So many questions!

[littleinker]

I know I just posted a few hours ago but I have a bunch of questions that I’m hoping someone can help me with!

Ok, so the first is location related… I have searched for the Blood Bourne Pathogens course in Australia but I can’t find it. Does anyone know what the equivalent is here?

Now for the more generalised questions… Rotary vs coil. Which is the best to start out with? I have read a lot of different things about both and understand the basics of how they both work. Still have a lot to learn about them though of course. I’m just wondering which is the best for a beginner? I was leaning towards rotary until I read an article about them potentially damaging the skin more because of the way they work, however…reading about coils, it seems they are harder to use, have more vibration so lines aren’t as clean and smooth, etc. The studio that I have been to a few times said something last time about using machines that they can tune to run slower and therefore cause less pain and healing time for the customer as well as more precise results. I didn’t think to ask what they used exactly but I’m thinking maybe rotary?? I don’t know… I do like the idea of what they were saying though and all their artist produce amazing work!

Now, what machines/kit is good for a beginner? Someone in another thread recommended Hildbrandt so I had a look at their site. I’m not even remotely interested in the cheap and or ebay ones and would prefer to start with at least somewhat decent quality machines and supplies. I was looking at this kit for rotary (currently sold out): http://www.tattoomachineequipment.com/hildbrandt-rotary-tattoo-machine-starter-kit and this kit for coil: http://www.tattoomachineequipment.com/the-hildbrandt-professional-tattoo-kit-system
Thoughts and suggestions on these kits or recommendations for others are greatly appreciated! :)

Inks… what would be recommended? I’m just going to be using practice skins, pig skin, etc at least for quite a while! I have absolutely no intention of moving on to real skin until I either get an apprenticeship and they say I’m ready or until I have practiced so much on practice/pig skin and after lots of feedback am 110% confident I’m ready. Having said that, I would like to get used to a decent brand of ink so it feels natural to use and I know what to expect and how it’s going to react by the time I’m ready to actually ink someone. I’ve heard that Starbright and MOMs are good for colour and Kuro Sumi for lining and shading? I haven’t heard much about the Radiant inks that come in the Hildbrandt kits…

Last question (for now!)… Portfolio: I’m currently working on it and building it up to be at a quality that I can show studios that I hope to apprentice at. Should I mainly follow my own style of art and include some of my general art pieces as well, or should I gear it purely towards tattoo styles and have a broad variety in there to show I can do all styles, even the ones I’m not so familiar with or like as much?

If you’ve actually made it this far, thanks so much for taking the time to read all my questions! Seriously, any help, answers or suggestions would be amazing! :D

[Ramenuzumaki]

as far as the BPP im not sure. ask your local heal department :3

personally i prefer coil. if something breaks you just replace that part. if something breaks on a rotary you pretty much need a new rotary. also as far as adjusting you cant adjust most rotary. with coils you can pretty much fully customize it. i primarily use hildbrant coils so id go with the coil kit. im not a fan of the rotary that come with their rotary kit. their good rotaries dont come in a kit.

as far as inks: starbrite, mom’s millennium, eternal, alla prima, fusion, intenze, kuro sumi, radiant colours. Intenze Zuper Black is my favourite for solid black and outlines as it STAYS black. i mostly use Alla Prima, but i do like Radiant Colours, and Eternal as well.

for your portfolio you want mostly drawings. 18-22 drawings. I have two portfolios: one is all tracing paper outlines (40), and one is drawings (40). you want to focus on tattoo designs, and keep them as clean as possible. mix in some colour, black and grey, and try to do more than one style of tattooing if possible. the more skill you can show with this portfolio the better your chances are of getting in there. you can also throw in some trace paper, or just regular outlines. This way it gives them a real look at your outlining skills. you can hide inconsistencies in outlines with black and grey and coloured works. try to show that oyu are as diverse as possible. you can also bring in your original drawings to show them. NEVER use your originals in your portfolio. do a nice outline, scan it, print it, and then do you colour/b&g, paint, whatever over the printed one. this way if oyu mess up you original is still perfect. if you lose/destroy/have stolen your portfolio then you can rebuild it with your originals. you can also make a digital portfolio. put all your pictures on USB drive. nothing fancy, or expensive, then you can leave that with them to review whenever they want. you can also make a small portfolio that you can let them keep. if you can also make a nice tattoo resume. that’s what I did and its at the front of my portfolio.

[littleinker]

Thankyou so much for the info Ram! I think I might get the coil kit from Hildbrandt and then also get a coil like Dragonfly so I can see which I prefer. I’m also going to start on the practice lessons that you have posted up too. :)

[Lennart82]

I get it. You want more then one oppinion ;)

When saying coil vs. rotory… Hmmm it all depends. ;)
Thats a thing you will hear alot, cause actually it really depends on your prefferences. BUT, start out with coil. Thats were it came from anyways.
Theres alot of people going on to rotory, heck, I might do that eventually myself. But for now, I like the coils, the reason; same as Rams, its costumisable. Everything can be costumised with a coil. All to suit different jobs. Thats great imo. But rotory are going into the customise area as well. Its slow, but they are getting there.

With Rotory, you get a much more silent machine, plus its not vibrating as much as a mean machine prepped to do 69 mags…. ;) (You will get this joke later :P)
And when it dosent have the same vibration, its easier to make lines. But again, its all in your pref. ;) But start with the coil, then work your way up to rotory. Start with the basics, the coils been around for a looooong time. And it works.

Inks… Hmmm I havent personally tried that many brands yet. As my country is a bit… expensive, and dont want to waste money on stuff I dont find good.
But what I have used, and found good, are the Kuro Sumi black. Its like am HB pencil, you can use it for alot of things. And its very good for your grey washes.
Alla Prima White is great… Just awesome.
And starbrite.. Some of their colors are good some are not.

The all time trick to the ink solution. Find different brands and mix them to gether, dont just stick with one brand. F.eks I cant say Starbrites BubbleGum Pink is any good. But theire greens and yellow have worked fine for me. I have planned on getting my hands on some Eternal Ink.. If it sucks, I’ll blame Ram……. Nahhh just kidding. But I have heard great stuff about that brand.

Portfolio wise…Be yourself, be realistic. AND NEVER NEVER EVER EVER EVER and so on, show anything you havent done yourself. You can copy stuff yes, but then bring the original. Never say you did something and call it original, if its not.
This is not saying I think you would do it, its just that tattoo artists looks at tattoo magazines themselves. And if they see a thing, you claim to have “invented” Then they say: “Wait one sec” comes back with the exact same drawing from a magazine. pointing their fingers at the door…. ;)
Just dont do that ;)

[littleinker]

Thanks so much Len! Between you and Ram I definitely have quite a few answers. :)

Don’t worry, I have absolutely NO interest in copying anything, with the exception of using some photos for reference. I don’t think I could live with myself if I ever copied another artists work! I’ve had my designs copied before and then sold in the commercial market by a bigger designer that then made many thousands in profit so that sort of thing makes my blood boil! :evil:

Well, I suppose I should get started on those lessons then! :lol:

[Shaggy]

Not sure where you read rotary machines damage the skin more… it is actually the opposite, which is why you see a lot of the big name guys now leaning toward rotary (less trauma and increased healing time). Don’t get me wrong I use both, I can’t find any cons to my rotary… there is no messing with settings just adjust power supply to what you wanna do and go. It produces crisp single pass lines, great shading and sinks color like crazy… I do wish it had the sound of a coil though, I miss that when using it.

Also the very first tattoo machine was a rotary, it was modified from Thomas Edison’s electric pen. It wasn’t until later that someone took a doorbell and made today’s electromagnetic coil machine. Of course the prison machines have always been rotary as well, using motors from walkmans and cassette players. So the rotary concept is nothing new really… it’s just today’s “cool” new version that’s new.

As far as ink, I have used quite a few brands and I haven’t found an Eternal color yet that I don’t like… even their lining black is great, so are the washes I started using. Why pre-made washes… because its always the same, every time. If you wanna mix your own that’s fine just do it in a larger quantity… do it bottle size versus just a cap at a time, that way it is always 20%, 40% or whatever. Consistency is the key with any pigment you may need to replenish during a tattoo.

[Ramenuzumaki]

Rotaries dont necessarily do more damage tot he skin. it’s all in how you compensate for rotaries with beastly motors. some types of rotaries hit much harder than others, etc. then theres the cheyenne hawk that has an adjustable throw. in the end though ill always stick to coils. i wanted to try rotary at one point but as soon as i bought one the novelty was gone, and i sold it before even trying it.

[littleinker]

So much to think about… I’ll have to see if I can find where I read that rotarys did more damage. It was something to do with the way the needle goes into the skin and then has to wait a whole revolution before then being pulled out meaning that the needle is in the skin for a longer amount of time and has more chance of catching and causing trauma to the skin whereas coils work in almost the opposite way where the needle is pulled straight back out of the skin as soon as it goes in…at least I think I got that right. I really would have to find the article again…

I do think you are both right in starting with coil though. The only thing that worries me is the Hildbrant kit that I’m looking at. All the machines that usually come in kits are renowned to be pretty well crap and put out there for people wanting to get into the industry quickly and do bad home jobs. If this kit is of good quality then great but if it’s just another get started quick home kit then I’d rather take more time and buy each piece separately. It’s not like I’m going to be touching actual skin for quite a while anyway so I can take a bit more time to get the right gear if necessary. For me this is first of all about protecting the customer from disease/infection and bad tattoos and second about producing the best art possible that someone will love to have with them forever so I’d prefer to do it the right way rather than the quick way. :)

[Ramenuzumaki]

I use Hildbrant machines

I have the .444 Marlin, .22 Rimfire, .357 Magnum, .44 Winchester, and the .30 Carbine. They arent crap :P

[littleinker]

@Ramenuzumaki wrote:

I use Hildbrant machines

I have the .444 Marlin, .22 Rimfire, .357 Magnum, .44 Winchester, and the .30 Carbine. They arent crap :P

Haha! Cool. :)
What do you think of the ones in the kit and the other supplies in the kit? Are they worth it or would it be better to just get everything individually and make my own kit?

[Ramenuzumaki]

That is actually the kit I recommend to everyone on here, haha.

[littleinker]

@Ramenuzumaki wrote:

That is actually the kit I recommend to everyone on here, haha.

Haha! Awesome! I’m tossing up between that kit and another kit that the place that I’m doing the course through recommends. The other kit has machines by Technical Sharps in them. Do you or anyone else know what they’re like? That kit is really expensive though!

[Ramenuzumaki]

I havent used that one. Post a link to the kit if you can, and I’ll take a quick look :3

[Author]

Posts