Constructive criticism needed

Tintoyo · 19 May 2021

Hello everyone, I’ve been following for a while and finally have the guts to post and ask for help. Obviously english is not my first language, so please be forgiving.
I’ve started as a PMU apprentice, but tattoos are what I love. I took all mu savings and bought Chayenne unlimited, some Kwadron needles and Reelskin seconds. It was couple of months ago, and I’ve been practicing whenever I can. YouTube was very helpful as I really don’t have anyone to ask about tattooing around here.
So here are some recent stuff. For Poseidon I didn’t have the stencil paper yet so I was kind of tattooing on the go, therefore the proportions are a little off but I’m interested in technique ( I used 1rl, it’s cca 6x8 cm). The rest is all about lining, mostly 3rl. Please advise how to improve and where to turn next.
Used:
Reelskin seconds
Chayenne unlimited
Kwadron 3rl and 8rs
Vertix 3rl and 1rl
Dynamic black

gadsden1776 · 19 May 2021

I think your off to a great start.

I don't have much to say or point out really. It'll be nice to see what you do on skin.

MalligaMallan · 19 May 2021

Hello Kristina and welcome to the forum! ??? I agree with Gadsden!! Too tired to give any tips tonight. Just want to add - keep up the good work with the single needles! Personally I love them ! ?

DKJ · 19 May 2021

Superb first works!
What you may do next is to put your reel skin on a round object (a bottle for example), to see if your technique stands on a shape which looks more like a real body.

If you're willing to, we can give you tips for your first real skin tattoo.
There's a lot to know and think about, but you already have a great set of drawing skills, and that's a very good point!

Peace,

DKJ

Dazza · 20 May 2021

Looking good so far

Burt · 20 May 2021

Nice work... Can't remember who but someone on here the other day was having problems with stencils staying on fake skin, they need your advice looks like you can't get yours off haha. Liking that spirited away one...

KyleBl4ck · 20 May 2021

Slow down a bit and make sure your lines are connecting end to end. Other than that, good job.

Tintoyo · 20 May 2021

DKJ said:
Superb first works!
What you may do next is to put your reel skin on a round object (a bottle for example), to see if your technique stands on a shape which looks more like a real body.

If you're willing to, we can give you tips for your first real skin tattoo.
There's a lot to know and think about, but you already have a great set of drawing skills, and that's a very good point!

Peace,

DKJ

Thanks, I’ll definitely try the next one on the bottle.
And yes, please, all tips and advices are very much welcome. I’m pretty relaxed when working on reelskin but thinking about doing an actual tattoo still freaks me out a lot, so I would like to practice and prepare myself as much as I can.

Tintoyo · 20 May 2021

KyleBl4ck said:
Slow down a bit and make sure your lines are connecting end to end. Other than that, good job.

True, connecting lines is something I struggle with. I fear I’ll go to far and make a cross instead of connecting point so often I have to go over and reconnect them if that makes sense.
I’ll try to slow down my hand in the future. I know I should synchronize hand and machine speed, this lining was done at 7.2 V, is that too fast for a beginner ? Often I see people warning how machines that are set up too fast can chew up the skin especially with small liners...

Tintoyo · 20 May 2021

Burt said:
Nice work... Can't remember who but someone on here the other day was having problems with stencils staying on fake skin, they need your advice looks like you can't get yours off haha. Liking that spirited away one...

I’ve had the same problem, but then someone suggested me to just leave it dry overnight and it turned out great.

Tintoyo · 20 May 2021

gadsden1776 said:
I think your off to a great start.

I don't have much to say or point out really. It'll be nice to see what you do on skin.

Thank you ? I’m looking forward and fearing the “actual skin” moment.

Tintoyo · 20 May 2021

MalligaMallan said:
Hello Kristina and welcome to the forum! ??? I agree with Gadsden!! Too tired to give any tips tonight. Just want to add - keep up the good work with the single needles! Personally I love them ! ?

Thanks ?

Tintoyo · 20 May 2021

Dazza said:
Looking good so far

Thank you ?

sheyd · 20 May 2021

Very good work so far! Can’t wait to see what you do on skin!

DKJ · 21 May 2021

So... Some tips with a lines tattoo with a 3rl.

First, put your volts down before you start.
You will raise them up to match your hand speed with your machine speed.

Then, be careful with your needle hang. A 3rl doesn't always need a 1.5 mm depht. You can sink solid lines with less depht than with bigger needles (in my experience).
So, be careful to go very smooth (not much needle depht) from the beginning.
i've felt that 3rl are more prone to blowouts.
Better come back with double pass lines than getting a blowout factory.

Stretching is a must, at all times.

If you're afraid of shaking, there are a few tips available:
- hold your machine in a relaxed way,
- do a ghost lining move (do the movement of lining in the air to see how it will go) before lining in the skin,
- before you line, touch the skin with your needle, without penetrating it. You'll have a better ideas of where it stands and will enter the skin, because i'll drop some ink over the skin,
- position yourself and/or your client to get the best move possible, with no obstacle in your way,
- block your respiration when you start to line, and exhale slowly while you're finishing it,
-trust your drawing abilities, you can do it!
if you follow all that, your mind may be more relaxed since you'll have set a good number of rules to suceed.

Don't rush, and if you feel a lining is getting bad/awkward/out of your stencil, just get it off immediatly, stop instead of getting it to be impossible to correct.

Try not to lose your stencil. Make sure (by experimenting on yourself) that you can make solid, holding in time, stencils.

how to make a solid stencil (my way):
-shave the skin (dry or with water+ common soap),
- rub with 70% alcohol. Rub HARD, so there's no grease residue. You won't hurt your client, rub hard!
- apply a thin layer of stencil liquid (one drop should suffice) and wait 10 seconds so it's between wet and dry.
- apply your stencil and push it on the skin from center to borders. Don't move or reposition it or it'll finish dirty.
- let it on the skin 15 seconds and start pulling it off from a border. If it didn't print on the skin, had a little bit of liquid stencil on the missing part and put the stencil back on.
- when stencil paper is off the skin, let it dry for 10 mins minimum.

I you use vaseline or ointment, don't put a lot. The skin must look like a little bit shinier, but not wet or you'll end up in a pool of vaseline and ink.

When you clean your ink after lining, dab and push+turn your tissue on the skin, and get it off right away.
avoid wiping this ink on the sides, or you'll end up with a lot of ink everywhere.

My last but important advice: do a little design, with simple lines and curves.
If you go big and complicated, you won't learn a good lesson.
What you need after this first human skin tattoo, is to see which challenges you're facing.
You'll have all the time needed to reflect on them, so let the list of challenges be short.
If you start with a big one, the list will be awfully long and you won't know which to start with, or end up with no motivation left because you won't be able to identify any of them.
Nothing stops you to do this little one as the first part of a bigger tattoo!

and that's all i can think of right now.

Peace,

DKJ

Tintoyo · 22 May 2021

DKJ said:
So... Some tips with a lines tattoo with a 3rl.

First, put your volts down before you start.
You will raise them up to match your hand speed with your machine speed.

Then, be careful with your needle hang. A 3rl doesn't always need a 1.5 mm depht. You can sink solid lines with less depht than with bigger needles (in my experience).
So, be careful to go very smooth (not much needle depht) from the beginning.
i've felt that 3rl are more prone to blowouts.
Better come back with double pass lines than getting a blowout factory.

Stretching is a must, at all times.

If you're afraid of shaking, there are a few tips available:
- hold your machine in a relaxed way,
- do a ghost lining move (do the movement of lining in the air to see how it will go) before lining in the skin,
- before you line, touch the skin with your needle, without penetrating it. You'll have a better ideas of where it stands and will enter the skin, because i'll drop some ink over the skin,
- position yourself and/or your client to get the best move possible, with no obstacle in your way,
- block your respiration when you start to line, and exhale slowly while you're finishing it,
-trust your drawing abilities, you can do it!
if you follow all that, your mind may be more relaxed since you'll have set a good number of rules to suceed.

Don't rush, and if you feel a lining is getting bad/awkward/out of your stencil, just get it off immediatly, stop instead of getting it to be impossible to correct.

Try not to lose your stencil. Make sure (by experimenting on yourself) that you can make solid, holding in time, stencils.

how to make a solid stencil (my way):
-shave the skin (dry or with water+ common soap),
- rub with 70% alcohol. Rub HARD, so there's no grease residue. You won't hurt your client, rub hard!
- apply a thin layer of stencil liquid (one drop should suffice) and wait 10 seconds so it's between wet and dry.
- apply your stencil and push it on the skin from center to borders. Don't move or reposition it or it'll finish dirty.
- let it on the skin 15 seconds and start pulling it off from a border. If it didn't print on the skin, had a little bit of liquid stencil on the missing part and put the stencil back on.
- when stencil paper is off the skin, let it dry for 10 mins minimum.

I you use vaseline or ointment, don't put a lot. The skin must look like a little bit shinier, but not wet or you'll end up in a pool of vaseline and ink.

When you clean your ink after lining, dab and push+turn your tissue on the skin, and get it off right away.
avoid wiping this ink on the sides, or you'll end up with a lot of ink everywhere.

My last but important advice: do a little design, with simple lines and curves.
If you go big and complicated, you won't learn a good lesson.
What you need after this first human skin tattoo, is to see which challenges you're facing.
You'll have all the time needed to reflect on them, so let the list of challenges be short.
If you start with a big one, the list will be awfully long and you won't know which to start with, or end up with no motivation left because you won't be able to identify any of them.
Nothing stops you to do this little one as the first part of a bigger tattoo!

and that's all i can think of right now.

Peace,

DKJ

Thank you so much ? For a beginner like me the step-by-step instructions are a gold. This goes printed on my wall ?

Constructive criticism needed

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