Complete Guide on Tattoo Ink - Tattooing 101 (2024)

• The pigment has separated from the carrier fluid and has hardened.
• The liquid evaporated and the ink has become too thick.
• It wasn’t stored correctly.
• You think the ink has been contaminated.

The skin has three layers: the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous tissue. Ink holds best in the middle layer, the dermis. If you don’t put ink in deep enough, you’ll only be putting ink into the dermis, and the ink will fade. If you go too deep, you’ll be putting ink into the subcutaneous tissue, which has a more “jelly” consistency, and the ink will spread around.

Black ink tends to be thinner than other colors, affecting the amount you’ll need and the speed at which you’ll want to run your tattoo machine. You can also use black ink to make other colors dull and muted. This is great for neotraditional, but not styles that need brighter colors like new school.

White is the lightest and the most opaque ink, and it easily gets overpowered by other ink colors or the tone of a person’s skin. That’s why white fades so quickly and why you want to limit the amount of white you use in any design.

Foundation flesh lets you lighten other ink colors while still keeping them vibrant. (Don’t mix colors with white to lighten them, it will mute out the color.)

These colors tend to be the best for cover-ups because the dark pigment is strong enough to be seen over black.

Some clients will have what’s called “Red Reaction.” It’s your job to let your client know that many people have an unpleasant reaction to red ink to protect them (and include it in your waiver to protect you). Red Reaction and is often accompanied by swelling and itching. By making your client aware of this possibility, you are not liable if the tattoo needs to be removed or the client has to receive medical treatment.

Clients with darker skin or those who regularly tan might not be satisfied with their colour tattoo, as their skin tone will affect the vibrancy of color or make intricate lines less readable. You’ll want to take the fact that darker skin tone is harder to contrast into consideration when designing for your client. For example, using thicker bold lines and darker tones for better contrast.

If you want to create a specific color, you can mix ink. We recommend pouring the right measurements of each color into an empty ink cap and mixing it with a sterile needle bar. However, you can also dip the needles into one ink cap and then another to mix the color in the tube while you’re tattooing (this is a more advanced technique).

While there’s been some experimentation with removable tattoo ink, currently the only way to get rid of a tattoo is through lasering.

No matter what ink you use, it will only look good if you put it in the skin the right way. There’s a lot of advice about tattooing techniques online, but a lot of it is outdated or incorrect, which leads artists to develop bad habits.

Without the right technique, new artists become limited in what designs they can pull off successfully. This not only keeps them from being creative as an artist, it also means they’ll have fewer clients wanting to get tattooed by them, making it harder to leave their current job to follow a career they love.

Luckily, artists can still learn online without limiting their growth as an artist with the Artist Accelerator Program.

The Artist Accelerator guides you through the process of learning to tattoo with clear, easy-to-follow lessons taught to you by professional tattoo artists. You’ll learn all the right techniques and build out your portfolio while getting support and personalized feedback on your tattoos in our online Mastermind community.

Over 2500 students have used the program to break into the tattooing industry all over the world, with many of them having opened up their own shops.

Learn from home at your own pace and build the skills you need for a career that makes you excited every day…