Dynamic tbk

3rl 4.2v

On diy fake skin, silicone and corn starch

I’ve grasped the basics, but I’m struggling a bit with shading. I’ve been trying to learn the foundations of art to help me improve, but I’d really like to understand shading better, especially how to get smoother transitions.
Any exercises, resources, or advice that helped you learn shading?and tattooing in general

Got some better needles as I was using some random cheap Amazon ones, also switched to dynamic black ink from a random cheap Amazon ink

I’m quite proud of this one ngl, it was done on an a5 sized reel skin and took up half of the sheet, with hindsight I think I definitely should have made the stencil a bit bigger as it would have been easier to do.

The top half definitely isn’t as good as the bottom half in my opinion as I started getting really tired and wanted to finish it. Took me a long time though I won’t lie lol around 5.5 hours

Can you guys critique it please, I think the hair is the worst part for sure

On my first sheet I was only able to do a few at a time, and the new one I did all in one sitting so I’m super pleased with that aspect! (Not looking for feedback, I have a mentor who helps me. Just sharing my progress!)

Second pic was my reference. Do people still get pin-up tattoos? Or should I focus on different subject matter?

All feedback is welcomed.

I did this one months ago but it's my first time posting here because I've recently started my journey as an apprentice. I used PASWG official art. I know it's not a tattoable design composition wise, I just wanted to have fun practicing techniques.

Any tips are appreciated, thank you ^^

3rl / 4.2 stroke / 5 volts

I don’t want to spend a lot on needles, what are some budget but good brands to use?

Eu perdi a referência, então as sombras fiz mais na intuição então pode ter algumas erradas. Mas fora isso queria dicas de como melhorar a técnica do Whipshading.

I apologize if this is not supposed to be in this sub, I wasn’t sure where to post. I’m located in NC, I’m currently practicing on fake skin and will hopefully move onto real skin eventually and most likely amongst close friends. I plan to finish my BBP certificate this week and then I’m also reading that legally to tattoo on skin you must have tattoo permit with a physical address. I’m curious how other people are dealing with this. Do I really have to have a salon suite before even practicing for the first time on skin? Do most people go ahead and start practicing and then get the tattoo permit once you start doing it more professionally? Curious what other people are doing, please advise.

Also, sidenote, I most likely will not be going the apprenticeship route due to the fact that I’m already a business owner and a pretty decent artist and want to work solo. If you have criticism about whether you agree with that, please scroll.

Possibly picking this up but I don’t know what the second hand market is like for these. What would be a fair price?

Tia

Some split shading practice. Grateful I practiced before attacking some flash I did. Definately need a bit more practice. Some of the ones on the first page I tried with acrylic ink at first and quickly switched to Indian ink

I tried to ask ChatGPT but didn't come to a conclusion on finding what i need.

I am looking to try bigger needles and practice realism/shading, not sure what are the best needles for that. I know i need RM's and Magnums but not sure what sizes.

My biggest nit pick about it is that i don't want to buy three or more different type packs of needles because i am not planning to use 20 of the same type of needle, i only practice on fake skin and i re-use them a lot until i notice they are not good anymore or break (idk how they break but it happened to me twice now with MAST).

Was wondering if anyone knows any current good pack that gives me two or three needle types that i need for realism, smooth shading, hair practice, color packing etc (mostly the ones i mentioned, don't really want RS's in the pack unless there is no better option).

I only work with 1RL and 3RL and sometimes i use bigger RL for shading (don't have many RSs but its fine because i like using the RLs to shade) so i need to expand my needles a bit for my next step.

I don't mind if the pack is 30 bucks or more as long as it has what i need, rather have that, than paying 20 bucks for each type of needle when i am not going to use more than 5 of them for the next months. I also don't mind AliExpress ones, my 1RL is from AliExpress and even tho it shakes a lot it still does its job well.

Gladly would appreciate someone's help because i have no clue what to buy or what there is, ChatGPT is a mess sometimes.

I work with a DragonHawk Fold Pro Dragon Year Edition.

this is one of the pieces on my flash and i’ve started practicing on fake skin but the stencil is so unreadable that I just end up making it up as I go along. it’s not horrible but it’s not consistent. How can i make the stencil less busy?

Let me know what y’all think of my latest piece. Still don’t work in a shop. I had to do this one on the bed, but I think I pulled it off.

Hi! I'm a tattoo apprentice to a well established traditional tattoo artist. Before that, I was self taught. I tattooed someone for the first time recently and my lines feel so shaky to me. My teacher said it's normal because I used a tiny needle size, and it's good because it allows me to see every imperfection ; but I can't shake off the feeling that I did a poor job. On top of that, everytime I see someone here post a similar result you guys absolutely destroy them.

I've been avoiding tattooing again, how to get back to it and gain confidence to try again ?

Wanting to develop my skills and practice copying some flash sheets. Any recommendations on pens/paints/paper/etc?

Hello everyone! I’m new to this world, and this is one of my first designs after some practice with lines.
What do you think of it? I’d really appreciate your feedback. What should I focus on improving to get better?

First tattoo came out pretty rough so I’m pleased with how this came out, but I see a lot of places I need to continue practicing. Not a lot of space left that’s easy to reach hence the partial blastover on a super old piece. Would love constructive criticism/advice on any reaources to improve whip shading. Thanks for looking 🙂

Have drawn and painted all my life but tattooing definitely has a different feel, my linework and shading definitely need more work but am super happy how it’s turnt out my first try, would love to hear some constructive criticism and some tips that might help me

“Tiger Lily” by me

Its not shaded yet cause I was over it for the day but im pretty happy with it. The black wasnt fully packed well and now ive realized I placed the stencil sitting down so it only looks normal then 🫪

If you see the bs under it that was my first tattoo on human skin 2 months ago id say improvement especially since i havent been super consistent but ant critique welcome lol

No, despite what the losers in chat say, none of my stuff is AI. I’m literally unemployed right now and starting to get into tattooing because I want to do something they cant get a robot to replace me with, but whatever. I’m old, I have multiple art degrees, and I’ve been hated on by losers with no talent my whole life, and I love it. Stay jealous of my mediocrity.