First portrait on myself

whippet said:

For a first portrait I think you’ve done a stunning job.

Yes, you will improve and get the blends a bit smoother, and the more aware you become of hitting the right tone first time, the less reddening you’ll see, reducing the risk or overworking.

Using 1 and 2 drop dilutions, even in a small cap, will require quite a lot of building up. However, you have the luxury of refining this piece and ‘’topping up’ if the ink lightens too much. You’ll find it much easier working off ink in the skin, rather than relying on a stencil that could be fading before your eyes; it takes some of the pressure off.

I said before, and based on my experience (and some physics), you will get smoother blends with a faster rather a slower running machine BUT with a shorter stroke. This means that your needle punctures are closer together (higher cps) as you move your machine, but the shorter stroke reduces the speed on impact, which (in some way) converts to the force of the puncture.

You can also mitigate the redness by literally brushing the skin multiple times to build tone.

Anyway, as said at the start…congrats, you have a lot to build on here and I look forward to seeing your progress.

Click to expand...

whippet said:

The ink will stay in brushing really lightly, as long as you build up and you can see it. Essentially, when you wipe a tattoo, what you can still see will stick around (on most body parts), even if grey wash becomes lighter.

Yep it’s a learning curve alright, and everyday you find something else you need to master or improve…which is one of the things I love about tattooing.

Although we’re seeing more machines appearing with longer strokes, I think a result in part of the Bishop Wand Liner’s 5mm stroke, there are still a lot of machines shipping with a 3.5mm stroke, not sure what your’s is. Quite a few machines now come with additional cams to allow for some adjustment (Xion offers 3.2 and 3.7 for example). Anyway, you can do a lot with 3.5mm if thats all you have, but I’d personally try and avoid soft shading with the 3.5+ strokes.

I wouldn’t suggest you buy another machine unless you have to. However, on the budget(ish) end of things, the Mast flip (and I think ‘Mast Fold’ now)offers adjustable stroke from 2. Something up to 4mm, and you can change with a simple twist mid tattoo…same as the more expensive Valhalla.

Have you approached any studios in your area or do you have connections? You certainly look like you have the skills to make this work.

Click to expand...

whippet said:

My story is that I started tattooing in 1984, self taught with literally no available resources to learn from. I reached a standard that meant I was getting regular customers (summer at least) and I never really pushed my level beyond that. I did pretty much all trad work and greywash wasn’t much known about, let alone B&G style. I worked from home and even mobile, and did so many things really badly and wrong…I shudder thinking about how much of a textbook scratcher I was. I did this over 12 years.

I took a route into art and design and design education and that was a full 20 years completely away from tattooing.

I came back to tattooing around 2016 and I really had to learn everything again, and so much more. My confidence and sense of responsibility as an older person was a major problem too. I genuinely practised on pig and fake skin for a full year before tattooing real flesh. I also set up a legit home studio and registered with my environmental health. I did a ‘couple of days’ course as a refresher, and that helped me move into B&G, which I’d never done before. My art and design education really helped Though.

My home studio was ok but was really slow, as I wouldn’t let ‘anyone’ into the family home. I persevered slowly and kept practising, almost daily ( I stil practise now). I also watched hundreds (maybe close to 1000) youtube videos, watching then trying stuff out.

The pandemic stopped any chance of tattooing people so I left it for a while then came back post covid and concentrated on putting together a portfolio to hawk around shops. I got one start pre-Christmas but the shop was not busy and maybe there were some other issues. So I kept my eyes open and an ad came up in a very reputable shop in my town and I took my stuff down.


If I’m honest, my flesh portfolio was slim, although I believe I had a handful of strong (pro level) pieces. They seemed really impressed with a lot of my fake pieces too and (I think) they saw some potential. I started there in January and while I’m not fully booked, I have a healthy diary and I’m alreday getting repeat clients. Based on this month’s earnings (its gone up each month) I’m on course to hit average UK wage this year, plus my percentage is going up soon, giving me a real-terms 20% boost on current earnings.

I know I’m not alone in this, but I’ve definitely put the hours in, I’m confident that has been more than an apprentice would in terms of actual study and practise, but I’ve had no official apprenticeship.

My work is visibly improving day-by-day and quickly. I tattoo on flesh every day I’m in, and most days (like today) 3 pieces, 2 yesterday (6 hours)at least 2 tomorrow (5 hours), full day saturday (7 hours) etc.

I know this is a long read (sorry for boring people) but I hope it shows that you can become a tattooer without a formal apprenticeship, though my caveat would be ‘not without putting the study and practise in’. I don’t believe there’s a short cut to breaking into this profession properly. Not saying you cant get to a kind of paid hobby without too much effort, but then it depends on what you want yourself.

BTW I’m in my mid 50s and I’ve left a ‘comfortable’ career in university education to make this career change a real full-time thing. My only regret is not doing it sooner. I still to this day, get a total buzz out of every tattoo I do.

Click to expand...

whippet said:

In terms of my definition of scratching, I mean in terms that my work practices were not up to sanitary standards, I didn't work in appropriate accommodation, my lining technique was riding the tube, which I now see as inferior and limiting in achieving pro-level work.

People were paying for my work though it was way under shop prices. Looking back, I’m not sure I’d have had customers if I was closer to shop prices. The general standard of work was much lower than it is now, but I was still at the lower end.

BTW the 2-day course I did focussed a lot on coil machine tuning, interesting but not so much use now as I use pen machines, and the B&G element was essentially guidance on a few techniques and mixing grey wash, which I hadn’t done before. I did the vast majority of B&G learning by watching YouTube videos and shed loads of practise on pig and fake skin.

IMO, if you’re motivated and putting the hours in with online material, I’m not sure what a 2-3 day course would provide as a boost, particularly as there’s so much good material readily available (Jono Smith, Tattoo Guy, Ben Fisher, our very own Tattoo 101, maybe some Oliver Ayre etc).

I can understand how getting some feedback on your work might help with your confidence, but it could be money that would help you more in equipment. My thoughts at least.

Click to expand...