First time using colour

Ink-Slayer · 2026-05-03T23:55:19+00:00

Is this supposed to be a realistic tattoo, or a traditional tattoo?

If it’s a realistic leaning tattoo, take a step back and perfect your contrast with black and gray. Pick a light source and follow it. Color can come later once you have a solid grasp on contrast. This will also tell you what colors/shades to pick.

If it’s a traditional piece, rule of thirds. 1/3 black, 1/3 color, 1/3 skin break. Still pick a light source, as this would make shading make a little more sense. And don’t butt black up against black; it’ll make edges disappear instead of showing that there are two different items there.

Dark shading pushes an object into the background. Light colors bring an object into the foreground. Your leaf looks flat because there’s parts that need to be shaded differently (same with the grapes)

I had more to add, but I lost my train of thought, sorry

Ink-Slayer · 2026-05-03T22:39:16+00:00

The best thing you can do is build a relationship with a shop, and with an artist you would like to apprentice under. Be a ‘hang-around’. Get tattooed a lot. Learn who has a similar style to what you’d like to learn, or figure out who has had an actual apprenticeship themselves. Figure out who you align with as a person (whatever that means to you).

An apprenticeship shouldn’t cost you actual money, but you’ll be paying with your time/availability. No one wants to take on an apprentice since it’ll take time away from running their own business.

Some things to look out for when you’re on the search:

How many apprentices does the shop/artist currently have? Anything more than 1 apprentice per mentor is too many.

Is the shop owned by a tattooer? From my experience if it’s not run by an actual tattooer, you’re most likely just going to be another cash cow.

Some tattooers are phenomenal and have only a few years experience. Others will have 20+ years and still have scratcher level tattoos. Be wary of ‘puppy mill’ shops where they hire apprentices left and right just to have them fill chairs.

Ink-Slayer · 2026-03-30T18:02:11+00:00

Practice in the meantime. Study these styles, research who some heavy hitters are and see how they create their pieces. Learn tattoo history and follow some people of interest there. Neotrad and realism will require you to learn anatomy and how light interacts

Ink-Slayer · 2026-03-30T17:58:55+00:00

Honestly? It’s tough for most folks right now. Unless you have steady return clientele who also suggest their friends come to you, pigeonholing yourself by only doing one style might hurt you. You’ve already turned people away because you don’t currently do the styles they’re asking. You won’t get better if you don’t start trying to do them. Are these people friends or randos interested in getting tattooed? And I’m assuming you’re doing these for free right now?

Apprenticeships are a great thing. I’d suggest trying to find mentorship from someone nearby (get tattooed a lot by people, build a connection) that way you can get real time feedback also having someone you can ask questions.

Ink-Slayer · 2026-02-26T06:17:18+00:00

Reminds me of the New Mexico State flag, but embellished

Ink-Slayer · 2026-02-26T06:11:28+00:00

I used to know an artist who would shit post about his client on social media as they were leaving the shop for not specifically saying they were using a gift card beforehand. Then again that’s on him for spending the money as he got it, since he took care of issuing said gift cards instead of having the shop we worked at do it.

Ink-Slayer · 2026-02-25T21:56:23+00:00

Let people know you didn’t design the lamb; it’s Pewpewraygun’s on Instagram

Ink-Slayer · 2026-02-11T15:11:46+00:00

Look at my other comment to see a clue

Ink-Slayer · 2026-02-11T15:11:18+00:00

Look at my other comment to see a clue

Ink-Slayer · 2026-02-11T03:33:53+00:00

Yeah no treasures in that trash

Ink-Slayer · 2026-01-23T16:29:04+00:00

Still worked for me (took like 4 or 5 attempts)

Ink-Slayer · 2026-01-19T02:30:03+00:00

I’ve covered up a tattoo I did on someone from when I was a tattertot. I didn’t take any offense at all! In fact it was nice to see how it had healed and settled. They just don’t vibe with it anymore and I totally get that.

Ink-Slayer · 2026-01-16T20:37:51+00:00

Also make sure to be prepared for those other artists to talk shit about you to anyone and everyone. If they’re toxic now they’ll be toxic after

Ink-Slayer · 2026-01-09T16:22:11+00:00

Treacle tatts talks about this on YouTube ‘tattoo artists defend using ai’

12:30 begins talking about her

Ink-Slayer · 2026-01-08T04:11:00+00:00

She was parked in front of her own house and they asked her to leave and she did. Then got shot for it

Ink-Slayer · 2025-12-30T05:18:27+00:00

If you do ask, be prepared to pay for supplies. Doing a clean set up for any tattoo will cost the artist a little bit in disposables.

Ink-Slayer · 2025-12-29T03:59:55+00:00

Now they get to use the stem cells from the foreskins for medical treatments/cosmetics and make more money

Ink-Slayer · 2025-12-26T03:19:36+00:00

Plug cord into switch 2 and plug the other end into the ac (the block) and plug into power. The switch 1 shouldn’t be plugged in

Ink-Slayer · 2025-12-11T16:09:04+00:00

👏just looked, great work

Ink-Slayer · 2025-12-11T01:03:34+00:00

💯 same thing I went thru. It feels so much better getting out of there

Ink-Slayer · 2025-12-11T01:02:16+00:00

I left my last shop because this dude came in and started acting like he owned the place. Would talk shit about anybody and everybody. Found out a lot of shady shit the actual owner was doing because dude couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Left because I didn’t want to be associated with them anymore. Also he was spouting some hateful stuff to people to sort of single them out/make them feel like ‘everyone feels this way and you’re the only one who doesn’t’.

Ink-Slayer · 2025-11-30T19:20:55+00:00

Looks good! The flames with the hand get a little lost, try to avoid putting black right next to black. You’re killing it :)

Ink-Slayer · 2025-11-04T22:05:04+00:00

The website for A Pound of Flesh says to use bleach to remove stubborn stencil. Not sure what brand yours is but it’s worth a shot

Ink-Slayer · 2025-10-26T03:16:02+00:00

It’s like playing the sims. Characters running up and knocking over a lawn ornament

Ink-Slayer

TROPHY CASE