When you are looking at a tattoo you are actually seeing it through the top layer of skin. Think of a color printer, printing on white paper versus color paper. The images printed will be affected by the color of the paper. The same is true for skin tone in tattoos.

Even in two-dimensional works you can convey the sense of touching a variety of surfaces by using implied texture. You can use line, value, color, pattern and contrast to create simulated textures on flat surfaces.

In tattooing, linework is arguably the most important element. Lines form the basis of our sketches and the stencils used to apply the artwork to the skin.

Grapefruits are inexpensive, readily available and have enough surface area to accomplish some nice designs. The skin of a grapefruit is easily punctured but tough enough to hold up to multiple needle passes. Tattooing grapefruits gives you valuable experience in the feel of the machine, strengthens your hand, aids in understanding needle depth and speed before you approach a real client. Bonus; you have a snack when you are done!

With the advanced information available today, there is no excuse for poor sanitation practices. Tattoo artists have an ethical and, in some areas, a legal responsibility to educate themselves, and be highly literate on the latest procedures and practices to ensure minimal risk to self and client.

There is very little chance of getting an infection from a tattoo studio using standard precautions and sanitary practices. The majority of the time an infection is caused by improper aftercare.

Some of the pain that clients experience is likely from not knowing what to expect. They approach their appointment with tension and nervousness, and they tend to hold their breath when they first get started. As soon as a client relaxes and breathes normally, the tattoo pain becomes minimal.

Knowing when to turn your power up or down comes with cautious experimentation. Remember, that when you adjust the power supply setting you must compensate by adapting hand speed, pressure and hand movement to avoid damage to the client’s skin.

Tattooers could decide to mix their own ink. However, I believe choosing tattoo ink from well-established companies who supply ink to the public, use safe handling practices, and regularly test their ink, is an excellent choice.

When composition is good, you don’t really notice it, but you definitely notice when compositional elements are ignored. An artwork will seem unsuccessful or ‘wrong’ to you, even if you don’t know why.