blending an fading

[illistratedman]

hey guys, I have a question regarding blending and fadeing, I cant seem to fade my colors out so they blend from one value to another, should i set my needles shallower? I keep getting a hard line between colors for example, I did a butterfly on a friends back, I wanted to go from dark blue to light blue graduially, so I flicked out the dark blue like I am shading and then worked(flicked) in the light blue over the dark, I thought this would give me a nice effect, insted I got a hard line and the fade didnt show up..how can I get rid of these hard lines? help please....

[sickboy]

try slowing down your machine when your ready to blend the colors.

[Diphryntkat420]

but this "flicking" method is the best way to go? especially when going from dark to light of the same color?

[Papa Gee]

The "flicking" method you're reffering to is called whip shading. It's the same as drawing with a pencil when you want to get a fade effect. You start at the base or dark area and move the needle towards the light area while lifting pressure on the needle till you're no longer contacting the skin.

If you're trying to fade one color into another try this. Whip shade the first color in the direction of the area you want to fade the color to. Then pull the next color back to the area you started from. In other words you will be whip shading in opposite directions at the blend line.

Also slowing down the machine or dropping the voltage will help you to get a more gradual fade.

[T-Bone]

If I wanted to do traditional flame colors, couldnt I color entire area yellow then fade the other colors into the yellow? or do i only color the yellow up to the orange and then flick it to achieve the blend? whats a good needle for this?

[Papa Gee]

You could but why go over areas that have already been done? You have to be carefull not to overwork the skin. On several tattoos I've done I've gone back to shade an area that I realized needed it after coloring. I can tell you my client let me know that it was not pleasant for him.

[Deakon]

Blend in the tip not in the skin. Get at least 3 caps of different shades of your color going from dark to light. Dip dark and shade.... then dip dark and medium and pick up where you left off... then dip medium only and repeat... then dip medium then light and repeat... If you blend in the tip, your transition in the skin will be smoother.

[leonard]

"good stuff deakon" i do that with my black and grey comfortably but havent really thought of it for color.

[tat2rtist2]

If that dont work for ya..start experimenting with dipping in caps of distilled water...that will thin your inks and give ya lighter effects. Back in the day, they would spray water on the skin then whipshade a color. But thats not cool anymore due to all the CC standards. But dipping will give ya the same effect. Try it..ya might like it..lol

[T-Bone]

Thanks for the advice everyone, ill post some pics of flames after im done, im so used to airbrushing, and for flames i would lay down all the yellow and then apply the blend over top. Retrain my mind, Ill be ok......just a little retraining....

[Valdar]

I used to airbrush too the big difference is that with the tattoo you have to remember to work the darker colors first, where with the airbrush I would have laid the base color down first whether it was a dark or a light and then blended the other colors to it. I think Deakon's way is a great way to go.