I am not a professional tattoo artist, I am a self taught stickpokeist who gleaned most of their knowledge from youtube videos and is now contributing back to their source. Everything I say should be taken with a grain of salt as I have never had a proper apprenticeship.
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When I was a preteen, I was standing in the queue of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. I saw a rockabilly couple on the bridge ahead of me and thought they looked amazing. I immediately wanted a leg sleeve just like the female-bodied person had. One leg was full of traditional art, all fridge-magnet style. The other leg, completely virgin skin. It was at that moment I decided I wanted to be a tattoo artist when I turned 18. Long story made longer, I was a straightedge teen and it made conversing with folks in tattoo parlors frightening (DARE Program taught me NOTHING. NOOOTHING.) Things were going on around me that terrified me, and I didn't know how to know what was a safe environment and what wasn't, so I chickened out and got a job in a department store instead. Fast forward more than a decade later, we hit the year of our lord, 2020 and I had all the time in the world to reflect on my personal goals. I had actually achieved the vast majority of my bucket list- built renaissance faires, scared at Halloween haunts, performed on stage, etc etc, but (other than travelling to Japan) there was one big personal goal I hadn't achieved. Well, two, actually- learning to tattoo and to have a tattoo leg sleeve. I spent a year studying and practicing before I started, and here we are now, about 18 months into the process. My tattoos aren't anywhere near excellent, but they're mine and I worked hard on them. Thank you for checking out my journey into experimentation and self-expression.
Timestamps-
0:00 Intro
0:30 Hand Traced stencil
1:37 Carbon Stencil Printer
2:30 Skin Prep
3:30 Stencil Fail
4:30 (re)Making Carbon Paper Stencil
5:18 Applying Stencil correctly
6:12 Supplies
6:40 Station Prep
7:35 Making Needle Grips
9:40 POKING
15:33 Aftercare
16:10 Itchy Hacks
16:35 Still Images
17:03 Healed Two Weeks + Leg Tattoo Tour
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When I was a preteen, I was standing in the queue of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. I saw a rockabilly couple on the bridge ahead of me and thought they looked amazing. I immediately wanted a leg sleeve just like the female-bodied person had. One leg was full of traditional art, all fridge-magnet style. The other leg, completely virgin skin. It was at that moment I decided I wanted to be a tattoo artist when I turned 18. Long story made longer, I was a straightedge teen and it made conversing with folks in tattoo parlors frightening (DARE Program taught me NOTHING. NOOOTHING.) Things were going on around me that terrified me, and I didn't know how to know what was a safe environment and what wasn't, so I chickened out and got a job in a department store instead. Fast forward more than a decade later, we hit the year of our lord, 2020 and I had all the time in the world to reflect on my personal goals. I had actually achieved the vast majority of my bucket list- built renaissance faires, scared at Halloween haunts, performed on stage, etc etc, but (other than travelling to Japan) there was one big personal goal I hadn't achieved. Well, two, actually- learning to tattoo and to have a tattoo leg sleeve. I spent a year studying and practicing before I started, and here we are now, about 18 months into the process. My tattoos aren't anywhere near excellent, but they're mine and I worked hard on them. Thank you for checking out my journey into experimentation and self-expression.
Timestamps-
0:00 Intro
0:30 Hand Traced stencil
1:37 Carbon Stencil Printer
2:30 Skin Prep
3:30 Stencil Fail
4:30 (re)Making Carbon Paper Stencil
5:18 Applying Stencil correctly
6:12 Supplies
6:40 Station Prep
7:35 Making Needle Grips
9:40 POKING
15:33 Aftercare
16:10 Itchy Hacks
16:35 Still Images
17:03 Healed Two Weeks + Leg Tattoo Tour
- Category
- TATTOO
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