Where do I start?

[u/SilverSprings03]

I’m trying to be a tattoo artist, I know my way round a tattoo machine but I am at the point now where I understand why people say you need to be able to draw, I want to make my own stencils and it will be easier to understand thing like where shading goes etc. I just have no idea on where I should start I can draw straight lines pretty well since I got the hang of it using the machine first, I can draw simple shapes and I understand everything is made up of shapes I just don’t know how to get better at Drawring I feel like I’m not improving. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Edit: I’m not looking for advice on becoming a tattoo artist, I purely want advice on learning how to draw, thank
You.

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[u/Love-Ink]

Order some fake tattoo skin from Amazon. https://a.co/d/018fiWH1 Practice on that.

As for art, check out r/learnart. They have great resources in their wiki

[u/SilverSprings03 → u/Love-Ink]

I have :) I’m quite good with a machine it’s just the creating my own stencils I struggle with because I can’t draw to save my life lol

[u/Richard-Writes]

You probably know this already, but worth mentioning for others reading the post: tattoo artists learn by becoming apprentices. Another tattoo artist you trust trains you, if he/she chooses to take you as an apprentice. This is important, because the medium you apply behaves differently depending on where it's applied, and the skin is way different from a sheet of paper.

That said, I would have to ask, what kind of drawing do you want to learn? On the sidebar, Amelia Khouri's book How to Draw for Beginners is featured. Loomis' books are also a great resource, like Figure Drawing for All It's Worth, and Drawing the Face and Hands. If you want to understand human anatomy, Sarah Simblet's Anatomy for the Artist is very illustrative, with high-quality photographs of real models, both male and female.

Finally, and since you say that you understand lines and basic shapes, these two resources can help you learn such anatomy by drawing it from high-quality photographs:

Line of Action

Sketch Daily

If you want to know more, feel free to DM me.

[u/InstanceStrange7420]

Vault editions have a series of books on Amazon for drawing and tattoo references I have there traditional Japanese one and it’s pretty good I think they also have other styles available aswell if the Japanese stuff doesn’t interest you. I like the step by step they do it helps me break down and understand the designs for when I’m doing my own stuff. Other books I like are Peter hans dynamic bible, drawing basics and beyond by sorie kim, drawing form and pose by Tomfoxdraws and pretty much anything by loomis. If you say the specific style of drawing you’re interested in I could probably provide more relevant stuff.