Trouble Tattooing horizontally, upwards and curved lines?

[bloodbunny]

Hi all,
I’ve been practicing on fake skin a bit but I’ve been struggling on inking horizontally, or basically pushing lines.

I’m alright at pulling lines, but just can’t go side to side or do curved shapes. My hand begins to shake and I don’t go deep enough to make a nice line.
What would be the best way to combat this?
I will say that I tend to be heavy handed and I tattoo a bit too fast sometimes, also my grip can be pretty tight that it hurts a bit.

 

[Big Pete]

A horizontal line doesn't need to stay horizontal...move yourself or your practice skin/person to a different position to make the line verticle.

 

[marked 4 life]

A horizontal line doesn't need to stay horizontal...move yourself or your practice skin/person to a different position to make the line verticle.

I do that when tattooing, the advantage of having a stool on wheels is you can quickly reposition yourself to suit and don’t be afraid to reposition the customer to suit you, once you start trying to reach awkward bits from your seated position your stretching will suffer, you will over reach and your lines will be poor and colour saturation will be weak, position the customer to suit you.

Regarding pushing / pulling lines, do whatever works for you, I use a combination personally.

When using practice skin I found it better to wrap it round a plastic pop bottle filled with water, place it on the arm rest (tape the bottle around the arm rest if necessary) leave the arm rest in place and move yourself and reposition yourself around it on your wheeled stool.

If you are gripping the grip too hard, that alone will affect your lines and things like circles, relax, slow down, even try a thicker grip or wrap bandage around your grip to increase the diameter and you may find that you won’t grip a bigger grip it so tight.

Also don’t forget to move from your shoulder / elbow to allow more gliding freedom, if you move from the wrist only your circles will have a flat edge, your lines will be weak at the ends, depth will be inconsistent ……

I’m not saying my way is the only way but it is what works for me.

 

[whippet]

I move around more than other artist in my shop, often standing if thats what’s required, in fact I like tattooing standing but after a while you do feel it.

Regarding the push/pull thing, I worked out a couple of things that helped me.

One was actual technique, and that was to tilt the machine away from me so the tip is almost dragging behind the body of the machine as it enters the skin. Of course the machine (overall) still needs to point in the direction that the line is moving in, but the tip is pointing in the opposite direction of your travel.

The second, which relates to the first, is more a principle. I started thinking about the need for keeping tension on the machine/your arm as you move. I thought along the lines of a car towing another car. While the rope between the two cars is taut (under tension), the towed car must follow the first car. If the front car slows down and the rope goes slack, the second car can deviate in direction (assuming no one is steering it).

When pulling a line you can create a tension based on the resistance the skin gives to the needles/machine as you pull or push them. I admit that this is something you need to experience to appreciate, as the resistance is subtle, but its there.

Anyway, after thinking this way and creating the slight tension, which also requires a continuous movement, I made some improvements. It works for me best when pulling (or tilting machine away when pushing), but I’ve also done it on a more traditional push.

As marked4life said, we all have our ways and I’m sure others have other advice that will work.

 

[KyleBl4ck]

Use your shoulder.
That is all.

 

[DKJ]

My 2 cents:
A good ol' kick in the balls is easier to land and 99% effective, when a 720° roundhouse reverted spanish fly thunderkick to the head could eventually fail.

As a beginner, stand your grounds. Do what you can and try to be better at it everytime.
When you'll have mastered those simple stuff which suits you well right now, the previously difficult stuff will seem a lot more easier.

Move around your client.
Doing some strange moves requires a strange moment, like a strange location on the body, or a place where you have to either push this line or seat on your client's face to pull it.

Think about the end result: how good will the tattoo look on your client. People will see that and come for you to make them something as good. Don't make it difficult for you!
There's no one in the studio watching you pull those crazy needle tricks. It's not important at all.

Peace,

DKJ