trouble with colors

[bane84]

Gee, it's been a while since i've been in here. anyway, i'm having trouble getting color to stay. it looks great when i'm doing it. it looks good almost until it's healed. and right before healing... the scabs if any come off and the inks gone. i can't seem to work the skin in on the first pass. i'm using tight circle, larger circles, up and down strokes, whip strokes, every thing. nothing seems to work, i'm pretty sure it's the machine. i've tampered with it, yet still can't get it to stay. i know it depends on the artist, but does anyone have any tips or thoughts about setting up my shader? by the way, grey wash and black looks great, some dark colors work better, but basically if it isn't black or grey, then it looks like crap.

[Inkster]

First off before blaming the tools, what ink are you using and what needle group, small circles, large circles, up strokes, down strokes, whip shading all to me equates to over working the skin, overworking the skin equals heavy scabbing and ink dropping out, you may be need to start from scratch with skin stretching and a good brand of ink and the golden rule I was told do not work the same area more than 3 times, small tight circles, decent needle grouping for the piece been worked.

[bane84]

i use millenium inks for color, kuro sumi for black and grey. i usually use a 14 or 8 round. i tried flats before and didn't like them but i recently used a flat on a tattoo that was on a guy with really thick skin, it seemed to work great on him, but it was also black work. depending on the person, i can usually make it in 1 or 2 passes. i stretch the skin pretty tight. i have some people telling me the only thing that hurt was the stretching, that and the wiping. since i started using vasoline during the tattooing rather than a&d the ink seems to set better too. but after the tattoo is over i put a&d on the area and tell them to use it for about 3 to 4 days then to use a non-scented lotion. as far as i can tell, everything is good with the technique and inks, i'm thinking it's my set up. and the only reason i didn't put this under the section on machine set-up is because it's only my color thats off.

[urmindsi]

-Shake the bottles of ink good
-needles ok, not pitted or hooked.(dont assume, check with eye loupe)
-Inks (that u use) sound good (I use the same).
-Needles not set to deep.
-using a&d. or vasoline?( Ive never heard of using a&d for tattooing purposes-only one the healing side)....I have always used vasoline...AND NOT MUCH!! if used in excess it can clog the tube...and ride in between the needles.(Possibility)
- Stroke/ weak or strong (again when running the machine on low volts u should see a 3 image blur of the arm bar/nipple, liner or shader (sweet spot)
-At 45 degree angle when shading or filling?
-When filling with a 14 needle round, its good to have a loose grouping(4 me), a tight if not used properly tends to act like a (jackhammer) liner and chew the crap out of the skin. This may give u a fill that looks to be going in great at the time.. but when it scars up and falls off....scar tissue.
-if u cant figure this out, I recommend u tattoo no one, until the problem is solved. sorry ..just my opinion, take care and good luck.

[Chef-Ink]

bane,

So you're having trouble gettin your colors set, yet you are tattoing other people? IMHO, fix the problem on yourself, then tattoo others.

The other intersting thing is you talk about customers having no pain from the actual tattooing, just from wiping. That seems odd to me, im relatively new to tattoing; but not tattoo's. EVERY tattoo Ive gotten, including the ones Ive given myself hurt.

Some things to think about and check:
1. I use Mom's ink too, shake that bottle well; it seems to seperate.
2. You have probs putting in solid black too?
3. "i'm pretty sure it's the machine. i've tampered with it, yet still can't get it to stay"
What exactly is tampering? Are the rubber bands good? What gap you running? What voltage you runing your shader? Does it stall a little when you hit the skin? Are your spings good? How much of a throw on your needles? You ride the tube or needles?

Do you truely feel comfortable with your machine and how it works?
Can you break down your machine and re-assemble it w/ no probs?
If not, you should learn. I knew how to break down, re-assemble and tune my machines BEFORE i tattooed anything; including grapefruits.


I gotta agree w/ urmindsi DO NOT tattoo others until you fix your problem
All you are accomplishing is sub-par work and hurting your own name.
Good luck man, hope you find the answer(s)