my First tattoo

[BUKKWYLDE]

Hey everyone, Ive been reading and reading for a few months and recently tried to do my first tattoo. I did it in two sessions one for the outlining and one for the shading, I got real nervous and did a lot of messing up on the outlining, I had acually wiped away my stencil by about half way thru and winged it from there, my guns were not set up right as I found out later from a friend who is in the buisiness, so I did the best I could, let it heal and tried to do some blackwork to fix all the mistakes. I must say I probably learned more from the experience than if all had gone well, please let me know what you think all things considered. theres still some spots I want to fix but this is it for now.


http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s103/bukkwylde/ratrun2007072.jpg

[Inkspressit]

Ok ill be the first, and trust me you're gonna have to take this warts and all.

(1) You missed the relevant posts
(2) you just fucked your leg...but it can be fixed.
(3) They are machines not Guns, i know many bought out ink shots but you dont load them you use them...

That said, you aint read half the shit on here you need to, go back and read again, and again and again.

All things considered??, Had you had a shot at synthetic skin or pig skin then all things would have been considered and you would have undoubtedly read those posts??

Im not having a bitch and most have probably tattooed themselves, I have... the old saying goes...... "he who tattoos himself has a fool as a client" its true.

Do yourself a big fav, read this site from ass to face and then again, get some pig skin and drill it for a while....if you doubt pig skin...look at this, I did this some time ago just to prove a point that it does work.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee191/inkspressit/pigskin.jpg
(the pic aint great as it is taken through the glass of a frame)

The best piece of advice i have to offer you at this point is not to tattoo yourself or anyone else until you have a full understanding of CC and BBP and have nailed basic skills on pig or synthetic.

[jjbbuzz]

totaly agree with inkpressit..! stop tattooing the flesh, move to synthetics or fruit.! and hit the archive bottom right ...read read read.. get some practice in before you tattoo any more...

[kellyink]

have to agree with them.........this is not a joke......

[Inkslngr]

Not to bust your nuts, but you need alot more practice before you tattoo on skin again. You need cc and bbp. You can practice on grapefruits, oranges, pig skin, practice pads etc. This is not something you can just jump into with both feet. Peoples lives really are at stake, you need to take this seriously. Keep reading all the posts and archived posts, these guys know what they are talking about.

[BUKKWYLDE]

Well thanks for all your advice and I really do mean that, I do realize that a lot more learning is involved, I definetely jumped in both feet first and was f'd up right from the start, but you know what , I learned a lot of what not to do that will stick with me forever. All in all, I dissagree with the statement that my leg is fucked, I really dont think the black work was that bad considering how badly I screwed up the outlining. I had to put in alot more black than I would have liked , but my options were limited, also the outlining could have been better if I didnt have to freehand all but the wings with a "machine" that had way too long of a stroke. I did make a lot of mistakes that I could have been better served making on pigskin, but live and learn, The bottom line is that I can live with it for what it is, my first try. Now as far as correcting me on the difference between a gun and a machine, really, I didnt know that, Ill file that under aint aint a word. And a word to lives being at stake, just because I dont have techniqe down doesnt mean that I havent thoughly read and reasearched sterilization and cross contamination, These have been where the majority of my reading has been spent. Believe me no lives are at stake, every precaution has been followed to the T. Look, Im not saying that the artwork is good, or that my technique is good, I jumped in to soon, and created my own problems because of that, I went back and studied more, and did the best I could to try and fix things, Im not ashamed of how it looks, I realize its not great,and I did expect some critisism. I really didnt expect people to make assumtions about what I have or have not read or corrections on my choice of wording. Well "ain't" that a bitch.

[black raven]

Ok ill be the first, and trust me you're gonna have to take this warts and all.

(1) You missed the relevant posts
(2) you just fucked your leg...but it can be fixed.
(3) They are machines not Guns, i know many bought out ink shots but you dont load them you use them...

That said, you aint read half the shit on here you need to, go back and read again, and again and again.

All things considered??, Had you had a shot at synthetic skin or pig skin then all things would have been considered and you would have undoubtedly read those posts??

Im not having a bitch and most have probably tattooed themselves, I have... the old saying goes...... "he who tattoos himself has a fool as a client" its true.

Do yourself a big fav, read this site from ass to face and then again, get some pig skin and drill it for a while....if you doubt pig skin...look at this, I did this some time ago just to prove a point that it does work.

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee191/inkspressit/pigskin.jpg
(the pic aint great as it is taken through the glass of a frame)

The best piece of advice i have to offer you at this point is not to tattoo yourself or anyone else until you have a full understanding of CC and BBP and have nailed basic skills on pig or synthetic.

thank you.......... saved me some typing.....

[pookie]

Well thanks for all your advice and I really do mean that, I do realize that a lot more learning is involved, I definetely jumped in both feet first and was f'd up right from the start, but you know what , I learned a lot of what not to do that will stick with me forever. All in all, I dissagree with the statement that my leg is fucked, I really dont think the black work was that bad considering how badly I screwed up the outlining. I had to put in alot more black than I would have liked , but my options were limited, also the outlining could have been better if I didnt have to freehand all but the wings with a "machine" that had way too long of a stroke. I did make a lot of mistakes that I could have been better served making on pigskin, but live and learn, The bottom line is that I can live with it for what it is, my first try. Now as far as correcting me on the difference between a gun and a machine, really, I didnt know that, Ill file that under aint aint a word. And a word to lives being at stake, just because I dont have techniqe down doesnt mean that I havent thoughly read and reasearched sterilization and cross contamination, These have been where the majority of my reading has been spent. Believe me no lives are at stake, every precaution has been followed to the T. Look, Im not saying that the artwork is good, or that my technique is good, I jumped in to soon, and created my own problems because of that, I went back and studied more, and did the best I could to try and fix things, Im not ashamed of how it looks, I realize its not great,and I did expect some critisism. I really didnt expect people to make assumtions about what I have or have not read or corrections on my choice of wording. Well "ain't" that a bitch.


well at least you didnt go off on one like some do when they get criticised, i like the way you answered it actually.
Definetly give fruits a try for abit, will help with your confidence aswell....shit i practiced my lines on them for a year solid

p.s. it was mentioned your 'leg' was fucked but that it could be sorted.

[Chef-Ink]

Good to see youve been reading up on the CC and BBP info. Should be the first place to start.........Yeah the tattoo sucks, but thats not the end of the world. It can be fixed/covered later......Leave it alone until you have the skill needed to fix it though.

Assuming youve studied on BBP and CS stuff, next learn how to tune your machines. Maul some fruit, pig or practice skins. Pig skin or ears is the closest you'll get to human skin.

Learn how to not wipe away your stencil (all that info is here to be had), get your technique down THEN move on to human skin.

Good luck

[BUKKWYLDE]

Hey Pookie, thanks for being supportive, my intention is not really to go off Im not even upset about it, I fully expected critisism, Im not naive. If I wanted a pat on the back I would have waited to post any pics until I had something good to show. I Have worked on fruits and those did not give me any problems. I just freehanded stuff on them for awhile, I would like to know if you ever put a stencil or line drawing on the fruits to trace, I could not get a stencil to take, I also tried marker, It was like the oils from the fruit skins wouldnt take the stencil or marker. If you have, I would really like to know what you used. Anyway, everyones opinion is right, I was just looking for more constructive critisism, and less assumptions and critique on my wording. As if Im the first person to ever call it a "Tattoo gun". Thanks again Bro, everyone is welcome to tell me how bad the tat is, and all advice is welcome and wanted, At least you were cool in going about it.

[pookie]

i hear ya with the bloody stencils wiping off lol i know it wa mentioned somewere here you can skin abit off to take away that plasticy coating its got, i used to just use sharpies then give em to dry, couldnt really practice anything with lots of lines in though,...had to use pigskin for that.
Your'l get there dude, you seem like your in the right frame of mind to me

[BUKKWYLDE]

Thanks Pookie, I will try the sharpies again and let them dry longer, I probably didnt give them enough time to dry.

Also thanks Chef-Ink, I appreciate your reply also, to tell you the truth, Im going to keep the tattoo, maybe try to work the eyes and snout area again later, but its my first one and good, bad or ugly, it marks this experience and time in my life, it also signifies my willingness to try new things and strive to become better, someday I will be able to look at it and see how far Ive come. So I wont cover it up even when I good enough to. I like your advice, I did wait about six months after screwing up the stencil and my linework not coming out right to go back and do the blackwork, in that time , I took my machines to my friends shop and he set the stroke length where it needed to be and showed me exactly how to do it and told me thats why my lines were so bad, also I worked with a lot of stencils to find out what I was doing wrong, so I acually can do a lot better lines and keep my stencils on, but my technique, and shading still have a lot to be desired. Thanks again for your help.

[L_Pease]

Well thanks for all your advice and I really do mean that, I do realize that a lot more learning is involved, I definetely jumped in both feet first and was f'd up right from the start, but you know what , I learned a lot of what not to do that will stick with me forever. All in all, I dissagree with the statement that my leg is fucked, I really dont think the black work was that bad considering how badly I screwed up the outlining. I had to put in alot more black than I would have liked , but my options were limited, also the outlining could have been better if I didnt have to freehand all but the wings with a "machine" that had way too long of a stroke. I did make a lot of mistakes that I could have been better served making on pigskin, but live and learn, The bottom line is that I can live with it for what it is, my first try. Now as far as correcting me on the difference between a gun and a machine, really, I didnt know that, Ill file that under aint aint a word. And a word to lives being at stake, just because I dont have techniqe down doesnt mean that I havent thoughly read and reasearched sterilization and cross contamination, These have been where the majority of my reading has been spent. Believe me no lives are at stake, every precaution has been followed to the T. Look, Im not saying that the artwork is good, or that my technique is good, I jumped in to soon, and created my own problems because of that, I went back and studied more, and did the best I could to try and fix things, Im not ashamed of how it looks, I realize its not great,and I did expect some critisism. I really didnt expect people to make assumtions about what I have or have not read or corrections on my choice of wording. Well "ain't" that a bitch.

I always say, the lessons learned the hard way the hardest to forget. Now you know why not to do a few things. You could have cleaned up the lining after appropriate healing time had lapsed rather than going bold with the black shading. And as far as the machine having "way too long of a stroke"...when you're ready to work on clients you should be able to compensate for hiccups in your game plan. For example, this customer came in with a new idea at the last minute. I was supposed to do a tribal design so I soldered up a tight 7 liner and a 9 mag shader. Well, she wanted this Marilyn Monroe portrait instead.
http://onfinite.com/libraries/967254/b7c.jpg
I would have preferred to use a single for the details and a 5 mag for most of the shading and a 7 for the torso. Had to bring my A game and make up for the difference with good technique.

I'm not gona' bust your balls on terminology, but if you call it a "gun" around most professionals you'll never get their respect.

Whenever you find yourself in the situation where your stencil appears to be disappearing way too soon. Stop and evaluate why. Did you not let it dry well enough? Did you apply it properly? Did you clean all of the skin oils off before applying the stencil? (if you used deodorant then stop and punch yourself directly in the nuts because you have it coming) Before the stencil is too far gone, you can take a few steps to try and save it. If it's a matter of letting it dry completely, pat it with a paper towel and give it another 5 minutes. If that's not your problem, blot it with a paper towel with alcohol to clean the area of oils and such. Then take a skin scribe or a brand new non toxic permanent marker and darken the most important areas. Give it some time then finish your lining.

As far as safety and awareness of cross contamination etc... I'm glad you read up on that. However, if you do not use an autoclave and you are relying on buying pre-sterilized tubes and needles, then you are making a huge leap of faith. There is no guarantee that they really have been sterilized at all or even if they were (usually gassed) that they achieved sterility.

[BUKKWYLDE]

Hello L Pease, thanks for your input, I do know the reasons why the stencil wiped away , acually its too long to get into but there was a chain of events and thought process that lead me astray with the stencil, I understand what went wrong and better understand now. I never thought to check it sooner and stop use my surgical marker to darken the stencil, thats a good idea I missed, thanks. As far as taking chances, I do own an autoclave, I use machine covers, clip cord covers, autoclave pouches, black maxx gloves, green soap, an ultrasonic cleaner, ect. I do take important things seriously, and have some medical background. Thanks for your help.

[Inkspressit]

Ok Bukk,

I am dropping 2 quotes from you, 1 from your original post one form your last and then im going to quantify my reply to your post.

[QUOTE=BUKKWYLDE;74125] Hey everyone, Ive been reading and reading for a few months.

I was just looking for more constructive critisism, and less assumptions and critique on my wording. As if Im the first person to ever call it a "Tattoo gun". QUOTE]

Right now to quantify my post..

Firstly I stated you missed the relevant posts, that was based on your assertion that you have read and read for a few months, if you had read and read then even your latest post would not be worded as it is (if you had read the relevant post)
Trust me in no way was i being harsh, Had you been reading and taking it in you would note that there are many post where Machines being refered to as 'Guns' have met with worse than I dropped.... So the point... did you read and take it in?
Secondly I stated you fucked your leg but it could be fixed, trust me you fucked it.. you say your happy with it for your first attempt... don't be, A Tattooists worst critique is him/her self, I gaurantee you many artists here are always thinking they could have done a better job
Third... If you read my post and took it in I stated 3 elements to get down before doing skin CC BBP and technique (nailing pigskin etc) I did not assert you didn't understand CC or BBP however your responses lead me to believe that while you may read you do not take all the info in..

Eg the stroke of your machine has nothing to do with the tattoo you attempted, liners come in various forms, short to long stroke...that wasn't your problem although it might not have helped, if you have read the forum you would have read the posts on needle depth, point setting etc... again one of the reasons i don't think that you are taking the info in, and that is my main point.

forget the fruit, it wont bleed out if you blow lines like pig skin will, get pig belly skin (fresh) wrap it around fruit, wrap it around a leg of mutton or such, then tattoo it, it will move like skin, it will blow out like skin, it will teach you a lot. I firmly believe you would have learnt just as much tattooing pig skin as you would have your leg... and yes there are also posts on this within the forum....

All I can suggest is READ and more importantly take it in and Learn...

[pookie]

forget the fruit, it wont bleed out if you blow lines like pig skin will, get pig belly skin (fresh) wrap it around fruit, wrap it around a leg of mutton or such, then tattoo it, it will move like skin, it will blow out like skin, it will teach you a lot. I firmly believe you would have learnt just as much tattooing pig skin as you would have your leg... and yes there are also posts on this within the forum....

QUOTE]

i personally didnt learn a thing from pigskin, found grapefruits more difficult with there shape but it gave me a steady hand.
You can tell when your going to deep coz when i did it was piercing through the skin and into the fruit which would then be dripping out......used to make me bloody hungry though lol

[pookie]

I always say, the lessons learned the hard way the hardest to forget. Now you know why not to do a few things. You could have cleaned up the lining after appropriate healing time had lapsed rather than going bold with the black shading. And as far as the machine having "way too long of a stroke"...when you're ready to work on clients you should be able to compensate for hiccups in your game plan. For example, this customer came in with a new idea at the last minute. I was supposed to do a tribal design so I soldered up a tight 7 liner and a 9 mag shader. Well, she wanted this Marilyn Monroe portrait instead.
http://onfinite.com/libraries/967254/b7c.jpg
I would have preferred to use a single for the details and a 5 mag for most of the shading and a 7 for the torso. Had to bring my A game and make up for the difference with good technique.

I'm not gona' bust your balls on terminology, but if you call it a "gun" around most professionals you'll never get their respect.

Whenever you find yourself in the situation where your stencil appears to be disappearing way too soon. Stop and evaluate why. Did you not let it dry well enough? Did you apply it properly? Did you clean all of the skin oils off before applying the stencil? (if you used deodorant then stop and punch yourself directly in the nuts because you have it coming) Before the stencil is too far gone, you can take a few steps to try and save it. If it's a matter of letting it dry completely, pat it with a paper towel and give it another 5 minutes. If that's not your problem, blot it with a paper towel with alcohol to clean the area of oils and such. Then take a skin scribe or a brand new non toxic permanent marker and darken the most important areas. Give it some time then finish your lining.

As far as safety and awareness of cross contamination etc... I'm glad you read up on that. However, if you do not use an autoclave and you are relying on buying pre-sterilized tubes and needles, then you are making a huge leap of faith. There is no guarantee that they really have been sterilized at all or even if they were (usually gassed) that they achieved sterility.


nice post dude, and nice monroe aswell

[Inkspressit]

i personally didnt learn a thing from pigskin, found grapefruits more difficult with there shape but it gave me a steady hand.
You can tell when your going to deep coz when i did it was piercing through the skin and into the fruit which would then be dripping out......used to make me bloody hungry though lol

If you go athrough the skin and the pith on fruit, your going way too deep.. As I stated wrap the pig belly around something, gives you hand control etc and reacts like skin, it will also blow out into the lower tissue if you go too deep.. Fruit may be fine to start with but I'd suggest Pig skin before human and even synthetic might be worth a crack..

The whole point of my post was READ,READ,READ and take it in... There were over 30-40 Views of this thread with no replies... I replied, and voila... some further commentary.

Out

[undercover art]

For your next tattoos, try keeping the overall size of the piece to around the size of a quarter or so....think small, go slow, and don't try anything too difficult...maybe a lil nautical star or skull....start small, everything else will come later

[pookie]

If you go athrough the skin and the pith on fruit, your going way too deep.. As I stated wrap the pig belly around something, gives you hand control etc and reacts like skin, it will also blow out into the lower tissue if you go too deep.. Fruit may be fine to start with but I'd suggest Pig skin before human and even synthetic might be worth a crack..

The whole point of my post was READ,READ,READ and take it in... There were over 30-40 Views of this thread with no replies... I replied, and voila... some further commentary.

Out


im aware i was going to deep dude thats why i pointed it out so others know lol

[CropCircle]

Then take a skin scribe or a brand new non toxic permanent marker and darken the most important areas. Give it some time then finish your lining.

Just make sure that it's a new skin scribe or non toxic permanent marker, don't want any chance for cc!
Then dispose of the skin scribe or non toxic permanent marker!

Jason

[BUKKWYLDE]

Hey Inkspressit, Thanks for your reply, Your first post was definetly taken wrong. youre last post does help alot. I realize that people have probaly got into it over improper wording, I find it to be much ado about nothing personally. I work in an industry where proper wording is important and not always used, I personally dont call people out on it, I will, however, occasionally correct them while giving them respect and explain why its important. Anyway, to be honest I have probably read some of these post and they didnt seem important enough to remember. You definetely hit the nail on the head though when it comes to remembering what I read, Im a very smart guy, but my memory has always given me problems. As far as being happy with the tattoo or not, youre right, I would have liked it to be better, I do strive in everthing I have ever done to always be better, and trust me Ive done alot more than most and reached measurable successes.
I would have never been happy putting that tattoo on someone else, and I m not satisfied with my ability to tattoo, by a long shot, but, that tattoo will stay on me, I will try to fix a few things, but it will never be real good unless I cover it up later, which Im just not gonna do, not because I think its good, but because it has relevence to me, I guess "it may be an ugly couch but it has sentimental value". If nothing else it will be a permanent reminder of what not to do. I do need to pound the pigskin for awhile. And I probably would have learned all this on pigskin, I did have people in the industry pushing me to just start on my legs, and I did, before I was ready. I definetly wont tell you how I learned to ride my first motorcycle, lol. Anyway, I thank you again for your post, and your advice is welcomed.

[jjbbuzz]

Hey Inkspressit, Thanks for your reply, Your first post was definetly taken wrong. youre last post does help alot. I realize that people have probaly got into it over improper wording, I find it to be much ado about nothing personally. I work in an industry where proper wording is important and not always used, I personally dont call people out on it, I will, however, occasionally correct them while giving them respect and explain why its important. Anyway, to be honest I have probably read some of these post and they didnt seem important enough to remember. You definetely hit the nail on the head though when it comes to remembering what I read, Im a very smart guy, but my memory has always given me problems. As far as being happy with the tattoo or not, youre right, I would have liked it to be better, I do strive in everthing I have ever done to always be better, and trust me Ive done alot more than most and reached measurable successes.
I would have never been happy putting that tattoo on someone else, and I m not satisfied with my ability to tattoo, by a long shot, but, that tattoo will stay on me, I will try to fix a few things, but it will never be real good unless I cover it up later, which Im just not gonna do, not because I think its good, but because it has relevence to me, I guess "it may be an ugly couch but it has sentimental value". If nothing else it will be a permanent reminder of what not to do. I do need to pound the pigskin for awhile. And I probably would have learned all this on pigskin, I did have people in the industry pushing me to just start on my legs, and I did, before I was ready. I definetly wont tell you how I learned to ride my first motorcycle, lol. Anyway, I thank you again for your post, and your advice is welcomed. well said mate,, good on ya... keep keeping on...!

[STARMedic]

In my quest as an aspiring Tattooist Ive found that there are basically two types of people when the criticism is laid out....

Those who take their lumps and learn and eventually prosper.

And those who get pissed off, go out and drink some 40's, throw up some signs, mug some old people, and never figure out that a guitar string really isnt a 3rl......

Bukk, there is an enormous amount of talent here, willing to help. I commend you and the others for keeping the thread professional, Its what sets this site apart from others.....

Bruce

[granados38]

excuse me guys what is cc and bbp ?

[kellyink]

excuse me guys what is cc and bbp ?

seriously......................if you dont know, do some reading of all the post in this forum. then come back to this post and tell us what it is........a hint: cc, and bbp is the most important things to learn about tattooing.........please dont be a fool. read, then read again, then ask questions.........

[jjbbuzz]

excuse me guys what is cc and bbp ?



:shock: what kellyink says,that should be your 1st stop...! really go read read read.

[TwistedMr]

I learned a lot from both the grapefruit and pigskin.
Grapefruits cheap and its a great way to learn the basics (steady hand, movements, speed etc) but I gotta hand it to pigskin.
I got tons of free skin from the local butcher.
They throw it out anyway.
But nothing is exactly like living skin.
By the time I got to working on my legs I had a pretty good idea of what I was doing and Im happy with the results.
Actually my first attempts at tattooing have gotten me a lot of business.
Its like carrying a portfolio of your work around with you.
You just want to make sure theyre good examples.

[tatguy0911]

wow guyz when did you guyz and gals get so nice ive been away for to long . lol

[TwistedMr]

wow guyz when did you guyz and gals get so nice ive been away for to long . lol

I just got my new meds last week.

[shazzzz]

Well thanks for all your advice and I really do mean that, I do realize that a lot more learning is involved, I definetely jumped in both feet first and was f'd up right from the start, but you know what , I learned a lot of what not to do that will stick with me forever. All in all, I dissagree with the statement that my leg is fucked, I really dont think the black work was that bad considering how badly I screwed up the outlining. I had to put in alot more black than I would have liked , but my options were limited, also the outlining could have been better if I didnt have to freehand all but the wings with a "machine" that had way too long of a stroke. I did make a lot of mistakes that I could have been better served making on pigskin, but live and learn, The bottom line is that I can live with it for what it is, my first try. Now as far as correcting me on the difference between a gun and a machine, really, I didnt know that, Ill file that under aint aint a word. And a word to lives being at stake, just because I dont have techniqe down doesnt mean that I havent thoughly read and reasearched sterilization and cross contamination, These have been where the majority of my reading has been spent. Believe me no lives are at stake, every precaution has been followed to the T. Look, Im not saying that the artwork is good, or that my technique is good, I jumped in to soon, and created my own problems because of that, I went back and studied more, and did the best I could to try and fix things, Im not ashamed of how it looks, I realize its not great,and I did expect some critisism. I really didnt expect people to make assumtions about what I have or have not read or corrections on my choice of wording. Well "ain't" that a bitch.
Hi bukkwylde, I am no proffesional myself but i think the critisism you had is a bit harsh, i thought you would of had a bit more of a frienlier responce as everyone has to start somewhere and you havent involved anyone else. firstly you should really of practiced on anything but flesh but hey its your leg and with time you can work on it and improve, as for machine or gun i use the term machine but at the end of the day they are the same thing and do the same job, all i can say is keep reading and watching dvds on tattooing, also try going to a friendly tattoo shop have a tattoo and get talking to tattooist not many of them helpfull though, the one i went to was of great help, and watch as much as you can whilst having it done, anyway good luck to you dont give up it gets better with time and alot of practice.