Ink Trails Tattoo Forum: Snakeflower - Ink Trails Tattoo Forum

Only my second on real skin, i've been on the pig for almost 2 years now but i dont get to practice often as i work full time running own business so when work is over and im home work continues!
Flower and snake from angelique houtkamp
I will point out what i see and let you do the rest.
Lost stencil around the top half, and part of snakes neck got missed out will put it in when i see him again.
Ok about the line weight incosistencies, him being jumpy+me being nervous/bit shakey=wobbles, so i tried to get rid of them by sculpting the worst , bad move, lesson learnt.
When i fix it in thinking about using a 7rl, as i used a 5rl this time.
Im nervous of what you guys will say but I need to hear it to learn. Pic is taken after a week.
Thanks for looking.

This post has been edited by jade86: 01 November 2009 - 07:00 AM

arggggh i cant get the pics to work

www.photobucket.com ... make an account ... upload your photo ... copy the direct lin then when making a post clikc the insert picture button and pase the link thier ...

Here's your picture dudes....

if u gunna hit skin at this level remember the golden rule:

MAKE SURE ITS YOUR OWN SKIN

by the looks of it your machine is set up wrong..running too slow for your fast hand.. inconsistent line depth/weight , blow outs ( from going too deep/ in at an angle / hovering in one spot), it almost looks carved the ink into the skin... also u didnt shave the area properly( by the looks of it).

Once you have learnt to tune your machines properly a few hours inking your thighs will give you a better grasp of what you need to know.



lastly, and this applies to all newbies/self learners including me.. forget about hitting skin for now( seriously what is the rush?).. work on your art.. develop your artistic ability.. learn about machines and what makes them run/how they run.. how to tune them for the job in hand.. trace a lot of line work .. learn about the colour wheel.. learn about light and shade.. learn about colour , shade and tint.. AND ACTIVELY SEEK AN APPRENTICESHIP.

if you can agree that you are not sure if your machines are running spot on, and if you wouldnt be completely happy wearing your own " Experimental Tattoo`s " then you are jumping in too soon.. it is morally wrong to put sub standard work onto another persons body, knowing that you are not 100% sure what you are doing and doubting that you can do the job cleanly and properly.

hope thats cool and you dont get the wrong end of the stick with my critique.. im not here to beat on anyone.. i just think we should all keep it real..

well spotted joe.

unfortunately though mate to be honest you really shouldn't be on skin yet (at least none other than ur own).
The line weight is very inconsistent, not sure if the snake is partly healed or not but it looks scarred, the thickest part of that rose looks like you relined and missed slightly and the lines are very shaky, i'd say leave this until ur linework is A LOT better then reline with a 7 or 8, the thickness will level it all out.

not wanting to sound like a dick but maybe you should stick with pig for a while longer, and only hit urself up for your first 3 or 4 real skin tattoo's.

just my opinion, take it as you will.

oh and if that est. date is correct stay OFF the minors (not sure what the law is like where ur at but better to play it safe 18+ only).

we,ve had the convo before about the 16 year old pic, that was my little brother and is in an old thread, so sorry samski trying to embaress/whatever me didnt really work, i admitted i was in the wrong, again another lesson learnt.
Thanks jay1 for your constructive critticism.
Edit: thanks for puttin the pic up, i dint know how to do it without it being the link that was the www. bit and not just the pic

This post has been edited by jade86: 01 November 2009 - 10:11 AM

Cheers noz, it was shaved properly the pic was a week later which is why there is re growth of hair. I was having exactly the troubles you stated with the machine speed.
As for it being carved in i will get another pic when i see him next week ish as he is my friends bf and they are both at uni at the moment, but i can 100% happily say there is no raised areas of scarring, if anything there are a few areas where the ink dropped out.
I havent tattooed since i first put that one est.93 up except for on the pig and i caved into peer pressure, my bad i know
Thanks again though for being constructive

Noz187, on Nov 1 2009, 05:22 PM, said:

This post has been edited by jade86: 01 November 2009 - 10:20 AM

fair enough on the second pic if it's been discussed else where maybe a mod can removeit to elimate any chance of arguments, and keep this thread in perspective to the first pic.

but like i said keep of real skin for a bit and neaten up ur linework.

jay1, on Nov 1 2009, 05:28 PM, said:

Thanks jay1, the whole thing is only partly healed as it's been a week and your spot on with the rose, like i said when i am better i will re-line with a 7 or 8

it looks more like a dinosaur with braces than a snake.

supernummy, on Nov 2 2009, 01:10 PM, said:

Haha true dat, lost the stencil in the top part, hopefully after more pig practice i can reline and sharpen his teeth up a lil!

jade86, on Nov 2 2009, 10:28 AM, said:

Maybe you know this, already, but you should keep a couple sharpies or skin scribes at hand when lining the tattoo, so if you do loose the stencil, you can redraw what you lost. You can free hand with a machine on pig since you don't need to stretch, but when you stretch the skin to get a good tension, and try to freehand with your machine what you lost, there's a good chance you're gonna misjudge and the line will end up wrong when you let your stretch go. Leaving you with a compromised design.

^ also since ur new here im gunna say this JD is right just make sure if u use 1 of these on open skin u throw it away

Thanks JD and nerd,
i was worried to draw on the skin after i had put the needle to it after reading so much here about cross contamination etc, maybe i was being overly careful on that front

jade86, on Nov 2 2009, 12:22 PM, said:

Just make sure your marker is a one time use. Straight out of the box. When your tattoo is done, throw the marker away.

Even if you use your marker before you tattoo, you still need to throw it away when you're all done with it on that person. Shaving alone can break the skin. Once that marker is used, it's done.

I bought a marker from powerline supplies but was just a bit worried to use it once i had put ink in the skin. Thanks again for everyone thats given useful input, everything is much appreciated and stored in my mind! (and computer lol)