#its handpoke tattooing (on a practice skin)

[c-kiddo]

started learning new skill 😎👍 stabbing.

[tatgotyourtongue]

hi! first i want to say your art is so beautiful and i love your use color<33 second i wanted to ask how does one start with handpoke? i know the basic of first you need to know how to draw, i mean like do i start with fake skin and oranges? how long do i do that before i do anything on skin? How do i know i'm not going to deep? etc, i'm sorry if it's too much, so maybe is there a course or which resources/websites should i look for? anyway tysm :)

i started learning just by tattooing on myself because i was an impatient child 😅 i didnt even like to draw when i started but tattooing has definitely restored that for me. its a smarter idea to try using fruits and fake skin, but ive noticed that some of the fake skin i have used is a lot more difficult to tattoo than actual skin. its best to get ahold of your craft first before offering anyone a tattoo, and most people want to see a portfolio. maybe you have a few friends who would let you practice on them, or try on yourself to see what its supposed to look and feel like.

handpokes dont even need to go that deep and proper depth is just something you pick up with practice. i poke relatively shallow and go over my lines maybe 2-3 times. you just need to go deep enough to barely break the skin, its not as deep as a machine tattoo & the snp method lets tattoos heal a lot faster (1-2 wks). most of the time they should be relatively painless if you have the correct artist.

the most important part besides using the correct method to tattoo is to make sure you are being safe and clean. tattooing requires a lot of materials and is a very expensive upkeep, it is definitely not a hobby. there are many instagram accounts that can help explain the proper handling of bbps and such. (@ sanitation_station_ ) you can also take a $30 blood borne pathogen test online to educate yourself on proper disposal and such.

a few things that you need:

nitrile gloves

green soap/rinse bottle

rinse bottle bags

hospital grade disinfectant

sterile tongue depressors

prepackaged, unused needles (they sell them at local tattoo shops which may require a license, but i buy mine online. i like to use the brands envy/cream tattoo needles) liners (RL) are the best for outlining. i like to use 7rl / 7rlt but i cant get ahold of any lately so ive been using 9rl. 7 is a good starter because its not too thin and the thickness of the needle can help you create straighter lines when you are learning.

ink caps

dental bibs

plastic wrap

saniderm/second skin

safe tattoo ink (i like the brands: *dynamic, millennium moms, solid ink, intenze)

paper towels

stencil paper+ stencil transfer

disposable razors

sharps container

hustle butter/tattoo butter

its possible i forgot something but that is a basic list of what i use to tattoo every day.

obviously im still learning tattooing and am by no means an expert. i have only been tattooing for 6 or so years and i started when i was very underage. getting tattoos from other snp artists, following tattoo accounts, making sure you are educated about blood transferrable diseases and sanitation are all things that have helped me in my learning. ive made friends with other independent snp artists who have taught me a lot. just keep practicing!

[cicadacreativemag]

Top 10 Tattoo Artists That Make Me Want to Cover My Skin in Ink

Peyton Farnum, Creative Team Member

In my many years as a creative-driven being, I’ve discovered that I have a great affinity for tattoo art. Tattoo practice is something that is taboo in our society because of its permanence. However, tattoo artists are just as credible as other artists, and their art is worthy of admiration and respect! Especially because there is much effort and tireless work that goes into being a professional tattoo artist.

So, to express my love for the world of tattoo art, I have compiled a list of my favorite skin-ink artists I found throughout the years. These artists come from all over the world and have phenomenal and unique styles. Just admiring these artists through social media fuels my desire to cover my whole body in beautiful artwork.

(All of the artists on this list can be found on Instagram)

1. m_tendo

M_tendo displays stunning technique across many styles, including realism and abstraction. Their technique in using single needles for realistic pieces make for beautifully detailed end products that I could look at for hours.

2. zzizziboy

Zzizziboy’s graphic style has a special place in my heart. Their designs are simplistic, yet fun, featuring beautifully vibrant colors. In addition, all their work is handpoked, showcasing a fascinating tattooing technique.

3. anka.tattoo

Anka.tattoo’s displays incredible artistry in all of their drawings and tattoos. Their style walks a beautiful line between stylized and realistic. Not to mention their phenomenal technical linework and hatch shading!

4. xoxotattoo

Xoxotattoo’s work caught my eye because of their delicate linework. Most of their designs are completed with a single needle and intricate craftsmanship. You can obverse all the meticulous details in every one of their tattoos.

5. takemymuse

Takemymuse’s work is always a delight to see. Their designs are often simple linework combined with colored detailing, often in pastel color palettes. From animals to portraits, their tattoos always bring a fond emotion and a smile to my face because of their playful nature.

6. julianllouve

Julianllouve’s work displays interest and chaos in every piece. Their bright colors and crazy energies are nothing short of the epitome of psychedelic. I feel like I am looking at a museum-worthy surrealist work whenever I see their tattoos in my feed.

7. anniemesstattoos-blog

Anniemesstattoos has an incredible way of depicting figures in tattoos. Her linework is well crafted yet whimsical and beautiful. Many of her recent subjects focus on stylized depictions of women characters such as the Greek goddess Athena (pictured).

8. pitta_kkm

Pitta_kkm is a master of East Asian style in tattoos. Their pieces often include those of Korean legends such as dragons or stylized Korean clouds. Their tattoos are usually large, spanning whole sleeves, filled with vibrant colors.

9. bowsertattoos

Bowsertattoos pieces display a style that is both childlike and seemingly unsettling. Their works often feature black lined subjects that lack shading and depth. Their designs are simplistic yet haphazardous, that always leave me curious of the meaning behind the tattoo (if there is one)

10. 88world.co.kr

88world.co.kr has shown incredible success with pixelated style tattoos. Their pieces appear beautifully bold and rich in color, tied together by meticulous handiwork with each individual square pixel. They do a marvelous job of displaying clean lines on the surface of skin, which exists without a pixelated grid guide.

[milktar]

Advice/tips for stick and pokes? 👀

SUPPLIES. good quality ink is a game changer. i use dynamic ink, a lot of shops use it too, and its available on amazon. a variety of needle sizes (i usually have 3RL, 5RL, 7RL and 9RL on hand) 7RL is my go-to for line work. cleaning supplies (green soap, diluted in water, GLOVES, please use gloves!) stencil goo and stencil transfer paper are all a must-have. ink holders are a good idea to have on hand too. you can find pretty much everything on amazon. but read reviews, don’t buy cheap needles please. 

PATIENCE. i cannot stress enough that handpoking is not for lazy people! it takes quite a bit of time to get a nice, dark, solid line (the kind of lines i work with) if you’re expecting to go over something once or twice and have a solid piece, you’re wrong. most 3-4″ pieces take about 1hr-1.5hrs. especially when you’re new and you don’t have the muscle memory down. go over the work entirely the first time, wipe clean, and then “stitch” the dots together. it’s a very cathartic practice if you’re into repetitive motions. if that doesn’t sound like something you’ll enjoy, you probably won’t enjoy handpoking. 

PAY ATTENTION. if you want clean lines, pay fucking attention to what you’re doing. it’s very easy to get lazy and sloppy, but you’ll create some butchered tattoos which is a very stressful situation. please avoid tattooing drunk or on drugs. 

HYGIENE+PREP+AFTERCARE. clean your station before and after. wipe down all surfaces with cleaning solution. line your work space with paper towel. wash your hands before u put gloves on. wash the body part, shave it, clean it again. aftercare is important too. keep the area clean, (non-scented soap + non-scented lotion once/day for one week after) 

PRACTICE!!! preferably on yourself until your comfortable working on other bodies. if you want you can use fruits (bananas and oranges) or order fake skin. but nothing really compares to the real deal, personally i’ve never used fruit or fake skin, but those options are available to you. the last thing you want to do is give someone a fucked tattoo. i did about 10-15 tattoos on myself before i even considered working on someone else. start with simple designs (words, simple line work ((geometric shapes)) etc.) once your comfortable you can start moving into work that involves some shading/more details. you sort of start to develop your understanding of the medium (tattooing) through consistent practice. (as with all art forms!) 

*** keep in mind i am NOT a professional tattoo artist, so my word is just personal advice from my experience self-taught tattooing for 2 years. ***

[hygienicutopia]

pondered on my handpoke tattoos as a durational/ritualistic practice. handpoke as performance or merely as data input? a mindfulness practice? i had the idea to handpoke raw chicken. (raw chicken as enemy of the emetophobe made flesh!) to wound it, to decorate it, to spend hours touching & inhaling the physical embodiment of my phobia. the tramp stamp chicken was some work i made for studio last year. research points: performance art, durational art.

readings:

Jackson, Shannon & Bryan-Wilson, Julia. Time Zones: Durational Art and Its Contexts. Representations (2016) 136 (1): 1–20.  “The interdependent relation between the viewer and the art object unfolding in time, in a specialized space, was central to the espoused experience of the work; the viewer was present and in a relation to an artwork where both beholder and art needed each other.”

Antonin Artaud: Practical Approaches to a Theatre of Cruelty (video)

Das, Jareh. BEARING WITNESS: ON PAIN IN PERFORMANCE ART (2016)  “Pain serves as a critical tool here, whether functioning metaphorically or conceptually, with the body of the artist functioning as a medium for telling their most private experiences. As such, in my view, it decentralises normalised views on consent, ethics, governance and bodily self-ownership, all of which ultimately construct the basis of how one is expected to live at the present moment. (p9) To ‘bear witness’, as the scholar Catherine Stoddard reminds us, is to suggest a kind of physicality in its connotations of endurance, suffering, and responsibility, and as such, implies the ethical embodiment of a reality that is beyond the visual (p10) The terms ‘self-inflicted’, ‘self-harm’ and ‘self-mutilation’ feature widely in performance art histories. They are often used interchangeably to describe the various ways artists have opened their bodies intentionally. I argue, however, that the words harm and mutilation conjure a pathological association to these acts that limit the ways in which they can be read. Scholarship in this area, including Kathy O’Dell’s Contract with the Skin: Masochism, Performance Art, and the 1970s (1998), Frazer Ward’s No Innocent Bystanders (2012), and Kim Hewitt’s Mutilating the Body: Identity in Blood and Ink (1997) are important examples to reference here. (p11) In separating ‘self-infliction’ from ‘self-mutilation’ in this thesis, I frame the former as a means of communication that expresses that there are not necessarily any underlying psychological problems related to self-injury, and rather that the performer is able to control injuring as an active form of agency and activism. (p13)

[tatgotyourtongue]

Hi!

Is tattooing your "day job" , if it is, how long did it take to get to a point where it was making ends meet? I'm curious because I'm learning to tattoo, and vastly prefer handpoking, and want to know how other artists have made it work!

Thanks!

Hope you have a great day!

tattooing for me is more like my dream career, but i dont currently have anything else going on, so i guess it is my "day job".

making ends meet was never a concern to me because i was just doing what made me happy, and i dont think i was really making a decent amount until i moved out very recently. i also live and share rent with my partner, who has a more stable income and is incredibly supportive in the startup of my career. before now i was living with my dad and working part time while practicing to tattoo at home.

what has helped me most is practice, and more practice. not just on yourself though, either some very trustworthy friends or some fruit/fake skin. and, reach out to other artists in your area. either get a tattoo from them (best option) or see if they will give you any time/advice. since i moved to the area im in i have met and befriended so many helpful self starter tattoo artists.

its also hard to start anything either without some sort of media coverage or way to get yourself out there. i usually use ig to control my tattoo content and just repost here for my feed. my artist friends have really helped boost me and put me out there as well, it just takes a few people to recognize you have talent and are serious about this and then you can take off with it. its also nice to have a tattoo of yours complimented in public, which can most often lead to the question "who did that tattoo?", which is the easiest way to plug yourself in public. if i dont have a business card i just refer them to my platform. this works a lot easier for me though (since i am literally covered head to toe in my own work) but can be pretty annoying when you get unwanted attention in public.

lastly, handpoking is a bit more difficult to gain traction imo just because its so much slower. the tats on me look so much more solid bc i have infinite hours on myself, but these people want a handpoked tattoo that usually takes me so so many hours in a short time, so you want to practice timing yourself and seeing how far you get. i usually take around 1.5-2.5 hours on other ppls tattoos now, but it definitely takes time.

sorry this is a lot. hope it helped. im always very stoned.