How To Tattoo - Part Three

When you learn to tattoo it is important to know that many tattoo artists consider needles to be one of the most important pieces of equipment in the process. Tattoo needles are so important to the process that most artists will use a needle only once or twice before discarding it. This is because a needle should be absolutely perfect in order to perform the job adequately. If a needle has flaws, such as scratches or marks or it is bent in any way it will not be able to work adequately.

The tattoo needles are actually soldered onto what are known as needle bars and there are two different types of needle bars. These two different types are shaders and lines. You can tell the difference because the shader will have a flat end where the needles are soldered onto the bar and the liner needle bar will be rounded at the end. Keep in mind that liner needles are used for drawing outlines and creating borders while shaders are used for filling in designs.

It is also important to know that needles are available in different sizes. This is because they must be able to draw different thickness of lines. Toward this end the needles come in sizes such as one needle, three needles, four needles, etc. for liners. Shaders also come in different sizes because they need to be able to cover large areas with ink. Shader needles are available in sizes such as four needle group, six needle group, etc. Generally, the larger the needle group the more area it will cover.

Basic Tattoo Needles

When you learn to tattoo you will need to learn how to get the proper depth of needle. This is extremely important in becoming successful in the process. If you go too deep with the needles you run the risk of seriously injuring the person and causing bleeding and pain. If you do not go deep enough; however, the design won’t look very good. Practicing is really the best way to make sure you have the right depth and have not gone too far into the skin. This can be somewhat difficult because the exact right depth can vary from one person to the next. That said; however, you will know you have not gone too far if the person you are tattooing is not in an undue amount of pain and as long as there is not any blood coming up through the perforations in the skin. You can be certain if you have gone too far the person you are tattooing will let you know. In most cases you won’t even have to ask. They will let you know.

When you learn how to tattoo it is imperative that you spend sufficient time learning how to handle the needles right and how to gauge the depth of the needles. This is just as important as learning how to handle and hold the tattoo machine. By spending the requisite amount of time on this phase of the learn how to tattoo process you will then be ready to move onto the next step.