“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.”
Source: The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career
“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!”
Source: The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career
“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.”
Source: The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career
“Emphasis is of particular importance in tattoo art because tattoos can tend to be jumbled along body parts, such as an arm sleeve, and thus difficult to “read”.”
Source: The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career
“Tattoos “read” better with one main idea while too many elements can tend to muddle up a piece.”
Source: The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career
“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.”
Source: The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career
“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.”
Source: The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career
“With deeper awareness, our art reveals what energies we are bringing into our lives, as well as what we need to heal.”
Source: The Power of Tattoos: Twelve Hidden Energy Secrets of Body Art Every Tattoo Enthusiast Should Know
“I hardly remember not hating my body. I got most of my seven arm tattoos when I was nineteen. I wanted to be able to look at my body and see something I didn't loathe, that was part of my body by my choosing entirely. Really, that's all I ever wanted.”
“But then I remembered what it was like to have him destroy me, and no matter how easy it was to remember that high, it was impossible to forget that low.”
Source: Where Good Girls Go To Die