hello ??
Does anyone have and tips on tattooing circles and curvy swoop like shapes where you have to bend the wrist and need a continuous line? Is there a way to fudge and break up the line even if there are no elements that intersect the circle ? I'm practicing tracing circles and some with a running machine on practice skin (but that is not good for helping practice depth and stretch etc). I've also played with making the stencil a double line where I use a round grouping to fill between the stenciled lines in tight circles rather than pulling a line, but that only works with thick circles not single pass .
When you see a really nicely tattooed circle or long arc, it wasn't necessarily done in a single go. Even a very experienced artist will likely need to stop at some point along the arc, reposition their hand, dip in the ink, etc. in order to keep moving smoothly. For any given hand position there will be some arcs that you can lay down smoothly and naturally, and some that you need to reposition for.
The key is in learning to see clearly where your needle is going to contact the skin, so that you can place the needle right where you left off and continue your arc. Having plenty of needle hanging out is helpful, along with good light. If you can't clearly see the needle, one of these two things probably needs to be adjusted. Cleaning the area thoroughly so you can see the line clearly is also helpful.
Ultimately, you want to reach a level of precision where you can confidently go over a line a second time and stay right on top of it- this level of control will allow you to tattoo just about any kind of precise shape you want.
Thank you for your response it is very helpful, i get confused a bit with these types of circular and sinuous lines because I don't really know where to look. With a long straight line I was told to look ahead of my hand at the stencil, but like you said it seems I need to look more at the needle hitting the skin w a circle, how much of the stencil should I have in front to look at? Like if I'm right handed and pulling the line in I will have my hand over the stencil, how should I position myself to do these types of things?
thank you
ceka
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