So I've been away for awhile, moving house, making some changes in the studio, it's been a busy start to the year.
I recently got a chance to take a picture of a piece I did a few years ago.
Seeing your work healed and how it's settled in the skin is great for a tattooist. It's almost like a reconnaissance mission, seeing how the lines settled in, how shading has lightened up and what it looks like on the body once it's had the wear and tear that comes with being art on a living canvas that's exposed to light, water, ageing, the scuffs and scratches that come with being alive. It's really easy to take a photo when it's fresh and crisp, really dark because the skin and hair haven't grown back over, a nice pose from the client. But that's not real life. That tattoo will be with them at their best and worst times, it's your job as a tattooer to make sure it fits well on the body as a whole and can stand the test of time so it looks good on the client as they age. There's a lot of factors to consider to design and tattoo a piece that will age well with the client.
Learning from looking at your healed work and scrutinising it is a great help.
You can only really make adjustments to your technical skills as a tattooist by observing your healed work. When I first started out I'd make a note in my appointment book on what inks and needles (sometimes machines) I used on the tattoo. When I got to see the tattoo again I could see a healed result, reflect on what colours and needles I used and make a decision on if I was happy with how it looked.
Some black pigments have a tendency to have a blueish tinge to the black when they're healed, others are pitch black, some grey washes lighten up more than others when healed. Constantly adjusting your tools, products and techniques helps with progression to finding the setup that works the best for you and for which type of tattoos. Eventually it puts you on a path to tattoo a design and have it heal exactly the way you want, although this learning is forever ongoing in tattooing.
Peace Out
