r/TattooBeginners

Hi everyone! My girlfriend is a beginner tattoo artist and did these piece freehand on fake skin (no stencil).

We tried using a stencil first, but the transfer cream we applied beforehand ended up removing/smudging it, so she ended up drawing it directly by hand instead.

We'd really appreciate any feedback on beginner mistakes you can spot line consistency, needle depth/pressure, shading, anything that stands out to more experienced eyes.

Also open to tips on stencil application in general, since that's clearly something we need to figure out (any product recommendations or step-by-step tips for beginners welcome!).

And when is the right moment to try a small thing in the skin?

Thanks so much in advance 🙏

Hey so I made this tattoo on myself. I know it's kinda wonky cause the position wasn't the most comfortable one haha (don't mind the old "IV" tattoo) the writing isn't the best but my mom wrote it and I wanted to have it exactly like that. Is it very bad? What do you all think?

I need honest opinions on this one. First time trying shading, my highlight on the upper body doesnt match the highlight on the abdomen. A couple of the leg shadows do not make sense either to my eye after the fact. Other than the technical design mistake give me criticisms on the shading please. I also see the line meetup issue on the back leg.

What i found the most difficult is blending the different tones together. Lines were done with a 1205RL shading was done with a 1203 RL.

Just looking for feedback! I honestly have no clue what I’m doing lol

Im nowhere near as good as some of the people still doing fake skins here, but im impatient and just wanted to do a real one finally.
Gothic ACAB on my thigh. Linework was pretty ass first session, especially on the first two letters. I feel like I managed to clean it up a lot when coming back in for the black fill and am much happier with it.
When packing the black last night I noticed there was a lot of blood. Like more than I’ve ever seen getting professional tattoos. Am I going too deep, or overworking the skin? Or does black fill just do that?
Any advice or feedback welcome, I won’t take it personally since I know I still suck at this lol.

Lines done with a 7 rl at 6.9, fill with a 5mag at 6.9. Done with a cheap dragonhawk cartridge machine.

I think i figured out my way of doing them

Hola, comencé hace una semana a tatuar y lo primero que hice en la primera piel falsa fueron líneas, en esta me anime a probar con dibujos y me gustaría escuchar consejos.

Octopus is my own design (it's from my very old drawing 'cause I wanted to do something of my own)

I wanted this tattoo done with the year 1990 which is my birth year, I went to a shop and told them I wanted it the same way that it is written on the 1990 penny. I have always liked that style and look. The artist didn't understand what I meant and made his sketch I didn't like the way he sketched it and he kinda had me draw it out for him myself. Well he put the stencil on and still did the tattoo wrong and even added some shading inside. Yea this guy was definitely a beginner. I have been practicing tattooing for a bit on fake skin and the other night I was drinking and decided to try to fix the tattoo and make it look more like I wanted it too so I said fuck it. If u think my fix is bad, it looks a lot better than the old one lol it was a bit hard having to tat it upside down

Instagram: @cal.in.the.clouds
My second time tatting myself. After like 5-6 hours hunched over my own leg, foot going cold, back and hip aching, and entire leg cramping. I still don’t consider it done.
I wanted to add a bit more variety to line thickness of the flowers and and pack black into some of the corners a bit better. But then my machine finally died and I took that as a sign.
Overworked a little bit of it forcing I me to leave it unsaturated in an area or two. And slight blowouts in some spots from the colour packing. Which I did entirely with a 7rs 😭.
Really my main issue was just the angle. Not the most comfortable spot to tattoo.

But with all that being said…
I am still really happy with it. :D
It is entirely my design. Flowers weren’t referenced so they’re made up but if you can think of what they might look like let me know.

Probably going to do one more small tat on myself before moving onto tatting someone else.
All feedback and advice is welcome :)

Also I’m healing this one without second skin for the first time to see how it scabs and where I may have overworked it.

First attempt at a skull

Looking to build a portfolio throughout the end of this year. I’m currently 27 and have been very passionate about getting tattoos and tattoos in general. I want to build a portfolio that contains good tattooable images. I kind of know what makes a decent tattoo but obviously not well versed. I drew this black and gray

chainmail lady head with the knowledge I currently have. Would love to hear pointers and critiques on this design as well as any info that would help me for future drawings. I wanna build a strong portfolio.

Hello, im just startingvthis journey and i would like to know if this is cool for my second day and also i cut the fake skin (which is 2.5mm) to see how deep did my needle go. Which depth is good out of these few? Thank you

Hello again! I posted on here yesterday and got some very helpful critiques on this piece. Ive tweaked some things and taken the advice I was given and here's the end result for those of you who care lol (2nd pic is the 'before')

Been learning alongside a full-time job and graduate school and feeling like I haven't made enough progress. Obviously I won't be as good as a full-time apprentice but idk, I feel like I should be ready for skin by now.

Did half of the tattoo a while ago, now I can’t find the exact length of the stencil. When I print it or is it too small or too big and I don’t know how to find the exact size or how to measure it. Please help me! I’ve been tattooing for 6 months and that’s why some lines are shaky.

I am and have been a CNA (nursing assistant I wipe ass for living) for years. I’m 22 female. I have always loved and done art since I was a kid. I just recently hastily quit my nursing job (nursing home). I can’t keep a healthcare job. I love my patients, but I hate management. I want to do my art. I’m a real good artist. I have a tattoo gun but just don’t have the funds to keep up with tattooing fake skin. Idk what to do. I’ve been jobless for a week, and been applying to CNA jobs again. But I really don’t want to do it. If I could just apply to an art career. But it’s not that easy. I live middle of Massachusetts pretty much, and idk what to do. Help. How do I start this field when I have no certifications and don’t want to apprentice for free at a tattoo shop. Let me know.

Hello, just attempted my first portrait and looking for any kind of feedback on it. I still need to add some shading but I felt like I was at a good stopping point