How to Tattoo for Begineers

Welcome to'Tattooing For Beginners. To start out, you need the equipment. Together with a quick outline of what it is used for.

TATTOO MACHINE : The business end.
POWER SUPPLY : self-explanatory.

FOOT SWITCH : On/off switch for the tattoo machine.
LINING NEEDLES : For tattooing lines and fine detail. SHADING NEEDLES : For shading and colouring.
TUBES, GRIPS AND TIPS : To hold the needle, and pigment while tattooing.
TATTOO PIGMENTS / INKS : self-explanatory.
TATTOO DESIGNS : Self explanatory.
INK CAPS : To hold the pigment while tattooing.
INK CAP HOLDER : For holding the ink caps
DISTILLED WATER : to wash out tubes and needles, also for numbing down pigments.
DISPOSABLE RAZORS : For shaving the area to be tattooed.
PLASTIC BAGS : For covering all kit to reduce possibility of transmitting blood-borne pathogens.
If it's's not on, it's not on.
SHARPS CONTAINER : ALWAYS dump used needles and razors into a real sharps container.
TINCTURE OF GREEN SOAP : to bathe tattoo area before during and after tattooing. Also washes off misplaced transfers. SPRAY BOTTLE : For Green Soap mix
ALCOHOL SWAB : Pre-tattoo disinfectant.
THERMAL TRANSFER PAPER : For stencilling onto the skin.
THERMAL TRANSFER PAPER : For making the stencil.
SINGLE-USE SACHETS OF MEDICAL LUBE : For transferring the stencil onto the skin. ( Speedstick deodorant is sometimes used )
SKIN SCRIBE : For freehand transfers, and transfer touch-ups.
LINT FREE tissues : Multi-purpose cleaning and wiping, before, during and after tattooing.
LAMP : self explanatory.

Creating, AND trying the STENCIL
There are a quite a few other ways of going about this, depending on the time and cash you can spare.
For me, I get the image onto Adobe Photoshop and strip away all the shade and color till i have only a basic outline left. From there I get my old faculty dot matrix printer and print the image onto the back of thethermal transfer paper, but without using the ink ribbon.
If you can afford a thermal transfer printer this leads to a quicker more reliable transfer. You can also do it by tracing around the image with a sharp pencil or ballpoint pen, but that can take plenty of time, and can also invite stencil errors.
Some people even like to replicate the Stencil freehand straight onto the skin with a Skin scribe.

Place a thin film of Medical grade lubricator onto the area. Some tattooists say to use speedstick deoderant, but I never really liked the idea of injecting that stuff into peoples bodies. Place the transfer conscientiously onto the skin in the required place and lightly rub the back till the entire piece is contacting the skin. The area should be in a natural state, don't flex your muscles while the stencil is being applied.
Slowly peel off the paper, and you could have a perfect copy of your outline on the skin. If the image requires a few touch-ups, i would just get the skin scribe out and freehand it up.

If the image needs a few touch-ups, I would just get the skin scribe out and freehand it up. If the image is beyond repair, a small spray of Green Soap should clean it off enough so that another stencil can be applied.

SETTING UP YOUR MACHINE AND EQUIPMENT

When working with a client, you must take extreme care to ensure your equipment is clean, disinfected, and sterilized when in use. Also, any equipment that will be touched, eg. lamp switch, spray bottles, machine, clip cord, etc. should be bagged up with plastic bags or plastic wrap.

A good lamp should be placed within reach for bad lighting situations, and pour some water into 2 or 3 disposable cups for rinsing the needles or changing colours.

Before assembling your gun to work on a client, all parts should have been autoclaved, disinfected, and cleaned. Alternatively, they should be EO Gas pre-sterilized disposable parts still in sealed packages.

Wear latex gloves during the assembly process, because once you remove parts from there sterile packages, they are no longer sterile, so utmost care must be taken not to contaminate them.

Take the assembled gun, ensure it is clean, wipe it down with a cleaning agent and disinfect. Attach a rubber grommet to the end of the armature bar. Select the needle assembly you plan on using, slightly bend the needle bar, just barely. (this provides a solid contact for the rubbber bands, and proper contact of the needles and the tip. Insert the desired needle bar and needle assembly thru the tube clamping assembly and onto the rubber grommet with the opening in the loop facing left (as looking at the front of the machine). Carefully insert the needlebar assembly into the proper tube, and slide the tube up until the needles approach the tube tip, at this point be very careful not to damage your needle tips when guiding them through the tip. insert the tube into the chuck and temporarily tighten.

Check the contact points to ensure they are in good condition. Pitted or worn contacts should be replaced. If you are using this gun as a liner, set the contacts aprox 1/16" / 1.6mm apart (1/64" / 0.5mm for a shader), and tighten the screw

which holds the contact screw in place. Place rubber bands around your gun, to tension the needle bar toward the back of the tube. Look at this point, the needle bar should not be rubbing the tube. Move your armature bar up and down to assure free movement, and to assure your needle bar loop is seated on your grommet.

Pour only enough pigment into some ink caps for the job you are doing. Never dip the needle, or return any unused pigment back into the bottle, otherwise it will become contaminated with blood and this can be spread throughout the bottle causing a spread of infection or disease.

Squeeze out some Bepanthen ointment (A&D, Bacitracin, Vaseline, etc can supposedly also be used,) onto a clean napkin.

Then you are ready to tattoo.

SKIN ANATOMY AND HOW IT RELATES TO TATTOOING

The skin is made up of layers. As a tattooist you must be concerned with the first five epidermal skin layers. The layer designations are "Epidermis", "Fibrosis", "Dermis", "Subcutaneous Fat", and "Muscle". The Epidermis or outer layer is responsible for protection against the environment. The Dermis or middle layer is primarily responsible for structure and support and the Subcutaneous Fat layer is primarily responsible for insulation and shock absorbency.

The Epidermis is divided into three sublayers: the "Stratum Corneum", the "Squamous Cell" layer and the "Basil Cell" layer. The Stratum Corneum consists of several layers of dead Squamous cells and varies in thickness depending on location on the body. The thickest layers being on the bottom of the feet and palms of the hands. The Stratum Corneum becomes thicker with age and exposure to the environment and thus more susceptible to wrinkles and creases. It is desirable to stop the ultraviolet light from the sun at the surface of the skin rather than allowing it to penetrate into the skin. UV from the sun that penetrates into the skin can cause several types of damage including fading of tattoo ink. The Squamous Cell layer is the middle layer of the epidermis and is the center for new skin growth. Skin cells grow and multiply in this layer and are constantly pushed outward to eventually die and become part of the Stratum Corneum. The Basil Cell layer is the birth place of new epidermal skin cells. Basil cells receive a chemical message when the skin is damaged or when the stratum corneum loses too many cells and becomes thinner than it is supposed to be. This results in the basil cells dividing and differentiating to form new skin cells and start the outward movement that results in new skin production. The ink is deposited in the dermis region, and when healed the ink can be seen due to the transparency of the skin cells.

Tattoo ink must be deposited in the dermis (just below the epidermis layer), because if the ink is too shallow in the skin, (in the outer layers), it will fade with time, as those skin cells are replaced. If it is too deep, it will loose it's form with time in the fat layer. Fat cells contract and grow with age, and with weight gain/loss. This will make the ink will move, causing a distorted image.

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