This site is no substitute for a formal apprenticeship
This site is no substitute for a formal apprenticeshipThis site is not a substitute for a professional apprenticeship with a licensed tattoo studio. Nor is this site a definitive source for learning the art or trade of tattooing. An apprenticeship is the ONLY universally accepted way to learn proper safety practices and sound technique.
While we welcome members of all levels, we STRONGLY advocate staying away from skin until you've received formal training from someone who works in the field. Hell, even hair stylists must complete over a year of courses, pass a state health board exam, and apprentice under a professional studio before earning a chair.
The trade of tattooing has a rich history and traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. If you respect the art, please show your respects by learning the right way.
Shading Techniques |
 Oct 26 2009, 02:26 AM
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#1
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When doing a massive amount of shading on a tattoo what's the best way to approach it so you don't overwork the skin? What is the best way to go from dark to light to form the smooth gradient that I see on a lot of professional tattoos? I done my leg last night and I am waiting until it is healed to post a pic as it's quite red at the moment, I'm just worried if I overworked the skin or not... It's not bleeding or anything anymore, just tender but it is a fairly big piece (well, for me).
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Oct 26 2009, 03:01 AM
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#2
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QUOTE (UNICRON @ Oct 26 2009, 02:26 AM)  When doing a massive amount of shading on a tattoo what's the best way to approach it so you don't overwork the skin? What is the best way to go from dark to light to form the smooth gradient that I see on a lot of professional tattoos? I done my leg last night and I am waiting until it is healed to post a pic as it's quite red at the moment, I'm just worried if I overworked the skin or not... It's not bleeding or anything anymore, just tender but it is a fairly big piece (well, for me). buy a few joshua carlton dvd's or similar. if you pm me your address i will send you some dvd's. these are only a guide as everyone has a different technique but they will help |
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Oct 26 2009, 03:09 AM
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#3
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QUOTE (UNICRON @ Oct 26 2009, 10:26 AM) When doing a massive amount of shading on a tattoo what's the best way to approach it so you don't overwork the skin? What is the best way to go from dark to light to form the smooth gradient that I see on a lot of professional tattoos? I done my leg last night and I am waiting until it is healed to post a pic as it's quite red at the moment, I'm just worried if I overworked the skin or not... It's not bleeding or anything anymore, just tender but it is a fairly big piece (well, for me). joshua carlton's dvds are good, and his book advanced tattooing techniques are helpfull aswell - it focuses on portraits so gives advice on tuning up a shader for smooth gradients. But use the search function there are alot of older useful posts regarding shading technique, what grouping are you using, mags tend to be easier to get smoother gradients than rounds, and get ur machine to hit softer than ur colour packer but about as fast as ur liner u'll be able to get 2 or 3 passes (but this will depend on other factors as well, ie. hand speed). |
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Oct 26 2009, 03:26 AM
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#4
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yeah overworking is hard to determine - this was my only problem using pig skins - i could get a design looking good - but then hadnt a clue if it was gonna heal fine - so going off what i learned on skin and applying it to my own skin it looked good - then the scabs then the overworked mess lol
-------------------- Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian
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Oct 26 2009, 04:05 AM
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#5
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I was using my colour packer but with the contact screw gap closed a bit more so it ran faster. I was using a 7 mag for the whole piece but it's hard to tell when you've done enough passes to smooth out the grey if you know what I mean... For instance, I would run the needles over a dark patch like I would as if I was filling (but a bit quicker) and then I put the needle in again and drag and flick the needle outwards from the darkest bit to fade it out, but it seemed like I had to this a few times to make it work. So ink-sink, are you saying your practices on pig skin didn't work on your skin? It just seems so hard to get an even layer of grey without having dark spots here and there you know what I mean? I will look at those Joshua Carlton DVD's though, sounds promising! I heard another guy on here who bought these DVD's and went straight for it and his results look amazing for a rookie!
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Oct 26 2009, 04:25 AM
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#6
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well - it worked on pigskin - using a light greywash and flicking out - going over the same bit over to create darker tones. but when doing it on real skin - i guess i made too many passes and overworked the area cos it scabbed up quite badly - the scabs cracked and bled and the ink fell out in places - this would be a major problem - filling those gaps back in - especially on something like realism work - you could start out with a darker grey wash then you wouldnt need so many passes and then use the lighter to fade it out more i guess - greywashing - black and grey tattoos are something i really need to get to grips with too theyre becoming ever more popular but i just cant get the shading down and the use of different tones to fuse together and blend well - this is where i find i really need to get that aprenticeship secured - so i can observe and ask questions on it
-------------------- Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian
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Oct 26 2009, 08:07 AM
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#7
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That was what I was thinking, use a darker greywash to start with! I was using Kuro Sumi ink only which a lot of people swear by... The other problem with shading big areas is being consistant with a shade. With a pencil, if you go to dark by accident you can erase and try again, with a tattoo you can't! How do you go about getting an even coat of grey without going too dark? Imagine it if you will like doing solid fill, you want it all to be the same colour and tone etc... with a black ink, How do you achieve this with lighter colours like a pre-mixed grey? Would you go over the whole area once as a base layer and then add more layers of a darker shade on top of this in places to get the fade effect? God it's confusing!
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Oct 26 2009, 08:41 AM
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#8
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I always forget about this gem too! http://mariodelgado.com/tutorials/gray-wash-tutorial/ The 14RS is something I should really get to grips with as I think the results from this tattoo look amazing! I know artistic ability comes into it a lot and I'm ok with a pencil, it's just laying it down on skin! I'll post a picture up soon of my recent one so you can all butcher it!
-------------------- Feed me planets...
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Oct 26 2009, 10:30 AM
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#9
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Technique, control, and practice, I can remember getting so frustrated trying to get smooth gradients, it looked so easy lol. I was used to whip shading black at the time so building up a gradient using multiple values just seemed so un-natural. For me it came down to having a nice soft hitting machine, I had to learn to turn down the volts a bit more than I was accustomed to and train myself to move a lot faster. Speed and consistent hand movements are needed to achieve a nice smooth gradient, if you don't have control of either, your gradients will look choppy or you are going to have to use multiple passes to smooth them out which can lead to overworking. It's a bit like using washes of ink on paper, same concept you’re just doing it the skin with different values of diluted ink. The debate over mags or rounds comes down to what you’re used to using. I can shade just as well with either but I can shade with the mags a lot quicker. So all I can say is I know where your coming from, keep on practicing and pretty soon it will happen without you having to think about it.
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Oct 26 2009, 10:53 AM
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#10
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i know its no learning tool and you cant pick out up from watching it - but i do watch miami/la/london ink
and watching kat do portrait work is like - wow how easy does she make it look lol - in reality you gotta admit she got crazy skill -------------------- Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are good is like expecting the bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian
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Oct 26 2009, 11:34 AM
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#11
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Cheers for the advice, I knew practice will be a big part of it (as with every aspect of tattooing) I just wanted other peoples opinions and advice etc... on effective shading techniques and whether I am going about it all wrong! Time will tell with my piece on myself, it's still tender but then it's only been 24 hours...
-------------------- Feed me planets...
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Oct 27 2009, 11:42 AM
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#12
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Depending on the size I would use a 15 mag at least less truma, using a fast shader with just a small amount of needle 1 mil. Using a light wash and a rinse cup, my hands movements are pretty fast with type of shader. Sometimes it is really red and irritated but heals nicely(about 4 to 6 days).
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Oct 27 2009, 07:39 PM
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#13
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QUOTE (acordova @ Oct 27 2009, 12:42 PM) Depending on the size I would use a 15 mag at least less truma, using a fast shader with just a small amount of needle 1 mil. Using a light wash and a rinse cup, my hands movements are pretty fast with type of shader. Sometimes it is really red and irritated but heals nicely(about 4 to 6 days). i used to get tons of trauma and sometimes over work the skin. after watching the nikko video i picked up some #8 bugpin needles and the made a world of difference. i really recomend them. thier really not that much difference in price and when you concider what they do thier worth the price. --------------------  |
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Nov 7 2009, 04:50 PM
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#14
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depending on the size of the piece i use anywhere from a 15mag to a 32mag... sometimes whipping help too depending on the look u r trying to get
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