When to take the plunge into real living tissue???

[mozzer337]

I have been practicing on pig skin and it feels like the real thing (well what I imagine the real thing would feel like anyway) and I am just wondering when and how to gauge the right time to "jump in" and start on living tissue. When I put ink down on pig skin it looks fine, but what I want to really know is how it will heal and the only real way of knowing is doing it for real I would imagine.
I am going to carry on practicing for a while before I start on myself, but did you guys experiment on yourself buy doing a small tat or small shapes and then log what setup/ink/needle etc, you used and then let it heal, and then try something different next time to improve on what you done. Or did you just start by doing what you'd been doing on the practice skin and keep tattooing while tweaking as you go along. Im just trying to find out what methods would be the best to help the learning process with the minimal amount of permanent mistakes.

Just another quick thought, would trible stuff be the best to practice so you can mend dodgy outlines as it is all couloured black, and do you guys try to keep things small enough to cover-up at a later date when/if you improve.

[XHAZE]

The time to take the "plunge" would be you are confident that you can outline, shade and/or colour with your machine on skin. That was confident, not brave.
Most people choose to practice on the closest people in their lives including family, wives, girlfriends, best mates etc because they so trusting and probably the most forgiving. Sad really.
Only you know when your ready. Stay with (very)small designs that are out of the way. Don't let them talk you into forearms and arm bands.
I look back on some of my earlier work and the "Learn to walk before you run" applies.

[mozzer337]

Thanks XHAZE, but even on those people who you mentioned I would still be very wary of doing poor work. I have a whole gang of them waiting in the wings for when I do eventually start doing the real thing, but until then I think I'll keep practicing and build up some more confidence and skill.

[stevieb]

Hi,
I think you will know when you are ready, I only practised for about 3 weeks on grapefruits and did loads of reading up on the forums to what was the best way to go.
I finally went for it adding to my tribal leg piece and it went OK.
I have posted piccys all over the place and am getting good feedback and also comments on how to improve......
The tattoo is still healing so I dont know what it is like underneath - if it is full of holes I will re work it. Didnt manage to get right up to the outlines with the shader group I was using but I will have another go when It is all healed up.
Dont rush into it a make a mess , take your time and all will be fine.
BTW - I outlined on one evening and filled it the next when it wasnt quite as sore !
Good luck.

[Chef-Ink]

Only you will know when your ready.
I did several tattoo's on myself before working on others.

Seems the best way to gauge your needle depth and general touch would be on yourself. Practice skins and pig skin dont bitch if you start hacking.
IMO you need to tattoo yourself, first to get a feel for working on living skin, second its a great advertisement for yourself. If you do good work on yourself you're more likely to have others wanting your work too.
It worked for me. Just try and take it slow, its eay to get carried away and start something that might be above your current abilities. Be your own ginuea pig.

Look at it this way, would you go to a restaraunt where the staff wouldnt eat?

[mozzer337]

I finally done it. I mamed enough pigskin and got enough confidence built to do a "Tribal Cross" on my leg. I opted for the tribal so that if I made a mess of any lines I could mend them and then fill in the black later. It went ok I thought. Still a hell of a long way off tattooing anyone else yet but its a start I suppose.

Just a couple of questions though. When I was doing the Tat it felt like it wasnt hurting as much as the ones that had been done on me previously and I started to get a bit concerned that I hadnt actually set my needle deep enough. I suppose too shallow is better than too deep though. I put the fact that it didnt hurt, down to the adrenalin of actually doing it myself, and pins and needles in my leg due to the uncomfortable posture. Has anyone else experienced the lesser pain when doing their own tattoos?
The other question was how long would be the minimum length of time before I could fill in the color. I dont really want to start filling in with the outline only semi healed, but I dont really want to wait too long before I can finish it off.
I posted a pic in the album, in the beginners section so feel free to ridicule/criticise/laugh at my work. Or even praise if you think it might be worth it.
Thanks for any input.

[timmy]

Hey,took a look at your tattoo and i think it looks really good for your first on yourself.Slow and steady is the way to go,the waiting period to shade is usually up to three weeks or longer,depending on the person and aftercare.Looks good,it just gets better,be safe.

[mozzer337]

Thanks for the words of encouragement timmy. Just wanted to see what the quality was like compared to other "first attempts"I just hope I can gradually progress. I feel a bit more confident, but still very wary and am always prepared to soak up any advice/criticism that might come my way.

[timmy]

When you go to do your color just make sure you have a good brand of ink.Shading and solid color has been taking me awhile to really lay it in there with a really nice heal,plus i have been taking my time and learning and soaking up all i can.Just dont over work the skin,you can always come back to it.Keep at it,and be safe.

[mozzer337]

Left my outline until it looked good enough to start filling in. So off I went and it seemed to go ok. Just a couple of lines on the outline that are a bit hit and miss, but other than that I thought it went ok for my first effort and to be honest it looks as good, if not better than some shop pieces I have seen.

[timmy]

Sounds good,hope you make out with the shading as well,keep us posted,i would like to hear how you are coming along.Im still working on ordering some more good brand inks and different set ups for shading,also had to order a new power supply.Take care and be safe.