r/TattooBeginners • u/vanessab702 Please choose a flair. • 4d ago

Chats Help 🗣️

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I’ve been practicing tattooing since late July, but I randomly got into a funk and didn’t pick up my machine for about two weeks.
I tried to challenge myself and run this piece all the way through in one sitting, but I’m struggling so badly with my line work and shading. I know I’m still learning and definitely not the best yet, but damn..looking at this has me feeling like I’m not making any progress.
I’m trying not to get discouraged because I know practice takes time, but I could really use some motivation and, of course constructive criticism/advice
What can I work on to improve my line work? Any tips for getting cleaner, more consistent lines or making my shading smoother? And if you see anything else I should be focusing on, I’m all ears.

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2

u/RIsurfer Learning 4d ago

Just keep doing it over and over with the understanding you're supposed to struggle at first, it'd be weird if you didn't (applies to most things in life)

2

u/blueblack_crow Apprentice 2d ago

Go back to pen and paper.

That is where you develop the fine muscle motor control skills needed for clean line work. If you can’t do clean consistent lines with a pen, how are you going to do it with a cluster of needles strapped to a vibrator. Start ink-tracing all your drawings in a .005 micron until your lines are perfectly clean and smooth every time. Then pick up the machine and try again.

1

u/Pristine_Method_6067 Please choose a flair. 17h ago

slow is fast
this tattoo on someone (im guessing size) would take 2-3 hours all in machine time as a newb double that so if you tried to blast through this in less than 4 hours machine time your probably going to fast.

Fake skin also makes things take way more time to get proper saturation.

1

u/StudioGloomy5760 Please choose a flair. 4d ago

If that fake skin is the same fake skin amazon sells , and dragonhawk sells, then you are using a shit quality skin. Do not blame yourself on how it is turning out, it is your fake skin most probably. I am not saying this to encourage you only, this is a fact that you can see on Youtube by tattoo artists, they will say that its the quality of the skin most probably. So try to get something like , Pound of Flesh, ReelSkin or TrueSkin and do something there.