I recently purchased the GRINDER Tattoo kit from Amazon. Yes, I know……may sound like a lame start, but wanted to start somewhere. The day it arrived, I bought a few bags of grapefruit to practice. I must admit, I honestly didn’t think there was SO MUCH to the art! I was thinking, just trace something and color it in. I mean, I’ve got a huge back piece and other random ink, and the artist made it look easy. You can imagine my surprise when I realized there is so much more to producing a tattoo!!! That said, I’ve already gained a new respect for those artists out there who excel at this skill.
Everything from tuning the gun, needle placement, and grip techniques….so much! I’m taking it a little bit at a time, and learning something new every night. I don’t expect to tattoo anyone for a LONG time, but I wanted to learn something new and out of the ordinary. The tattoo crowd is the typical crowd I get along with, so it seemed perfect.
Night #2 tattoo practice: Worked with a new machine and fine needle. Still learning the best depth to adjust the needle. It appears that tattooing based on the needle and not the tip of the machine barrel, is the way to go. This means you can’t rest the machine on someone’s skin because the needle comes out of the barrel about 1/8” inch. I’ve got to watch more videos to see exactly how other’s adjust their needles. Everyone seems to do it a bit different. I was just getting into a good groove where I felt comfortable and able to focus, when it was time to turn-in for the night. I cannot draw freehand symmetrical objects, must rely on stencils. I felt a definite improvement from night 1, and learned a few things in the process.
Joe
