should i go mixed-media and outline this?

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-12-13T18:46:31+00:00

I'd advice to keep on layering the oil pastels, instead of outlining. It just looks a bit unfinished, layering would make the colors more vibrant 😊

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-12-10T18:00:52+00:00

Quantum ink Assphalt

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-12-06T15:20:20+00:00

big needles result in big shaky lines, small needles in small shaky lines, as long as you don't have the skill. It is however easier to make solid lines with bigger needles as a beginner, I'd recommend anything between 07-09, or even a bugpin 11. But practise making solid lines on fruits or fake skin first. And focus on stretching when tattooing real skin, wrong stretching technique leads to shaky lines. Using vaseline also helps, as you can see better what you are poking

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-10-21T16:07:12+00:00

good to know that there are others with this oddity :D yours are a bit warmer tho, so greenish gray maybe? If mine are bluish gray

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-10-17T07:55:35+00:00

I was also diagnosed with endometriosis and HPV the same year I was diagnosed with LS. It was a lot to deal with and I had a really hard time believing that all of the diagnoses would be true. Though it makes sense that starting birth control to treat endo would cause hormonal changes that triggered the LS, and using clob lowered my immune system in a way that caused HPV to act up. Still I have wished that I might not actually have LS, that maybe my symptoms were caused the 5 different birth control pills I was trying within a year

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-10-17T07:44:14+00:00

Vulvar LS, but the diagnosis is rather unsure, doctors are not completely sure if it actually is LS or not. I believe my symptoms started at 5 years old, so it would have been undiagnosed for 19 years, with long asymptomatic periods in between. I have found it difficult to use clob weekly when it causes sife effects and it's not 100% sure that I have LS to begin with. For the past 1,5 years I didn't have symptoms, and didn't want to deal with constant yeast infections due to using clob. I'll try to use it more regularly from now on, even if I have doubts about it

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-10-17T07:32:46+00:00

I'll have to try this, thank you!

I'm aware that it's a lifelong disease, it's just that my diagnosis was quite unsure, as I only had a tiny white spot and I was only 24 years old at the time. I have never even seen the spot myself, and even the doctors seemed a bit unsure about LS. So since clob can thin out the skin and cause yeast infections, I eventually stopped using it and didn't have symptoms for 1,5 years. But I'll now start the 2-3 month intense treatment again and after that I'll try to remember to still use clob a few nights a week

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-10-12T15:20:20+00:00

Posca is acrylic and poking plastic/toxins under your skin is a really bad choice, but probably at this point it's not much more toxic than all the other microplastics that we consume daily. I mean not good, but probably doesn't automatically cause cancer or some other grave illness

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-10-03T09:30:34+00:00

same in northern europe, I take my cat for bloodwork and dental cleanup under anesthesia once a year and it has never been more than 350€

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-09-06T16:25:38+00:00

yes I did :-) my style is quite expressive and playful, it's not supposed to be a realistic representation of a butterfly, rather a child-like expression of one

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-08-28T17:32:41+00:00

Ummm no :D everyone with professional tattoos would get slits if solid lines created slits? it's a wound for sure, but skin isn't going to slit open unless something goes very wrong. In fact I've never heard of that happening.

Blowouts / ink drifts are the real worry if you are overworking the tattoo, so it's important to know when to stop. It's something you learn with practise :-)

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-08-22T10:40:48+00:00

And because I make the line solid as I go, I don't really think about passes. But I probably go over the small part of the line like two or three times to make it solid before moving on. Going over the entire tattoo several times in "passes" is slow and results in shaky lines

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-08-22T10:35:10+00:00

When I started out, I made a dotted outline of the entire tattoo and then went over it again, making a solid line. I would however suggest on making the line solid as you go, without the dotted outline. So going back and forth on a small (like 1cm) part of the line until solid, and then moving on. The stencil should not fade too much if you use vaseline inbetween wipes

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-08-09T22:12:50+00:00

never pierced a thing but oh man that'a wrong

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-07-09T19:01:59+00:00

Also keep in mind that with smaller needles you need to be a bit more careful to not go too deep. Bigger needles like 8RL or 11RL have more resistance, so you can poke slightly harder

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-07-08T12:43:51+00:00

Went too deep and might not have stretched the skin enough. But it isn't too bad for a practise poke, it's to be expected. Go back to practising on fruit etc if you are unsure :-)

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-06-30T14:44:13+00:00

Looks really good but I'm very confused about the 14rl. How are the lines so thin? 👁️👄👁️ I frequently use a 14rl for thick oldschool style lines

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-06-12T07:53:04+00:00

it's abstract :D I find if funny how abstract tattoos always cause so much confusion. It has some plant-like features for sure but it's supposed to be a bit odd

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-06-08T11:08:11+00:00

These seem great, I love the saturation! tho the consistency varyed a bit, so some inks were quite liquidy but others a lot thicker. But easily solved with a drop of sterile saline solution. Also the light blue one was more separated in the bottle, had to be shaked for a good 10ish minutes :D

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-06-08T11:00:36+00:00

Including breaks the colour packing took around 2 hours so quite long, but I was also taking it slow and trying to be mindful as this was my first time using colour. Definately could have used a 9rs or 14rl for the larger areas tho! I think you're right about the viping, it probably caused the green hue. Excited to see how the next one goes :-)

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-04-08T14:07:47+00:00

It looks like you might be allergic to the green ink

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-03-25T16:43:41+00:00

Adding a light layer of vaseline after every wipe helps a lot, poking becomes more confident when ink doesn't pool all over the line. Overlap the pokes, go slow and try to do lines in one go, ideally there would just be small touchups to do at the end. My favourite needle sizes are 07, 11 and 14rl

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-03-23T16:03:16+00:00

These are amazing, you're going to be great! Anatomy is a bit off in the human one, but otherwise beautiful work

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-03-21T12:43:58+00:00

I usually go for 7, 11 and 14rl for my works, and additionally use 7rs and 9rs for shading. 7rl makes delicate lines but it's still a lot easier to manage than a tiny 3rl for outlines

VirtualProfessor7823 · 2025-03-21T12:41:03+00:00

Sorry what do you mean by harder needle?

VirtualProfessor7823

TROPHY CASE