My Tattoos working as an Apprentice

John.D.Escu · 17 Feb 2022

Hei guys,

I will be posting the work I am doing as an Apprentice, here in this thread.
This one is the second I did on human skin and I am looking forward to improve and get better at this.
I only used a stencil for the lines, and did the shading free hand.
Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Stencil:

Lining:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

Cyberthrasher · 17 Feb 2022

I'm sure it's fine, but you should make sure you get nice closeup photos of your work too. Not only great for sharing here, but also for you to look back on and analyze your work.

John.D.Escu · 17 Feb 2022

Cyberthrasher said:
I'm sure it's fine, but you should make sure you get nice closeup photos of your work too. Not only great for sharing here, but also for you to look back on and analyze your work.

Will do so in the future!
Thanks

Big Pete · 17 Feb 2022

At first glance it looked pretty good to me, but then something about it was worrying me.....technically I think it is well done, lines and shading are good, but the teeth and stuffing coming out of the stomach seem to be a bit flat and maybe need more shading to make it look more 3D, just my thoughts.

John.D.Escu · 21 Feb 2022

Big Pete said:
At first glance it looked pretty good to me, but then something about it was worrying me.....technically I think it is well done, lines and shading are good, but the teeth and stuffing coming out of the stomach seem to be a bit flat and maybe need more shading to make it look more 3D, just my thoughts.

Hello,

Thank you for the comment!

I left the teeth und stuffing with less shading to have more contrast and not just shade everything. Its a design choice and I`m still figuring things out

John.D.Escu · 21 Feb 2022

My third tattoo!

I designed this for my work collague, who is a mega gamer and loves Play Station.
She is an amazing tattooist, and you can check out her work here: Login • Instagram

Design:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 7 Mar 2022

Tattoo Number 4, on human skin.

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 7 Mar 2022

A cool heart trap tattoo I did a few days ago:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 7 Mar 2022

No Face Spirit tattoo from today:

Applied Stencil:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

Cyberthrasher · 7 Mar 2022

Looks like you might have had some light spots next to your outline on that one. Be sure you're sinking that mag in right on the line when possible instead of trying to butt up against it. If you can't get a mag in there or it's just not working, give a quick pass around the inside edge with a round shader to tighten it up.

John.D.Escu · 7 Mar 2022

Cyberthrasher said:
Looks like you might have had some light spots next to your outline on that one. Be sure you're sinking that mag in right on the line when possible instead of trying to butt up against it. If you can't get a mag in there or it's just not working, give a quick pass around the inside edge with a round shader to tighten it up.

Thanks for the info! Will focus on that on the next project

John.D.Escu · 14 Mar 2022

New tattoo:

Applied stencil:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 21 Mar 2022

A new Tattoo of Stitch i did.

Finished Tattoo:

Timelapse Video:

soulstare22 · 22 Mar 2022

the first one is insane for a 2nd tattoo

John.D.Escu · 22 Mar 2022

soulstare22 said:
the first one is insane for a 2nd tattoo

Thank you.

I can now see things where I could have worked better, on all of these.
The grind continues.

John.D.Escu · 22 Mar 2022

Some new work:

Finished Tattoo:

Youtube Timelapse Video:

John.D.Escu · 23 Mar 2022

A tattoo of Tendo Pain, from Naruto:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 24 Mar 2022

Small Aquarius Tattoo I did:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

whippet · 24 Mar 2022

That’s pretty neat lettering and not as easy as it looks…good job!

John.D.Escu · 25 Mar 2022

whippet said:
That’s pretty neat lettering and not as easy as it looks…good job!

Thank you,

It was actually really hard to do, but I enjoy doing lettering and want to do more of this style

John.D.Escu · 25 Mar 2022

A new really small tattoo I did:

Finished Tattoo:

John.D.Escu · 28 Mar 2022

My first attempt at Realism stuff.

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

whippet · 28 Mar 2022

I think your apprenticeship is over

John.D.Escu · 28 Mar 2022

whippet said:
I think your apprenticeship is over

Haha, thank you!
I barely started in February.
I`m aiming for realism, and portraits, so I will be a apprentice for a while now

John.D.Escu · 29 Mar 2022

A small and cool tattoo of a drawing i did:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 30 Mar 2022

I did the largest and most complex Tattoo i had to do so far. This was a real challenge, because of the time it took to make (5h) and also the placement.

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

wrighty · 30 Mar 2022

Your smashing it mate ! Really good stuff . Quality !

whippet · 30 Mar 2022

Just a question….are you charging apprentice rates for your work? You seem busier than some FT artists I know.

BTW good work

John.D.Escu · 30 Mar 2022

wrighty said:
Your smashing it mate ! Really good stuff . Quality !

Thank you! The Grind is real! <3

John.D.Escu · 30 Mar 2022

whippet said:
Just a question….are you charging apprentice rates for your work? You seem busier than some FT artists I know.

BTW good work

Hello,

My rates are set by the owner of the Shop where I work In, three days a week.
I only charged Apprentice rates in February. Now I charge as as Newcomer Tattoo Artist.

John.D.Escu · 5 Apr 2022

Some new lettering work:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 6 Apr 2022

Some more Lettering stuff:

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 7 Apr 2022

Did a small cross on a very strange and hard to tattoo spot.

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

Cyberthrasher · 7 Apr 2022

John.D.Escu said:
Did a small cross on a very strange and hard to tattoo spot.

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

you'll get used to how to hold the ear back with the back of your hand while stretching with your fingers. As it get lower it gets hard because the shoulder is in the way. If you work on the other side, lay the person down on their side and tattoo from above their head so you can still keep their ear on your left (assuming you're right handed).

John.D.Escu · 7 Apr 2022

Cyberthrasher said:
you'll get used to how to hold the ear back with the back of your hand while stretching with your fingers. As it get lower it gets hard because the shoulder is in the way. If you work on the other side, lay the person down on their side and tattoo from above their head so you can still keep their ear on your left (assuming you're right handed).

Thanks!

I will try it in a few weeks.
A client wants to have butterflyes in that spot

Cyberthrasher · 7 Apr 2022

I just posted a ruby I did there, and here's some flowers. Just watch for blowouts and it's really not too bad of a spot because the size of the space limits how much you can even do.

John.D.Escu · 7 Apr 2022

Cyberthrasher said:
I just posted a ruby I did there, and here's some flowers. Just watch for blowouts and it's really not too bad of a spot because the size of the space limits how much you can even do.

View attachment 27676

Will do!
Awesome work!

KyleBl4ck · 10 Apr 2022

Looks good man, I'd work on your tapered lines a bit more. Theyre not bad as is but they do seem a bit blunt on ending and less sharp.

Solid work regardless, keep it up.

John.D.Escu · 12 Apr 2022

Had fun doing these fish just with a magnum

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 13 Apr 2022

Some more lettering type stuff.

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

whippet · 13 Apr 2022

Looks super solid

John.D.Escu · 14 Apr 2022

Some new work, on a really tricky spot.

Finished Tattoo:

Video:

whippet · 14 Apr 2022

Really enjoying looking at your work and great to see definite improvements.

However, I’m left wondering why you post Timelapse videos of your process. It’s difficult for anyone to appreciate much more about your process or abilities with this fast-paced record. I wonder if realtime video of parts of your process might offer more to your audience…what do you think?

Maybe it’s just me thinking this way, but if you’re intending to help others learn through your work, there may be more efficient ways.

Keep up the good work

John.D.Escu · 14 Apr 2022

whippet said:
Really enjoying looking at your work and great to see definite improvements.

However, I’m left wondering why you post Timelapse videos of your process. It’s difficult for anyone to appreciate much more about your process or abilities with this fast-paced record. I wonder if realtime video of parts of your process might offer more to your audience…what do you think?

Maybe it’s just me thinking this way, but if you’re intending to help others learn through your work, there may be more efficient ways.

Keep up the good work

I am thinking of investing in some better recording gear and work more on the videos, to get better angles and slower recording speed, so I can offer more of an education side of it.

That should happen somewhere at the start of next year, because at this point I do not feel like I have any skill level that could educate or help any other starting tattoo artists.

Right now the clients enjoy watching the videos and it is a good way to market my work, as they share them to friends and such.

John.D.Escu · 19 Apr 2022

New light switch tattoo:

Finished:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 21 Apr 2022

Some New Tattoos I did:

Olive Oyl:

Arsenal Cannon:

Video Olive:

John.D.Escu · 25 Apr 2022

Some smaller tattoos I got to do, last week.
I never thought I would get to do 9 Tattoos in one day, but it was a nice challenge!

I did not film all of them, but later this week, videos for two of these tattoos will appear on my YT Channel.

John.D.Escu · 28 Apr 2022

Got to do two awesome friendship Tattoos:

Finished Tattoos:

Video:

John.D.Escu · 4 May 2022

Some new work from me.
The back area is a problematic one for me, as I never find a good position for my hands.
Do you guys have any suggestions on how to have the perfect position? I tattooed the karma while standing.

Tattoos:

Video:

whippet · 4 May 2022

Very nice

My Tattoos working as an Apprentice

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