How To Tattoo At The Right Depth
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- Опубліковано 7 чер 2024
- How To Tattoo At The Right Depth
In this video, we go over how to make sure you are tattooing at the right depth. We highlight what it's like if you tattoo too shallow or tattoo too deep, and how to find the sweet spot.
Don't forget to hit the subscribe button to stay tuned for more tips and tricks!
00:00 Intro
00:53 The Layers of Skin
03:02 The Sweet Spot
05:30 Things to Avoid
06:16 Depth Demonstration
07:51 Cross Section
09:35 Bonus Question
09:50 Lining Demonstration
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The way I fixed my depth issues was to bring the needle down very gently to the skin and very slowly go deeper into the skin until I noticed a puddle of ink form on the skin, once there if I just went ever so slightly deeper I found this hit the dermis consistently every time
Excellent
Ben fisher has a video on just that same technique as you explained
@@michaelearley1056 Link please?
Now everyone here is going to tube ride, without them knowing how long your needle hang is... blowout galore
Sounds exactly like how I bang my girlfriend ngl
Just did my first tattoo on human skin and I was way too light. It was scratchy and I’m sure it won’t last . It was free and she knew what was going on. 😬 I’m going to keep at it!! Thanks!!
Wayyyyyy better than going to deep🙌
You can always touch up the tattoo after it fully heals. But you can’t fix a blown out tattoo without laser correction.
Not uncommon to be apprehensive on first tattoo. Better too light than tearing ppl up. Confidence isnt taught...it comes with practice.👍🏻
how is it going now vs where you were a year ago? 😁
I have done about 20 tattoos already and I've been very frustrated because I can't seem to get the correct depth down, it's always either too light or too deep. This video is helpful although I feel like a more in depth demonstration and explanation of this subject could be great for people that just recently started tattooing on real skin.
Try feel the constant vibration in your hand that's when you hit the sweet spot also good needles and long stroke 4.0 machine will help but 3.5 stroke is ok for smaller round liners. With smaller liners you can move faster with bigger liners move a bit slower but not too slow keep a constant speed. I think last tip is make sure it's poking out enough the needle.
Just practicing the right depth for me. All on fake skin haven't even touched real yet. I want to learn as much as possible before I do anything on real skin. This video has been on repeat for the past hour as I wrote notes down. Thank you very much, we appreciate you and your knowledge.
my issue was i got over confident with shading and tried to finish my hand , went to deep , caused lots of pain afterwards , scabbing , very slight infection , awful color changes , swelling and redness / discoloration. its very important to go at the right depth , i appreciate this video alot. thank you.
I'm not a "tattooist", but I do my own tattoos. I started out with a cheap amazon chinese coil machine. Some of my work came out decent. Most looked like sh1t. Then I bought a wireless brand name rotary. I can hear and feel the difference. This machine is a game changer for me. My lines are so much better. My coloring is much better. I tattooed the tree of life on my wife and it came out great. I have no plans on doing this professionally, unless I get bit by the bug, but I love tattooing myself and seeing what the final results are. Doing my own allows me to play around instead of destroying someone elses body.
That's how I started was Amazon cheap coil machine I tattood myself up tell I got comfortable
I'm still in the cheap machine phase, thinking about upgrading soon but I want to get more practice in. Looking forward to tattooing myself, I'm the same as far as I'm not trying to make a career out of this. I just enjoy it
@@VeneerSlinger It's an investment for sure when buying higher quality, but the end results is worth it.
I did that too. I bought multiple cheap Chinese machines over the years. I don't think they're all sh*te - kind of. First thing I did to every Chinese coil was to replace springs to eikon. I have 2 "normal machines" one coli and one rotary, coil is either not good or I can not set it up correctly. Rotary is the best - old school style direct drive monster, I can do anything with that. To this day my favorite liner is some cheap Chinese frame with coils I bought from ebay (UK hand made) and eikon springs. This machine cost me maybe 50£ total and works flawlessly. I think if you're patient and practice long enough you will be able to pull off great tattoo with $5 Chinese sh*te. Quality equipment might help a bit but I believe that 80% is the skill.
@@walles1 The main issue I had with the cheap coils were erratic skips/misfires with voltage spikes. I ended up buying quality coils, armature bars which helped, but never went back to coil machines once I got my wireless rotary pen lol. I freakin love it.
Been waiting on this video !! Yessss thank you 🙏🏼
I've practiced on Reel skin a lot. Only took a couple weeks to realize if I can see my design on the back I'm too deep. Great info, thanks for all the videos. Hope all is well, take it easy.
Just wanna say thanks for you and your fellow team members time…very much appreciated
You covered this topic great!! I love how you cut into the fake skin to show people what it looks like. I’ve only been tattooing about 2 months now but you guys have taught me so much. Thanks again !!
im glad it was able to help out
@@Tattooing101 hi my friend i am going too deep i think because the ink blows out on each side and it comes blue and my shade never lasts

This guy is great.
The illustration by cutting into the fake skin really helped alot aswell as his explanation explanation of going to light and color peeling off
.youre great.
Thank you so much 😊 I learn with your videos all I wanted !
You are the only men explain the tips and the details
I’m glad I’m able to help you out.
@@Tattooing101 I just have one more question for you!
The only part where I couldn't find an explanation is the drawing part, I know you have to start with lines/shapes but then I don't know if it's better to create these own drawings directly or to reproduce at the beginning a can?
I'm doing my first tat today. wish me luck brother your vids have given me courage and these dabs lol
Great video, explains clearly how to avoid damage to the skin. Finding the sweet spot has so many variables. Get to know your machines and practice practice practice.
Nice i was going too shallow and getting kinda like dotted lines and you clarified the voltage for me too i was too low great video thank you I’m subscribed now
Awesome videos. Really helpful!
Yes it was to light when I enter in the skin and sometimes I got the perfect depth that you explained... It was a nice video Brandon.
Glad it was helpful!
I'm a seasoned artist but I have to train my apprentice with rotary machines I was taught with coils but I'm so glad theirs youtube I dig your guys channel man 8n the 90s it was unheard of to find this knowledge let alone youtube
I love that you are researching to be able to better teach your apprentice!
that's awesome its not bad to keep up to date on all the new stuff. the industry has changed a ton the last 5-10 years
Such a good video thank you
My problem is definitely my angle which then cuz me to go light and staying in the first layer. I’ll definitely start holding the matching more upright
Your videos are some of my favorite keep it up bro 💯
Amazing info as always :)
Helpful. Thanks
I use Reel Skin to practice on. Im having problems slightly slicing the skin
Love this man
I'm a beginner and have been tattooing people for free. It's free but at your expense. :) Glad they trust me although I'm a newbie. Nice video, Brandon.
Went in to deep I left sun scarring but I’m learning they just let me try to see where I’m at and what I got to fix and your my go to person on this you help me a lot thank you for all these good explication and very detailed videos
I went too light in a few spots, but would rather that than too deep. No blowouts yet, however I'm surprised you didn't cover different areas of skin. For instance doing an upper arm was night and day difference from the wrist consistency wise.
my problem is that i'm tattooing too light and too fast. Im used to drawing with graphite and mediums that require me to have light and fast traces so i'm still getting used to this, this helped me a lot, thank you
I can VERY much relate to this when i first started tattooing. My fav medium was also graphite and similar mediums where ur pressure plays a huge role in ur blending. Tattooing has a LITTLE of this but mostly it is done totally thru gradients...so same pressure and depth but to get the shading u use black and grey wash. I use Dynamic Black 100%..then i make 2 oz bottles of 75% black/25% witch hazel, then a bottle of 50%blk/50% witch hazel, then 30%black/70% witch hazel. I also have a 10%/90% for portraits. And will use my rinse cup to get 75% or 50% a touch lighter. U can use distilled water but i prefer witch hazel as its mostly distilled water and also os a skin soother so i suggest that. But just use a light hand and a shorter stroke for good shading. U can usually add more saturation to a point but u cant un saturate. But its hard when ur conditioned to using hand pressure to create dark to light tones. Think of this b&g wash kind of like using harder and softer graphites. Practice practice practice.👍🏻
Thanks 🌸
Great video 👍
Thank you so much for explaining the correct depth.Its so important and I'm new at this.your advice makes all the difference and you explain it so clearly and straight to the point🖤🤘❤
so great to hear. there will be many more to come
My tattoo artist
I put a flower on the top of my left hand.the colors I used was framed with red and kinda shaded a little with blue.and you can barely see the red and I have redone it .3times. am I not going deep enough but it's on the top of my hand so there's not a lot of fat there.
Awesome. A lot of good info. Could you give me a link to find the good practice skins?
I struggled with going too light. And angle! But getting better.
Could you please do a video on using coil tattoo machines, just starting out, an just want to make sure I obtain as much knowledge possible before moving to a different machine if necessary.
Nice Info! Do you thing the dermis it s about 1 between 2 mm?
For me in the beginning of tattooing I was going to deep. I thought I had to put more force into my pressure and movements.
I was light for a while took a bit. Reel skins are where it's at and makes practice less stressful lol
Thank you first off for your videos, second i have issues with getting smooth and even shading.
Put at least an hour a two or day bro. It’ll get easier as muscle memory last. Confident is key too
I can say mine are 1 and 2 mostly 1 but from what u said I kn I can fix them someone tried to say I had blow outs but I kn I don’t because iam not too into my skin deep . I have helped me a lot thank you again
me i got problem with my hand speed and voltage . thanks a lot again for your video . really helpful
Glad this helped you out!
Not sure about coils but with rotary machines (using cartridge needles) you can sort of hear when the needle is too deep
still learning but my method is i like to hang my needles quite alot. and the dermis is around 1.6 2mm give or take depending . so i hang my needle 4mm and use half that length as i like to see my needle. is this a good method to approach it
I am not going deep enough! I end up having to go over the lines several times which I’m sure isn’t great for the skin at all. But like you said, I’d rather be going not deep enough vs causing blowouts. I’m gonna order some reelskin
My biggest issue starting out, wasnt depth but making my skin ground beef 😂 it’s unfortunate, I was far too excited and jumped the gun with tattooing myself
Omg
@@byebyeworldx. forgive me.
Does it heal okay though? Are you able to tattoo over your grounded beef? 😆
I've got a good depth with line work but struggling to figure out where am supposed to be when it comes to shading as its different movements
What would be useful also, would be, about how to know what depth to set your needles at, as a lot of tattoo guns and pens etc have the option to adjust this to your own level, what are the best options for this etc
How do I pick the correct liner size and gauge?
Biggest problem is consistency when doing actual designs like the single line practice I have no problem when doing a stencil some lines are light I have to redo other spots I accidentally drop to low
Using the 3 rl depth is different then 14 rl ? N different volts?
My mentor has me using pens to practice lines for my first flash but the micron pens seem to be giving me issues . Does anyone have any suggestions. For reference I use ballpoints for doodles and am a painter originally if that helps 😊
Just starting to get into tattooing... Came across this video, thank you!! Its is one of the 2nd videos I watched for starting, I found you to be very insightful and helped ease a lot of anxious thoughts and worries of going too deep!! I know all too well what the end result looks like my very first tattoo I got done Professionally.. :(
Learned a lot from your video, I will definitely keep following the bag and tips for tattooing!! I have always wanted to become a tattoo artist and told many times over my life I should be.. Any additional advice to give or link me videos of suggestions to watch before picking up the gun and running.....
Interested in what the thickness of your fake skin, which also would help distinguish the actual depth of your needle to relation of the skin.. I know you said its Real Skins Brand, being new to this, so I'm not sure if they sell one standard thickness or variety, I have seen many different ones and many thickness call outs for them...
Thank you so very much..🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
Glad that this video could help you out! I recommend you check out our website, there's lots of useful articles and guides for beginners
@@Tattooing101 thank you... i will do so.. as well as subscribing to the channel.. love learning.. thank you guys for making your channel..
I tattooed myself I was thirsty and It was a small tattoo I did buy a whole kit and everything I took the right precautions but I think I went over it to many time and I used red ink so I’m not sure whether it’s good I think it’s ok I’ve practiced a little before hand so
I'm actually just starting out and trying to see what kind of issues I may or can run into
Mine is being too light that i have to go over the tattoo a second time but like you said it’s better to be going too light instead of going too deep
Just starting out and my designs are extremally light. Then i get irritated and it goes to deep sweet spot is proving very difficult to find, but hey just starting got to keep at it!
I work with a coil machine I find using a dime to set to tune it to line it’s not good is it because it don’t have any throw
I did a like more than 8 tats on human skin so far, some of them are perfect lines and perfect saturation but in some areas I did them too light like the first one. I’m still trying to figure out the depth even after my third or fourth time. But thankfully I never went to the third deep line. I try very hard to avoid that, maybe it’s what cause the lines to be so light?
I love Pentel. They make dope ass mechanical pencils.
I recieved an email from your school? Unfortunately im not working..your videos are so helpful..i intend to check u out when i have the bread..
Definitely been going too light, had to touch up tattoos any tips?
What type of needle is the best to use for lining and shading is it a 9rs for line and shading is what a 13 rm ...
Any tips for tattooing old skin.
My problem is the ink pooling when I start and it messes up my stencil 😢
how do you adjust the needle length
Need a few of the tattoo needle depth
I’ve noticed that i am obviously going too light. A lot of ink is falling out and the tattoo doesn’t look nearly as dark as when I first did it. Everyone says you should just be able to “feel” the depth. But all skin is not created equal so it’s hard to find consistency !
Hey man Any advice on how best to get an apprenticeship I don’t even know how to start.love the video :)
We have an entire article on our site about this.
Tattooing101.com
I seem to have a problem going too shallow. I have been tattooing prolly about 3 months, and I almost always use a coil machine. I do have a Wormhole pen, but prefer the weight of the old school machine. Any recommendations to help me
Sorry luv this man
If the lines I made are all bruised and I ca tell clearly tv difference between the regular skjn ad the skin lifted under the lines. Does that mean I am hitting the right spot?
this man BLINKS
It’s the lighting, it burns
I´ve practiced on fake skin but also real human skin and I think my depth is right just my hand speed and machine speed is not. I´ve got Cheyenne thunder and cheyenne supply and ppl in all videos speak about voltage but power supply from cheyenne shows Hz (if Iam right). Im running it on 110 for lining and the line is not so clear. How do I know what Hz to use for lining. I would say my and speed is bit faster. Or should i buy new power supply?
I struggle with pulling a long line. I don’t know if it’s the weight I put on my hands to stretch the skin and try to stay straight? My lines recently look to faint and blotchy. Super frustrated with myself.
Hi, about whip shading should I run my machine more than what I do when stippling (low voltage)?
yes stippling is a completely different technique for whip shading I run 9-10
I can pull nice clean lines in reelskin. But am having trouble going deep enough on actual skin. I've only tattooed myself tho.
it can be very hard tattooing yourself because of the angles needed I actually created a video where I tattooed myself explaining everything
Mines super thin but, ordered this better skin to get a real feel of depth
I got some thin skins where I practice on.
Even if the skin is thinner than the one in the video my lines should go the same depth? That's something that I'm trying to understand but i got some troubles to it :')
I been having trouble with the depths of the skin when I tried to tattoo myself the tattoo faded out I don’t know what I’m doing wrong I don’t know if it’s the angle or if I’m not going to deep in to my skin
What is the voltage at?
i definitely have a problem being too light!
ive been having issues getting the ink to stay in at all really. my needle is sticking out approximately a dimes width, usually workin with 8-10v... any ideas??
a dime is a good length to go into the skin but unless you’re riding the tube ( i use a tattoo pen) its not gonna go that far into the skin make it about a quarter to half a mm longer and hover the machine above the skin
question is tho can you feel the difference between each layer of the skin or does it feel the same?
Ok out of curiosity i just got a tattoo gun like 4 days ago ive only touched it like 3 times 2 to test it on fake skin but i only used it for like 10min each time. And the 3rd time i tatted myself. Did anyone else just naturally pick up on the depth control? And is there any worries i should check being a complete beginner?
Is that an Ian Dana Camp sheet behind ya?? He’s the man.
I am just starting out, is there a free training coarse that will help me learn all I need to know to be the best I can be
I'd recommend you check out our Artist Accelerator Program: learn.tattooing101.com/artist-accelerator-salespage
How do you feel the reelskin compares to the thicker skins from a pound of flesh? That’s what I’ve been using, but it’s much thicker. Still relevant to learning line depth or is something thinner better for that?
great question I have the pound of flesh hand and tryed tattooing on it. I would say it I tattooed a human the way I had to tattoo the hand it would of healed terrible so that's why I recommend reel skins they just work the best
@@Tattooing101 thank you! I agree, if I tattooed someone the way I have to tattoo my pound of flesh pieces I’m pretty sure they would be leaving in bandages lol. I will be trying out the reelskin as well.
To light for sure and some power supplies don't have the exact voltages
Do I have to change the depth if the customer has veins
The same thing happened to me.
But the lines remained enough to go over it a 2nd time 3 weeks later.
I went too light on my hands 😅. But my question is skin on the hands and feet are thinner correct !?
What machine is this
I am going to lite on most of my lines. I am worried about going to deep. Or my lines looking scratchy.
I have a rotary pen, and sometimes I have to adjust the needle hang during the tattoo (if I've set it to hang too much or too little), and I'm wondering if there are tattoo machines that allow you to change the needle hang without taking the entire sanitation set up off of the tattoo pen (i.e. the grip tape, cover sleeve etc.). Am I setting the pen up wrong or does anyone else have this problem?
They have some that twist for hang, like the Axys Valhalla
Can I ask a favor ?can I have one of your old tattoo machine ? I'm also learning how to be a tatto artist or be one of tattoo artist. I'm beginner and I do love all your vedios .thank you in advance
Would I be able to get a good feel on depth if I dry tattooed myself? Why does noone talk about dry tattooing? Just curious
Which skins do you use and ink? Mine always don’t seem to stay in the skin so smoothly like yours. I don’t know if it’s the needles or ink or skin . The ink gets everywhere tho
I use dynamic for black and solid ink for color and reel skins for the skin brand
I feel like my problem is not moving fast enough. How should we prevent overworking the skin?
Lower Volts = Slower Hand Speed.
Higher Volts = Faster Hand Speed.
How do you get the lines so thick? Even if I get the correct hand speed and depth, they still look very thin. Is it just because I'm using a small grouping? It's a 3RL.
Hell yea 3rl small u atleast want a 7 but if u lookin for thicker go higher