#snp tattoos

[poke-source]

another AM hours tattoo, it’s not as good as my others, but it fulfilled the purpose. (done by me, as always)

Submission from @deadinsides; I like it; reminds me of the American Old School Traditional style

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a moon and dagger, just freshly done (by me)! (ft. the bee i submitted about a week ago)

Another awesome submission from @deadinsides! Love the fine point on that dagger tip.

[poke-source]

[My Newest Tattoo]

Who would have thought tattooing the inside of your fingers would hurt?  My mentor decided that since I didn’t think 3RL needles hurt, I needed to experience a 1Liner needle...my dumb ass chose the inside of my finger to test it on (I have plans for the free spaces on the outside of my fingers, and fingers are my favorite place for tiny tattoos).  I wussed out and switched to the 3RL(which still hurt like a sonofabitch on the inside of the finger), so now he gets to laugh at me.  Fucker <3

That said, I got two adorable tattoos out of the experience, so I won’t complain.

But yeah, placement kiddos.  Smaller needles hurt worse than larger groupings, and some areas are just naturally more sensitive than others; but it’s bearable. (I mean hell, my mentor tattooed his own dick for fucks sake...PS please don’t tattoo your own dick, he’s a professional with around a decade of experience under his belt)

[EQUIPMENT] Needles: Pre-sterilized, single use, blister-pack 3Round-Liner and 7Round-Shader Tattoo Needles Ink: Pre-sterilized Kokkai Sumi Misc: Paper Towels, 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, disposable ink cups, Dial Gold Soap Care: Dial Gold Soap, Tattoo Goo

[poke-source]

First time using shader needles for a hand-poking

I used a 9Round-Shader to fill in the black areas; two passes with the needle, could have gotten an opaque black if I did a couple more passes, but I wanted a more weathered look to it, given the post-apocalyptic vibe I was going for.  Definitely a lot faster and more uniform than trying to pack black/color with a lining needle.

I used Kokkai Sumi ink instead of the “Infinitii: Black Outline” that I like; so far I like the Kokkai Sumi, but I don’t have any done with this ink that are fully healed yet, so I can’t give a firm opinion as of yet.

[EQUIPMENT] Needles: Pre-sterilized, single use, blister-pack 5Round-Liner and 9Round-Shader Tattoo Needles Ink: Pre-sterilized Kokkai Sumi Misc: Paper Towels, 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, disposable ink cups, Dial Gold Soap Care: Dial Gold Soap, Tattoo Goo

[poke-source]

All of my hand-poked(stick and poke) tattoos thusfar [March 4, 2017]

All work here was designed/poked by me with pre-sterilized equipment. [EQUIPMENT] Needles: Pre-sterilized, single use, blister-pack 5Round-Liner Tattoo Needles Ink: Pre-sterilized Inflinitii-Black Outline (or “World Famous: Jet Black” but I do not recommend that brand) Misc: Paper Towels, 91% Isopropyl Alcohol, disposable ink cups, Dial Gold Soap Care: Dial Gold Soap, Tattoo Goo(Older stuff healed with clear A&D ointment)

[poke-source]

ONLINE SOURCE FOR STERILE TATTOO EQUIPMENT

POKE SAFELY

Safety is just as important for doing a Stick and Poke tattoo as it is for any tattoo.  As promised, here is a website where you can purchase pre-sterilized tattoo needles, ink, and whatever else you may need.

http://internationaltattoosupply.com/shop/

This is the website I started out buying from.

Ink I’m currently using: http://internationaltattoosupply.com/shop/infinitii-black-outline-2-oz/

My Favorite 5Round Liner needles: http://internationaltattoosupply.com/shop/5-round-liner-tattoo-needles/

Page for extras like disposable ink cups and stencil paper: http://internationaltattoosupply.com/product-category/tattoo-supplies/

[poke-source]

Stick and Poke Stigma

Let’s get this out of the way.

Hand Poking, more commonly referred to as “Stick and Poke”[hereby referred to in this post as “SnP”] has a very bad reputation in the tattoo community (sometimes this is for good reason).  This is due to the stereotype of SnP as the unsanitary practice of young teens in their bedrooms with a sewing needle and ball-point-pen ink; or even in terms of prison tattoos.

It need not be this way.

In this day it is relatively cheap and easy to purchase sterile tattoo equipment online.  Internet vendors[I will make a post about this later] will sell you pre-sterilized, individually wrapped needles, as well as pre-sterilized tattoo ink.  There is no need for this to be a dirty unsafe process.

Furthermore

It is the moral obligation of any professional tattooist to try to convince anyone under 18 not to be tattooed/tattoo themselves.

Another common stigma of SnP is that only young teenagers or kids do it.  While this is certainly untrue (I practice SnP and I didn’t start until I was 19 years of age), it is definitely not uncommon for young people to tattoo themselves.

It is my personal belief that a person should wait until adulthood to be tattooed (as you’re more likely in your youth to get a tattoo you will regret later), however, I am aware that if a person is so truly determined to tattoo theirself, no amount of advice is going to stop them.  Personally, I would rather these kids have the information and tools to do the job safely with sanitary practices.

A little bit of history while we’re at it.

Back to the stigma of SnP being “Unsanitary”.  While I believe that in this day and age, there is no excuse (outside of traditional tribal tattooing) for unsanitary practices, since we have the proper tools and knowledge, it must be acknowledged that “sanitary practice” is a relatively new concept in the world of tattooing.

Tattooing is as old as humanity itself.  Do you think our ancient ancestors had autoclaves and pre-packaged needles?  No.  Our ancestors tattooed themselves with bones and ash and spit.  Tattooing is a very human experience.  To me, it’s beautiful that we can share in the same experience (at least in a way) as our ancient ancestors.  

Let’s talk about something more recent however.  Anyone ever hear of Sailor Jerry?  The Father of Old School American Traditional tattooing?  Well, when he started out, the process was HARDLY sanitary.  The man himself says that “back in the day” they’d reuse needles many times on the hundreds of soldiers that would come through the shop in a day.

Of course we know now that we SHOULD use sanitary practices in tattooing (it’s just as much a medical procedure as it is an art form.  In some countries a doctorate is required to legally tattoo), but it is ridiculous and a denial of our history to act as though tattooing has ALWAYS been a clean and sterile practice.

[poke-source]

Anyone in the Jamestown NY area who wants to learn to safely do stick and pokes hmu