Stretching Own Skin......No Handed

Hey Y'all. Something has me confuddled. It's common knowledge that stretching the skin helps getting the ink in better and at some point I want to move onto my own skin after some practicing, my arm to be exact. So my question is, how do you stretch the skin on your own arm when you have no free hands to do so?

Cheers.

you don't.

Either get a friend to help, with gloves, or you are pretty well stuck out.

Wat he said. I remember seeing someone tattoo a rosary on their arm on one of these posts or maybe it was from an old site but basically he said he somehow stretched it with his knees. Im all for tattooing urself for practice but why not just do you legs? Its a little easier

I always wondered if duct tape would work

Ooohhh the masterfull and blessed duct tape! The quick fix for just about everything.... I wouldnt doubt it if some one told me duct taoe is the way to go on this! Hehe just say'n

stretching is more than common knowledge it is 1 of the key ingredients to a successful tattoo ive seen many attempts at tattooing own arm of which the majority are unsuccessful

it takes some practice but say you where tattooing from your wrist upwards, you put your arm between your knees and squeeze then lift your arm upwards slowly and this will tighten the skin, it's not ideal but with a bit of practice it works OK, i would ask a friend or the wife for the best results.

Cheers for the replies guys, Very insightful guess the Mrs. will have to get involved.

TexasPT said:

I always wondered if duct tape would work

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Yeah same here Would Tape Work?? It would be great if it did.

TexasPT said:

I always wondered if duct tape would work

Click to expand...

justv remember to shave where sticking duct tape aswell :icon_wink:

well i tattooed my own wrist. the way i did is is to extend my hand as far back as it will go and then i would press against my knee one way or the other. turned out pretty well. as for further down the arm i agree duct tape would do the trick or have a friend do it. just make sure they know not to let that shit slip.

This may sound barbaric and I have never tried it but thought about it but for tattooing your own arm you could use mole grips!

It would represent the old school crocodile grip, cushion the jaws and enclose the entire thing in a plastic bag and hey presto.

There is a welding mole grip available with a wide jaw.

Tape does work. I've done it when trying to figure this out myself for tattooing my fingers. Its basically a creative, whatever you can think of, thing. I tried a rubber band to do my fingers and it didn't pull like what i had in mind. i get why stretch is important because the needle bounces and just doing it gets you deeper by thinning the skin .... Its like putting a canvas on wood, compared to without but, on myself, some places i cant stretch and i use to worry alot about this stuff too.. but then i realized that I AM the tattoo artist!!!! Lol. I own the equipment so i go back over an area that didn't turn out. Thats the worst scenario. Once you get a feel for how thick each layer of skin is, you can go a little deeper in the non stretched area, to get the same depth, too... or try to.
Skin is just weird because sometimes Ill stretch good and think i got good saturation and thats the part I end up needing to go over. Meanwhile, the parts i feel i didn't get good depth or wasnt as consistent, they end up the best... Sometimes not. So, the thing im learning most on this tattoo journey is that you get down basic techniques the best you can, and it mostly works out more constantly then not but even that isnt guaranteed. Healing is deceptive with the healing layers of skin, so best you can ever do is apply what u know, give it a go, and go over it after it heals.

envy6454 said:

Tape does work. I've done it when trying to figure this out myself for tattooing my fingers. Its basically a creative, whatever you can think of, thing. I tried a rubber band to do my fingers and it didn't pull like what i had in mind. i get why stretch is important because the needle bounces and just doing it gets you deeper by thinning the skin .... Its like putting a canvas on wood, compared to without but, on myself, some places i cant stretch and i use to worry alot about this stuff too.. but then i realized that I AM the tattoo artist!!!! Lol. I own the equipment so i go back over an area that didn't turn out. Thats the worst scenario. Once you get a feel for how thick each layer of skin is, you can go a little deeper in the non stretched area, to get the same depth, too... or try to.
Skin is just weird because sometimes Ill stretch good and think i got good saturation and thats the part I end up needing to go over. Meanwhile, the parts i feel i didn't get good depth or wasnt as consistent, they end up the best... Sometimes not. So, the thing im learning most on this tattoo journey is that you get down basic techniques the best you can, and it mostly works out more constantly then not but even that isnt guaranteed. Healing is deceptive with the healing layers of skin, so best you can ever do is apply what u know, give it a go, and go over it after it heals.

Click to expand...

My problem these days is tattoos expanding around many different types of skin.
With the same needle, but with not always the best stretch and not always the same skin type, the lining is not always on the same thickness.
It can look bolder on some places and very thin on others.

I know it's my technique, and i guess i need to gather my experience to find when to pull and when to push my lines, also keeping the same handspeed, and last but not least keeping the same angle, even on curved motions or round surfaces.

Peace,

DKJ

This sounds like a needle depth issue and it’s just a case ok keep practising.

When stretching for lining always try to stretch in the direction the line is going, from tip to tip. If you stretch across the line your line will narrow as the stretched skin returns to it’s natural position. This may sound like a very small difference but it is noticeable.

Angle is also super important and you should only angle in the direction the line is travelling, same as stretching.

If you are lining directly towards your own body (say in a straight line):

Imagine there is a stiff rod a few inches above the line exactly the same shape as the line. If the back of your machine was fixed to this bar you could angle it forward or backward but you could not pull the back of your machine to the side of this fixed bar. That is how your angle to the line should work. As soon as you angle to either side of the bar (left or right), you are thickening the width of your line as you push ink sideways into the skin.

I read the first post of this old thread and the person asking the question did not fully state the importance of the stretch. The stretch is everything when lining and most beginners I’ve seen struggling (including myself) were just not stretching adequately in terms of force or stretching in the wrong direction(s). It’s easy to under estimate how fatiguing stretching can be when you start out, muscles will develop over time. This means that stretch has to be front and centre in your mind from start to finish of a tattoo session, and is equally important in packing and shading, though there can be more variation in stretch here.