I have never found a good description of this,
I have had a bunch of artists online scream that tattooing isn't like drawing on paper and that it's all sorts of hell.
So I am gonna tell you how it is, exactly how it is.
Now do please take in account I have been drawing since I was as high as my knee. I have a steady hand, but it doesn't change the overall sensation, it just means I can cope with the weight and the cord a but better... apparently.
Vinbration
Like me I'm sure everyone would expect this to be a vibrating media,
like you will have to correct for a constant movement in your media.
But this is not true, this is probably the only issue I had while tattooing.
Your machine is not really moving all that much, it kinda feels like pushing the back of a electric toothbrush against your skin.
Your needle, how ever, is vibrating. You can try a tighter elastic, but still it won't hit the same place twice. You can't compensate for this in anyway, because the machine isn't moving enough for you to read the movement. This is why bigger needles are more forgiving.
Learn to live with it
I just had to accept the fact that making a good clean line with a tiny needle was gonna take practice. I decided to stop trying to fight it after 2 lines and practice needle depth and how to hold the machine in a way that made me feel comfortable.
Smooth
After about 15 minutes I found a good way to holding the machine while at the same time supporting it. After that it took a few minutes for my body to somehow adjust to the vibration by itself.
Now I ain't sure if that would work for everyone as I have been drawing on a high level for a long time switching between media's all over the place,
Somehow somewhere my brain apparently has some sort of stabilizing software installed that kicked in as soon as I started actually drawing rater then questioning things.
Other, just hell annoying, things.
I can imagine a lot of people having an awesome fight with the power cord! Hell you just wait until you have plastic around it it gets worse.
My teacher stuck it on right away because he had the hardest time r-adjusting to it when the laws changed and he was forced to use them.
Now another thing is the power supply, don't be scared to try it.
Put the volts a bit higher and lower. I was scared at first to, and I ended up having half arsed lines because I was moving to fast and the needle didn't hit the skin fast enough. The higher you set it the more hits you will get per second, but if you move to slow you cut up skin if it's set to fast. You can adjust it anytime you want so why not fiddle with that dial a bit.
Last but not least is the weight,
I think this will bother most people more then the constant vibration.
If you aren't used to drawing for 10 hours straight I can imagine the combination of the weight and the vibrations is gonna give you a cramp beyond all reason. Not only that, I think a lot of people will be fighting a double fight for control because that weight is gonna trow your hand balance off even more.
So is it nothing like drawing on paper?
Hell it actually is like drawing on paper,
but it's like drawing on paper with a very temperamental, overweight fine-liner that is stuck to the wall with a rater hefty piece of rope.
And with temperamental I mean, if it was a horse it would try to trow you off.. if it was a car it would try to kill you in every corner.
But you can certainly learn, and by the looks of it the hardest things will come to you by nature if you are used to drawing. If you are not, start drawing a whole hell lot in the few weeks before you try just to make it easier on yourself, maybe strap a hammer to your pen just to train yourself to work with the weight.
I hope this gave some aspiring tattoo artist and curious people some information I wasn't able to find. You may always ask if you have questions :3
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