my fresh tattoos look mucky as fuck!!!!

[jtattooer]

What pigments are you using? Could you post an example of a tattoo you're unhappy with?
I'm also a very quick tattoo artist. I use to kinda have the same issue about 7-8 yrs ago. Tattoos would look good healed. Just could never get a good photo when fresh.
Do you ride to tube a lot, and do line the needle up flush with the tube? What size mag do you use most commonly?
For me. I'm as basic as it gets. I like 7m and 15rm. I use to use a big variety. This is just what works for me.
I use a 7m most. I find it works well for color and BNG. I like the long taper. When I'm packing color. I will lightly ride the tube, working in small tight circular motion. Or in a scrubbing back and fourth motion. Then as I want the edge the be softer I work more of the tip.
When i can still see the pores of the skin but still have a nice field of color over it. It heals nicely.
If the skin is all red and pissed off. It could be that your irritating it by moving your hand speed too fast. Or if your tubes have a sharp edge in the tip, that could also cause it.
I still use metal tubes.
This is just my .02 and what works for me.
Oh and stroke length I like 4mm for lining. And I like 3-3.5 for color. 2.5 for bng.
I use mostly fusion colors.


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[Boogie]

Big help with coloring tattoos is Macedonian Magic Tattoo cream - it is not like other creams - I can write and it will look like advertise but i will not do that - just try it I think that the guys for start give free sample to try.


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[Panos tattoo]

i would say gastons and richies advice are the best options to try first.try first with a shortstroke machine like 2.5mm.it has a faster motion (not needle speed) as an in and out and it hits softer.this way you can maintain most of your hand speed but you will have to build color and shades.gastons approach on the other hand will obblicate you to slow down but each poke will put ink or pigment efficially thas make you tattoo faster because it will be a one pass poke.
with a gen8 i noticed that giving more volts changes dramaticaly the stroke especially with weights on.so keep in mind that even if its a 3.5 stroke (if i remember well) wou may end up with 4+ stroke when you add give and speed.

[zack_fa1r]

jtattooer, i use fusion and electric ink for colours, euro sum for grey and black lining. yes i ride the tube all the way when using mags but never for lines so this may contribute to the redness, i have tried to hang the needle more but i just go too deep cos of my hand speed, i can't show an image on here as i won't take a pic if it looks too mucky or irritated. oh and panos i tend to have better results on healing with a longer stroke so I've never tried a 2.5, the last time i used a 3mm for some blending it healed real bad with scabs so i must have overworked it loads. my gen 8 is around 6mm at just over 9 volts, that thing is long man.

[hellraiser6662]

Perhaps its not to do with hand speed or anything. If you are making things dirty looking at the end but it heals good? Whats the worry? Them photo tattooists there work is shit when it heals great for the photo but thats about it. Perhaps you just need some colour theory the video russ Abbot does is great for that because you might be making things dirty because you are using the wrong colours together. ... when I first used to airbrush my work look dirty cartoon characters looked they had been down a coal mine so I have a rethink then started to used candy colour for the darker tones then the work improved over nite...

[zack_fa1r]

hey man it makes sense that but its only when i wipe other colours over each other, say pale blue, and mainly white...my blacks get a hazy glaze over them making them appear like a dark grey, which points me to overworked skin cos the other colours should just wipe off and not leave any trace, sucks so bad.

and yeah allot good fresh pieces lack contrast once healed, see it everywhere, sadly i don't always get to see healed pieces which is why its so important i try figure this out.

[przink]

Like FK Irons said....think of the skin as an organ. Riding the tube causes a lot of unnecessary trauma to the skin. I have a fairly quick hand myself....often have to remind myself to slow down. Fusion is a pretty thin pigment. I like Alla Prima as well. They have some really nice colors that flow really well. Are you using carts? Are you having issues getting the pigment in fast enough...there are soooo many things that could be the culprit.

On a side note, I know Jason Ackerman said he tried to make the skin look like smooth cookie dough. To me that is overworked...but his work is pretty solid.....so different tech for different artists.

Best of luck. Send a pic if you could.

[inkinwi]

He didn't say smooth cookie dough for the skin.. what he said was he packs the pigment in so thick it looks like cake batter under the skin. He's talking about heavy saturation.