Wednesday, May 27, 2009

How toTattoo Practice Skins


Hey all! The other day I got the the opportunity to do my first tattoo! It was on an artificial practice skin, but either way, it was awesome. Another notch on the belt towards becoming a Tattoo Artist.

My teacher, tattoo artist Jason Dunn picked out a Peony Flower from his Flash Book and told me to get it ready to go. I put the stencil on the practice skin, and Jason walked me through proper Tattoo Machine set up. He explained to me proper needle depth, how hard to run the tattoo machines, how to hold them, etc...I also checked out a DVD by Dean Deakyne called, "Introduction To Skins". It was a really good instructional video on professional techniques. He works with Mom's Tattoo Skins.

I feel like I learned a ton about how to put a clean line in the skin, as well as proper color blending. I had a blast laying down the ink . Of course it is probably nothing like the real thing, but I highly recommend you new bees like me to try it out.

Here we have a picture of what I was able to do so far. Let me know what you guy's think. I can't wait to finish it and get on to another one.

Here are a few tips that I have learned about tattooing these practice skins for other apprentices out there:

1. Make sure that the skin is very lubed up with ointment so that the ink will not stick to it too much.

2. Use alchohal and green soap or "stencil stuff" to make sure the pattern will stick properly.

3. Remember, that black will not be as dark on these practice skins as it will be on a real tattoo.

4. Always keep your machine straight to achive the perfect line. Holding the machine on an angle will only cause it to blur or be too light.

5. Another good way to practice is to tape the skin to a roll of paper towels to simulate an arm or leg.



Mikey Bonez

1 comment:

  1. Hey Mikey

    hows it going? you still doing the apprenticeship? hope we get a update soon mate

    James

    ReplyDelete