is so worth it. Reelskin sell a bag of offcuts by weight and this would be a great place to start.

If you don’t mind a bit more advice, I use something I call the ‘nail test’, as it’s easy to get heavy handed on fake skin, noone to say it’s hurting too much or smack you in the mouth. After I pull a few lines I run the back of my fingernail over the lines. If I feel the click of my nail on the line, I’ve probably sliced the skin or gone too deep (or both). You should, with an appropriate hand speed andprobably slow at the start, achieve full saturation without damaging the skin surface.

If you do use reelskin, you can also evaluate your depth control by looking on the reverse side. Lines that are too deep show up like a sore thumb (obvious).

Don’t be deterred if your ‘first attempt’, or many more, don’t result in the perfect tattoo you saw in your mind. There is no short cut and you have to practise. After a while you’ll see improvements.

Think in percentages rather than perfection. If 20% of your lines were sunk in a single pass and look good this time, aim for 25% next time…and so on.

BTW I’ve seen much more worse first attempts on fake….and some of my early attempts would be included in that.

sallakiki · 31 Mar 2022

Big Pete said:
I find that Whippet always gives good advice, so please take notice of what he says.
It looks like a pretty good effort for a first attempt, and as they say, Practice makes perfect, The ink Blobbing is probably being caused by the tip of the tube touching the skin, try protruding your needle out from the tip a little more so the tube doesn't touch the skin, Riding the tube (when the tip of the tube touches the skin) gives you good depth control but causes the ink to spread over the skin.
Also just call me old school, but I am old fashioned and think that when starting to learn, you should start with a coil machine as it's probably the hardest machine to master....if you can tattoo with a coil machine, you can then use any other style machine with confidence.

Thanks Pete. I didn't realise coil machines were harder to use but you're right. A bit like learning to drive a manual sets you up well for using that and autos. I'll have a look into these

Big Pete · 31 Mar 2022

sallakiki said:
Thanks Pete. I didn't realise coil machines were harder to use but you're right. A bit like learning to drive a manual sets you up well for using that and autos. I'll have a look into these

Yeah....Pen machines are basically plug and play, Coil machines need a bit of fiddling with and adjusting to get it working correctly.

First Tattoo ever on fake skin

sallakiki

whippet

Big Pete

sallakiki

sallakiki

Big Pete

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