shading

[vernon]

yo jack, i need some tips on shading. As you know i don't have my tube yet so i have been putting my tips in the end of led pencils, so i can do tattoos that way. It works really good but probably not as good as the actual tube. I went over a tat i had on my leg and it looks good. I done the shading with the same black ink i done the outline with by just barely laying the needle to the skin and doing small quick accurate strokes. Is their a better way? I'm sure their are. Let me in on the secret. I still dont know where the contact screw is. Is it the screws at the front of the frame right under the tube comming from the coils :?: But so far i must say that the machine seems to be working smoothly :D Man i hope my tube gets here by tomorrow. LET ME KNOW SOMETHING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.


LATER............

[imported_NeedleJack]

WOW - I must of misread this thread. You say you have been putting your needles through led pencils? Sounds crazy, course I don't know what kind of setup you got going. For the sake of arguing I will assume you mean some click pencil thing and you just don't have a tip to drive your 3s. I'm not sure what day you called us about your missing tips etc. but it was mailed this last week (friday)

Anyway, shading. In a nut shell, especially if you are pushing mags or bigger needle groups (loose 7s, 8s, 14s) you wanna have at least 3 rubberbands and a little extra power).

The contact screw is the screw on top of the machine that adjusts how far the gap is between the top of the front spring and the actual screw. We call this process adjusting the stroke. This allows the armature bar to move up and down a certain distance.

For the purposes of simplicity it has often been said (dime = line, nickle = shade). This is how much the armature bar will travel up and down with your foot on the gas. This is only a starting point, some people prefer to travel even further.

What you have to remember here is that by adjusting the stroke, you are telling your machine you want to try and hit the skin as soft as possible and yet still penetrate the skin before the needle retracts into the tube, gets more ink, and repeats the cycle.

As far as technique, there's a million ways to do this thing. Me personally, I prefer to use mags. Some dip back and forth into your rinse cup to get the desired shade of black / gray. While others set up a series of cups with different amounts of black / water. The application of the ink can be applied by working your darkest areas first then moving to areas you think will need less ink etc. Dip in the rinse and so on. PS -> We sell a black n grey video in tattoo instruction that gives you all the ammo you need.

[oz tattoo]

Dude- you have been putting your needles through lead pencils????? What the crap!!!!!!! You've actually been tattooing on human flesh in this way?????

[voodoo]

get some disposable tubes-- use them 1 time @ throw it away!
know what i mean,vern?

[Preacher]

Hello,
This is the kind of thing that gives real tattoist a bad name. :evil:

[MedusaQueen]

Ingenuity is handy, but there are certain things that requre the "real thing" for best results. Honestly, it's best just to patiently wait on the supplies you need.

[Anonymous]

those first 2 posts were from a year ago...