i have been doing tattoos for about a year and a half now. I’m absolutely self taught, and i think i pretty much have it down pat, BUT one thing i have noticed about my tattoos is that i do them like i draw. where as in most tattoos if someone is shading an area, they leave a light outline so there’s a clear line there, but i just shade the whole thing. look at my gallery in the link provided to see what im speaking about.

does anyone have any helpful advice?

thanks a lot

look at all of the pages. there are tattoos AND my regular artwork on that page.

http://chadxfallen.deviantart.com/galler…

Answer:
looks like you're a very good drawer. but tattooing is not quite the same as drawing or painting. from what i saw you need to add some volume to your tattoos, your linework is decent and so is shading but on some tattoos it looks too heavy because “you're shading the whole thing”. the clear line right by the outline adds volume. this phenomenon i think is called “reflex” (or “reflection”) , it's an art term.

you probably taught yourself how to draw as well , didn't you? you have a talent, all you need is just some art basis. find out whose style of tattooing you like best, i personally admire Joshua Carlton's work, and kind of try to replicate their style at first, and then develop your own. everyone i know who tattooes have done that and some of them have reached a lot that way and are awesome tattoo artists.

best of luck to you!

Answer:
The reason _most_ (including myself, and any sane) tattooists leave a space between the outline and the shading is very easy. The skin has a natural and adverse reaction to the ink being injected into it, which causes it to retract or “divorce” the ink. This constant strain on the skin causes the muscles and the second layer of dermis to push the ink outward. The outline is there to keep things looking normally after all of it has healed.

If you look at most shoddy, “green” tattooists work, you'll notice the colour (and sometimes the outline) have bled from what you would consider its normal appearance. This is generally the case. Or mixing older inks and skin retraction.

Answer:
This is an interesting question. Do you know why lots of artists do that? My bird has some of that in it, but some of it doesn't. I don't see any reason to not absolutely color it in… heck, I'd let you do my next tattoo!

I’ve another with some rain clouds and stuff in it, but there's really not that clear line in it like you're talking about.

Nice work. Sorry if I didn't help though!

Answer:
I have to be absolutely honest here… except for the drawing with the Arby's thing in it… I think your artwork on paper is incredible! (Sorry, I didn't like the Arby's one at all) - The shading on the joker was great!

The tattoos weren't baaad… I think the skull was the best one.. and the one with color seemed to be a bit better as well. I see what you mean about the others though, they do look like they were drawn on with a pen (even though your artwork is good)

I hope you get the advise you are looking for.. I don't have any - just offering my opinion. You certainly have talent though, and I'm sure can continue to learn and grow!

Good luck to you!