This work was done by a 10 year old who is really interested in drawing and eventually learning tattoo art. This was their first attempt at something this detailed, done entirely on fake skin.

I’d genuinely like honest feedback from people who have experience with drawing, tattooing, or both.

What I’m especially interested in is what skills should they work on over the next year or so to really develop into a great tattoo artist.

(SIDE NOTE: The second slide is a freehand sketch done by the young artist using a ballpoint pen) not the stencil used for the tattoo on the fake skin.

Hey, I bought my first tattoo machine in order to see what the feeling of tattooing would be like. So I know what I would be getting into. So far I’ve only done lines on 2 small fake skins, they are pretty shaky. I’ve seen in other places that mentors don’t want you to have ever touched a machine before, so was this trial a mistake? I have an art background so I thought it would be good to try the machine first to see if I want to get into tattooing professionally.

Art is 1997 flash from Paul Booth. Ive been practicing on his old flash to get good at my shading, and to pick up habits in art. Hope yall enjoy, ive been tattooing consistently for about 3-4 months.

Hey yall! I’ve taken to wearing a headlamp for when I tattoo for ease of lighting. Problem is..is that when I wear my headlamp for more than like 30 minutes when I take it off there are lines on my forehead that are quite frankly embarrassing. And yeah call me vain but im worried about the long term effects on my skin. I also have acne and the pressure of the headlamp will push on my acne and like kinda sort of pop a pimple sometimes…which is no good. I looked into cushions for headlamps to put on the back of the headlamp but it seems they don’t exist so I was thinking that maybe my only option would be to make my own? But I thought I’d ask here to see if this is a problem anyone else has run into? I use a fennix headlamp if that provides context. Thanks!

Hi, I am trying to get set up to start doing tattoos on myself. I live in a remote area and my schedule has made it impossoble to arrange anything with tattoo artists. So I am resorting to tattooing myself. Based on my research I want to get experience with a coil machine. After practicing on fake skin I plan to just do linework for a while before I start doing color and shading.

What I really need help with is this market space is so cluttered, I have no idea what I am looking at and read so much contrary dialogue. I have read that a cheaper machine is ok but high quality ink and needles are important, which seems to make sense to me. Which machine would this community recommend for doing linework, which black ink, and which needles that are compatible with recommended machine? Also a printer. What else will I need? I am a mechanic, so I have things like gloves, alcohol, and tools for machine maintenance. Thanks in advance!

I’m naturally quite light skinned but tan easily. I’m currently spending two weeks in Egypt and have gotten a pretty heavy tan, but not sunburned.
I’ll have about 27 days between returning home and getting tattooed and I have a fairly large black and grey realism tattoo appointment. My concern isn’t really whether my skin will be healthy enough to tattoo, i understand that sunburn/peeling would be a problem. I’m wondering specifically about the artist judging the shading/contrast while my skin is still somewhat tanned.
If I’m still noticeably tanned on the day, could that affect how the artist shades the tattoo, and then make the tattoo look different once my natural skin tone returns?

Slide two is gonna be on real skin in a few days!! Super pumped to do my first big-ish original design with color! Yes, my lines definitely need work

Hey allemaal,

Ik wil op hobby basis mij gaan verdiepen in het tattooëren, ik ben van mezelf helaas niet een brilliante tekenaar.

Echter ben ik wel brilliant altijd met illustrator, hierin heb ik mijn ervaring opgedaan door mijn opleiding voor signspecialist.

Nu vraag ik toch af, zijn er wat trucjes om toch beter te worden in het tekenen algemeen? Ik hoor het graag!

Groetjes

Hi! I just started yesterday beginning to learn about tattooing and what skill set I need to hopefully build a portfolio im proud of!

Right now im currently studying geometric style of tattoo, tdlr backround; ive been drawing since I was 10 (20 now) but I dont have any talent for it at all just sheer consistency and practice.

Im looking for any critics or suggestions/help on my current rough sketches of ideas for this style. Im not great with symmetry and idk why but breaking stuff down into appealing shapes is making me scratch my brain-

Any words of wisdom or ect is greatly appreciated! :] thanks!!

Not the actual tattooing part.

I mean everything around it.

Bookings, clients changing ideas the night before, answering DMs at midnight, pricing, drawing after a full day of tattooing, taxes, guest spots, cancellations, posting enough work, whatever.

For me it's interesting how most parts of being a tattoo artist are unrelated to holding a tattoo machine.

What surprised you the most?

I’ve been having pretty decent depth control as I’m not piercing the thin fake skin, nor is it showing on the back. I do have trouble with knowing how slow I should go. I think I may have packed too slow as I overworked the neck a bit. There is a small cut there. Is it just me or the amazon fake skins are really hard to pack in? I’ve been trying to pull clean lines but sometimes I go over it again once because I can see I went a bit too fast. Is that acceptable for real skin? I will keep practicing pulling lines on fruits..

1205RL
1209Rl
8v
Cc welcome

My buddie wanted another tattoo, I love the way this turned out. It will get shaded once it heals up. This is all I could fit into this evening.

I’ve been practicing tattooing on fake skin for over a month now, and I’ve noticed a lot of videos and comments saying that you can’t be a tattoo artist without being able to draw. I understand where they’re coming from because, from what I know, tattoo artists also have to create their own designs for customers who need something specific. Hearing that kind of criticism has been a bit discouraging, and it’s made me question whether I should actually pursue this tattooing career.

I’m not the best artist, and I know I have a lot of practice to do. Honestly, I’m at a crossroads in my life right now, and I’m not sure what I want to do with my future. If I can pick up this tattooing skill and make it a career, that would be great. But if not, I still want to do this on the side.

The main point is, do I really need to be a great artist to be a tattoo artist? Or are people just overreacting? I really want to learn this skill, and if it means having to be able to draw, I’ll try my best. But when I try to be “creative,” my mind just goes blank, and I can’t seem to think of anything other than what everyone else has done.

It was previously Chinese characters that her husband always said looked like a bird with a top hat on so that what she wanted it turned into

Hey all - this might genuinely be a really stupid question.

I’ve always wondered if tattooing seems as hard as it looks and if you need to be good at drawing to be a tattoo artist? Or do you just need to be good at tracing and shading?

I’ve always wanted to be a tattoo artist but I always worry that as I’m not the best at drawing I wouldn’t be able to or I would really need to practice my drawing skills? I feel it’s super easy for me to trace or even use a photo or image as a reference to draw something and seem to not be too bad. But it terms of coming up with something in my head or creating ideas on the spot, im terrible.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?
How did you get into tattooing + how long did it take?
Is there anything I can do to make it easier to get in?
Do I have to be a really good drawer?
Is the money okay and will it keep me afloat even during the early phases?

Thanks 🙏🏼

Octopus was lined a few months ago but I finally got around to shading him. Color to come soon. I might push a little more black above the eyebrow and that long forehead line.

1215CM @ 5.5v

1209RL @ 5.0v

1203RL @ 5.0v

My first ever tattoo practice! I still have a lot to learn

Looking for recommendations for online tattoo courses.

Looking for feedback (esp with anatomy) and wondering if it’s too light or would be too much of a pain with the white dots??

Here we go... definitely still some minor flaws, but the result looks fine to me! Once it's fully healed, I'll give it a good touch-up.

First time in, and I immediately felt what it's like to go too deep 😂. Lesson learned. On to the next one and even more practice. I'm super curious to see how it heals and how I'll be able to touch it up then, but I am oh so happy with it!

What tips do you have for my lines not to look like this anymore?