Inspired by the traditional tattoos of the Maori and Polynesian peoples, tribal tattoos originally wove together important symbols members could reference to show their rank within their communities. Today, tribal styles pay tribute to this style, creating a link between the past and present.
When it comes to drawing your own tribal designs, you can create a unique piece of art for your client by following the natural lines of their body. This requires drawing directly onto the skin.
To make sure you’re incorporating the flow of the body correctly, you need to build up your design in a few different layers.
That’s why, in this article, we’ll be breaking down:
How to Draw for a Tribal Tattoo
Each “layer” of your design will be darker as you go along. While you can use any colors, you will need a light, medium, and dark color. In the video, Brandon uses yellow, red, and blue.
Note:
Never reuse Sharpies. After drawing on someone’s skin, you must throw the Sharpie away to avoid cross contamination.
Layer 1: Yellow Marker
Flow is very important for tribal tattoo designs. If your design does not flow with the muscles of the client’s body, it will look like it sits weird on your client’s skin. A tattoo that flows with the muscles will look like it belongs on the person.
To make sure you’re incorporating flow, take your lightest marker and draw out all your motion lines on the client. To do this, simply draw a few lines that follow the natural “S-shape” of the body.
You can then map out areas to figure out how the design will look on the arm without going in with a heavier color yet.
Note:
You should have a few years of experience before trying to draw a tattoo design directly onto your client. Following a line that is a lot thicker than your usual stencil is very difficult, especially if you’re not sure exactly where your needles are in relation to your machine.
Layer 2: Red Marker
With your red marker, you can go through with looser line work and figure out where everything is going while also making your design still flows with the body.
Pro Tip:
Many tribal tattoos will wrap all the way around the client’s arm or leg. If you know that part of the design will get rubbed off - like if they need to rest their forearm against the massage table - then you would wait until later to draw that part on the skin. However, it’s important you have a plan for what is going to fill that space.
Layer 3: Blue Marker
With your dark Sharpie, you’ll go through and create your final design. You don’t want super thick lines, and it’s important that all your lines are nice and crisp so you can see what you’re doing (like you would with a tattoo stencil).
At this point, you’ll have your client check it out, just like you would after applying a stencil to the skin.Tribal Tattoo Tutorial
Follow Sharpie Lines
Sharpie lines are much thicker than normal stencil lines, which makes them harder to follow. To avoid any wobbles in your lines, focus on following the inside or outside of the Sharpie line.
This will make it easier to be aware of where all your lines are so they can all come to a perfect point.
Pro Tip:
You can wipe away some of the Sharpie before tattooing a line. This will make sure the mark of the Sharpie isn’t so powerful, which makes it easier to see your line work.
Note:
If you use a Sharpie to draw directly onto someone’s skin, always throw the Sharpie away after the tattoo. Reusing Sharpies on different clients can result in cross contamination.
Use a Thick Liner
When you’re tattooing tribal, you’ll want to go with a thicker liner. That way, when you go back and fill in the design, you don’t have to worry about tattooing all the way up to a very thin line. This will make the job of filling in the tattoo faster and more efficient.
In the video, Brandon is using a 10 hollow liner for his line work.
Whip Out Long Lines (2-Step Lines)
Tribal tattoos usually have a lot of long lines in their designs. Because of this, you’ll want to get comfortable being able to pull long lines.
If you’re not comfortable with long lines yet, you can pick up the needle mid-line by whipping the needle out, moving back along the line a bit, and then joining that line with the next one. This will make your lines look seamless and consistent.
If you try to tattoo a long line and it’s not comfortable, you’ll start to shake toward the end of the line. So it’s best to break it up - pick up your rmachine and continue the line in a second motion.Fill in the Tattoo From the Corner
To fill your tattoo with solid black, we recommend hanging out your needles a bit so you can see exactly where you’re tattooing. Because you need the fill to go perfectly up against your line work, we recommend starting with the corners and edges of the tattoo and working your way in.
This can make it easier to stay inside your line work and know where you’ve already tattooed. If you go over the same section too many times, the area will be overworked and have a hard time healing.
Because you’re packing ink into the tattoo, you’ll want to use your mag to create tiny circles.
If the circles are too big, then there are going to be areas in the middle of your circles that aren’t completely saturated. This will cause the tattoo to look super light and patchy when it’s healed. We recommend slowing down your hand speed and lowering your voltage, if needed, until you get the feel of creating those tight circles.
In the video, Brandon uses a 15 curved mag to fill the tattoo.
Note:
You don’t want to go back over a section of skin multiple times because you can damage the skin.
Pro Tip:
Hold your machine at an angle. This will help make sure the area is completely saturated. Because the ink is being put into the skin at an angle, it will cover more space as the ink deposits “overlap” one another.
A lot of new tattoo artists will find that there is a small gap between their line work and their shading. This is because they are looking at where the outside of the cartridge is, and not where the needle is.
When you hit the right depth in the skin, you will feel a slight vibration in your hand. Tattooing at the right depth will make sure you’re not causing extra damage or blowouts.
To get rid of this space, you need to make sure the needle is reaching all the way up to your line work.
Watch Your Client
Tattooing tribal can be pretty repetitive, especially when you’re filling in large areas.
On larger tattoos, it can take hours, and the body can only take so much. This is why you need to be aware of your client’s pain level and have a plan if they tap out. (This could mean working in sections, making sure all the line work is done first, etc.)Become a Tattoo Artist With the Artist Accelerator Program
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