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Shelly Dax Biography

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“Some of the pain that clients experience is likely from not knowing what to expect. They approach their appointment with tension and nervousness, and they tend to hold their breath when they first get started. As soon as a client relaxes and breathes normally, the tattoo pain becomes minimal.”

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“Even in two-dimensional works you can convey the sense of touching a variety of surfaces by using implied texture. You can use line, value, color, pattern and contrast to create simulated textures on flat surfaces.”

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“When you are looking at a tattoo you are actually seeing it through the top layer of skin. Think of a color printer, printing on white paper versus color paper. The images printed will be affected by the color of the paper. The same is true for skin tone in tattoos.”

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“Grapefruits are inexpensive, readily available and have enough surface area to accomplish some nice designs. The skin of a grapefruit is easily punctured but tough enough to hold up to multiple needle passes. Tattooing grapefruits gives you valuable experience in the feel of the machine, strengthens your hand, aids in understanding needle depth and speed before you approach a real client. Bonus; you have a snack when you are done!”

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“Emphasis is when we use art elements to accentuate a focal point or center of interest. This important principle helps us avoid things looking dull and muddled by giving the viewer a place to anchor their eyes temporarily.”

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“Minimize, or tone down, other compositional elements in order to bring attention to the focal point. Backgrounds can be made lighter or darker in value, crisper or softer in focus, or textured or not textured, to lend support to where you want the eye to go.”

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“You can always go back after a tattoo has healed and add additional dark, but you can’t take it away once in the skin (short of tattoo removal). Thus, it is helpful to err on the side of too light when you are new to tattooing and let your client know to come back for a follow-up visit to adjust levels and possibly build up color.”

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“Contrast between textured areas and smooth areas in a tattoo can help direct the viewer’s eye to the most important elements. Highly textured areas will draw the eye and feel ‘closer’ to the viewer than areas with smooth or solid elements. Same goes for highly detailed areas vs. more blurred and soft areas.”

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“Tattooers could decide to mix their own ink. However, I believe choosing tattoo ink from well-established companies who supply ink to the public, use safe handling practices, and regularly test their ink, is an excellent choice.”

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“Knowing when to turn your power up or down comes with cautious experimentation. Remember, that when you adjust the power supply setting you must compensate by adapting hand speed, pressure and hand movement to avoid damage to the client’s skin.”

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