Stretching the skin is critical to getting the needle to snap through the skin.
If you do not stretch the skin it will bounce away from the needle and will take twice as long to do the tattoo and the final colour will not be as bright.
There are 3 ways to stretch the skin.
On an arm or a leg we can wrap our fingers and thumb around the place and gently pull the skin tight.
On a bigger area such as a chest we can simply press down with one or two fingers and pull the skin taught.
Stretching the skin between your thumb and index finger works anywhere.
INK APPLICATION
When doing shading hold the machine down at as low an angle as possible and brush out.
When making an outline hold the machine on a slight angle towards the direction you are moving so the needle perferations overlap and make an even line.
At the same time hold the machine as vertical as possible to the line so the needle is going straight into the skin. This will prevent undercutting which will cause a line to heal wide.
When colouring hold your machine at a deeper angle to the skin. This will drive in the colour more solidly. Make overlapping circles or strokes to colour.
If you look at a coloured area and some small areas look purpley or burgundy that’s raw meat. The colour is probably light there. So touch that spot up a bit and it should heal solid colour.
-Gary