Most new tattoo artists wonder, “How do I know when I’m ready to tattoo human skin?” after some practice on fake skin. You should practice on human skin because that is the path you wish to take your career in. But the majority of people rush onto actual skin before they’re prepared. Blowouts, scabbing, infections, and poor tattoos can all result from this. Continue reading if you’re unsure whether you’re prepared to begin working with clients. 4 steps to take before tattooing human skin are as follows:
- Must have a sterile space to work
A hygienic environment is the most important requirement before tattooing anyone, even oneself. You must confirm that you have:
- All the necessary sterilization tools. To prevent cross-contamination, we simply advise adopting a 100% disposable setup.
- Easily cleanable and sterile bloodborne pathogen-free floors
- Every surface was cleaned, then plastic barriers were placed over them.
- Your certificate in bloodborne pathogens
You shouldn’t tattoo yourself in a room with any fabric, even if you are doing it yourself. Bloodborne germs are more difficult to remove from felt, cotton, etc. than from a metal tattoo station. Your entire area should have non-porous surfaces. Before tattooing on human skin, you must obtain your bloodborne pathogens (BBP) certification. Nearly many states forbid tattooing without a BBP certification.
2. Possess the ability to line, shade, and pack ink
Lining, shading, and ink packing are the three techniques that go into every tattoo. Making the effort to develop each of these foundational skills will ensure that you are prepared to create stunning tattoos on your actual skin. Working on each of these talents separately will help you develop them more quickly. You’ll be able to master one talent more quickly if you can dedicate all of your attention to it rather than trying to study them all at once.
Linework
Using artificial skin as practice material is the quickest approach to achieving straight lines:
- Drilling lines (both straight and curved lines)
- Inking precise circles
- Hitting the proper depth regularly (2mm into your fake skin)
Shading
You can test out a variety of shading methods on fake skin:
- The traditional whip shading
- Pendulum shading & highlighting
- Packing in all-black regions
Color
As you’ll be using many of the same hand motions, using color is similar to shading. It can occasionally be more challenging than shading, though. For instance, it can be difficult to see in the skin when trying to pack in yellow ink, which can cause you to unintentionally overwork the skin. Before attempting to tattoo color, we advise producing a lot of designs in black ink solely when practicing actual designs so you can concentrate on your linework and shading.
- Try out tattoos on fake skin.
You are ready to perform a palm-sized tattoo on fake skin if you can complete flawless lining and shading drills. This is a wonderful opportunity to check your tattooing depth and see whether any places are being overworked. When you stretch the fake skin, you will see cuts or slices in the skin if your needle depth is too deep. You’ll notice that the silicone looks chewed up or that there are little bits missing from it if you are overworking the skin. Tattooing on real skin is more challenging than tattooing on artificial skin. Therefore, prior to tattooing a person, you should ensure that you can complete a flawless tattoo on artificial skin. Your career will take off if you can produce excellent work on fake skin because you’ll make far fewer errors with actual humans.
- Check the Healing of Your Tattoos
You should monitor the healing of your tattoos until you are ready to tattoo real humans. Self-tattooing is the most effective technique to accomplish this. For tattoo artists, getting their first tattoo on themselves is a milestone. This is due to several factors:
- Before tattooing someone else, you must be aware of the suffering your tattoos cause.
- It’s preferable if you make a critical error on yourself rather than a paying customer.
- The healing process is visible.
- Repeat the tattoo art on fake skin after making a mistake on human skin.
CONCLUSION
You should practice for a time with interested family and friends without charge before starting on actual paying clients. It’s better to perform those tattoos for free at the beginning of your career or business because your clients are doing you a favor and you will probably make a few errors. All the above-mentioned points should be kept in mind before tattooing human skin. The best tattoo shop in Vijayawada is Shaila Tattoos and Piercing Studio, where you can leave your original ideas in our expert hands and unwind while we create a tattoo you’ll love and follow all safety precautions when tattooing people.