Do you have any tips for people who want to become a tattoo artist but I have no clue where to start with it? Like designing tattoo’s, actually tattooing, getting better at the art side of things? Full on beginner just decided I want to do that job type stuff 😭
yes i will rant a bit stay with me hehe,,, for starters, draw. i mean it. draw every single day. drawing is an skill you can learn, your drawing will always change cause there is always room for growth so if you start drawing now? it will not be the same the next month, neither the next year, nor five years from today, they only thing you have to do to improve your drawing is take your pencil and start learning anatomy, how the body moves and how to sucessfully draw people in dynamic poses that dont look stiff 🧍♀️but instead “ flow” (there is something called “line of action” which i learned in uni which is about the entire drawing being simplified into one big line that summarize the entire movement, you start tracing the line of action first and after that you go building your drawing by layers/different pencil colors) if you’re drawing with pencils you can start your base with yellow, and once you start doing details you move to red and in the end you use black to define the lineart, so you keep it clean and readable.
i feel like i got this covered since i studied animation and they made me draw every day so i recommend the same, have a solid base is important not only for attracting more clients, but it will improve your lines when you tattoo also — unfortunately, the stencil sometimes can be wiped off due to yourself and having to clean ink all the time, so you will need to have an artistic eye to fix those mistakes, ex:
the entire stencil died at the bottom so i had to take an alcohol-based marker, my original drawing and start sketching on her skin — i feel like this is why you should have a solid base, know your drawings, be sure of what you draw,,,,, this comes from learning basic anatomy for artists and practicing a lot, i recommend this site here, i used it a lot, just settle a five minute timer and do it, who the fuck cares if it looks like shit? its your process and you will ALWAYS improve.
also figure drawing classes? are fucking amazing cause you have teachers there to help you.
to start tattooing — invest in a good machine, mine is around 350-400usd cause i bought it thinking that i wanted to really tattoo people with it and not just practice, but it will help you to get better quality art, so far you dont need a cheyenne sol terra or an fk irons since we are not super pro tattooers, but you can get a nice dragonhawk machine with different strokes in a decent prize ab 150-200$, please invest in good needles, a good machine, good ink (i like vice colors, dynamic and radiant colors which work really good) and lastly, fake skin, this will help you start doing lines, understand dotwork and shading, i say quality cause this will affect how your work shows! fake skins under 3mm depth will ruin your process more than help you!
tattooing is an slow process, i’ve been fully commited to it since april, and just now i’m more confident in my own work, i 100% recommend looking for a local artist that do “workshops” of getting into tattoo, they will usually help you with voltage, and how to succesfully conqueer your first skin, as far as “appretienships” go,,,, i hated mine and left since they didnt want to teach me but instead use me to clean all the shop (which may work for some people but it did not for me) so after i got the basics (how to successfully get a line visible in the skin, solid black and dotwork shading) i left on my own, a simple workshop can give you that (literally)
for designing tattoos, if you ever feel dry? search for tattoo styles, for example, traditional tattoos love anchors, ropes, roses, in japanese they have oni’s, yokai’s, geishas, neotrad uses color different, maybe you can try that but giving it your twist, study tattoo currents and make it your own (I MEAN IT), gather references on instagram, follow 849392 of tattooers and take from them what you like (for example, if you like how they shade the flowers? try it. if you like how they did the rope texture? try it with your draws) the sky is the limit 🚬
either way, anything you need help with regarding voltages, needle sizes i use, brands, feel free to hit me up! tattooing is such a gatekeeped profession full of masochists so its always nice to help my fellow queers to make this space a nicer one <3
titsay
vaporwave
dailybridgerton
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
