Honest feedback required

[TeeJay]

As you may recal, I've recently started to learn how to tattoo. I've tried posting work to a tattoo forum to get feedback, but despite a load of views, no-one's said anything Now, if my work's bad, I'd rather be told what I'm doing wrong and how to improve than just silence, so please chime in with any feedback, positive or negative

Self-applied Cherry blossom (my first time tattooing anything)

Second tattoo performed:

Lotus (first time using color to outline and shading)

Self-applied Hibiscus flowers (wife stretched the skin for me, and yes, she was wearing gloves too...)

Nautical star (skin condition is psoriasis)

Re-touching of self-applied cherry blossoms (while lying down)

Memorial anchor (shading has healed up really nicely)

Re-worked old tattoo (on someone else's ass, not mine )

Minimalist Portrait (still healing)

Bamboo and Cobra stencil:

Marlin stencil:

Frog-San:

Chest stencils:

Japanese Sleeve on wifey (two and a half hours work). Lines are going to be 2nd passed and refined when shading and color is added

Done on a friend of a friend:

[Dave123]

To be honest (since you want it),looks terrible to me. I would think the lack of replies last time would be your answer to that one.

What kind of woman would want that on them i have no idea,but thats another issue.

That kind of stuff is for good and i really wouldn't want a rookie using my skin for practice,i know everyone has to get started at some point but if you are using my skin as a drawing board,you better know what you are doing.

[Watchmeister]

Known you a long time so I say this with affection...you are not ready for prime time yet. Or at a minimum make sure whoever you are doing knows exactly what your capabilities are. This is coming from someone who can't decide what to have for breakfast never mind how he would like to permanently mark his body.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

dont you guys literally practice on pigs first since their skin is almost identical, or is that a myth?

[HauteHippie]

Gotta agree with the above two posts. I'd suggest having your wife go to an experienced tattoo artist to fix up that sleeve.

Anyhow, here's my personal favorite local tattoo artist's work for comparison:

Dawei Tattoo

[P4GTR]

Your wife might not be brutally honest to your face about her opinion of the sleeve, but she will see it everyday for the rest of her life. You don't want a less than perfect reminder of you staring her in the face everyday- so I agree with chief. Get it worked over by the best person you can.

You have skills, but I wouldn't let you tattoo me. You haven't been at this very long, what do you really expect?

I'm sorry T, I am only doing for you what you asked, and I would want the truth, too.

[Ronin]

As someone with some ink, and friend of 3 working Tattoo Artists-- it is not horrible, but it does show a little lack of experience IMHO. Clearly still in the apprentice stage. ???

Let me give perhaps some constructive criticism.

*The above photos look very digital or mono to me. To be more specific, the lines look traced/too precise and all the same width.

*Shading (on colored pieces). Consider light source. Imagine a real life flower/anchor/etc, then visualize how light would reflect across it, and from where it would be shining from.

**Shading -- I simply can not stress this enough. Shading is mastery. It is perhaps the first thing I look at when 'judging' a tattoo. A sign of quality. Even an all black tattoo can be blended/feathered in. Use different gauge needles, and colors.

Your Lotus Flower looks like you used 2 colors (could be monitor/photo) and simply varied intensity -vs- 3, 4, 5 colors blending together.

Here is a Lotus Flower with some nice blending and shading:

This flower has what looks like Red, Orange, Yellow, Purple and base flesh + black? outline

Incomplete, but--

Similar here, the dark bottoms of the petal where light would not get down to; black, purple, yellow, orange. Notice how round one of shading the scales takes into consideration how light would reflect-- tail higher toward imaginary light source, and possibly the head as it would arch up.

Study, Study, Study, Practice, Practice, Practice. Rome was not built in a day.

[TeeJay]

To be honest (since you want it),looks terrible to me. I would think the lack of replies last time would be your answer to that one.

What kind of woman would want that on them i have no idea,but thats another issue.

That kind of stuff is for good and i really wouldn't want a rookie using my skin for practice,i know everyone has to get started at some point but if you are using my skin as a drawing board,you better know what you are doing.

Thanks for the comments, I'm not above hearing my work is bad, after all, I am still learning From your comment though, I do wonder if you're someone who doesn't really appreciate tattoos at all...

Known you a long time so I say this with affection...you are not ready for prime time yet. Or at a minimum make sure whoever you are doing knows exactly what your capabilities are. This is coming from someone who can't decide what to have for breakfast never mind how he would like to permanently mark his body.

I wasn't planning on opening my own studio just yet, still getting in as much practice as I can

dont you guys literally practice on pigs first since their skin is almost identical, or is that a myth?

Pigskin is one parctice medium available, and there are also rubber practice 'skins' available too, but, reading on tattoo forums, people say that folks who train on the practice skins can wind up over-working human skin, because the rubber is much harder to work, so the person develops a 'heavy hand'. Likewise, it is also possible to practice on grapefruits, but as the opposite, the skin on those is too soft... The only true medium for practice, is one's own skin, and the skin of willing victims/volunteers Most (if not all) artists learn by tattooing their own legs

Gotta agree with the above two posts. I'd suggest having your wife go to an experienced tattoo artist to fix up that sleeve.

Anyhow, here's my personal favorite local tattoo artist's work for comparison:

Dawei Tattoo

There's some fantastic work there, how long have they been in the industry for? Really nice portrait work

Your wife might not be brutally honest to your face about her opinion of the sleeve, but she will see it everyday for the rest of her life. You don't want a less than perfect reminder of you staring her in the face everyday- so I agree with chief. Get it worked over by the best person you can.

You have skills, but I wouldn't let you tattoo me. You haven't been at this very long, what do you really expect?

I'm sorry T, I am only doing for you what you asked, and I would want the truth, too.

Nothing to apologize for, the truth was what I wanted. The funny thing, is she is really happy with it (and has had the work complimented by others) but as mentioned above, that was never intended as anything more than a rough outline to be refined in the future And absolutely, I'm not expecting miracles, afterall, it takes time to master any new medium

As someone with some ink, and friend of 3 working Tattoo Artists-- it is not horrible, but it does show a little lack of experience IMHO. Clearly still in the apprentice stage. ???

Let me give perhaps some constructive criticism.

*The above photos look very digital or mono to me. To be more specific, the lines look traced/too precise and all the same width.

*Shading (on colored pieces). Consider light source. Imagine a real life flower/anchor/etc, then visualize how light would reflect across it, and from where it would be shining from.

**Shading -- I simply can not stress this enough. Shading is mastery. It is perhaps the first thing I look at when 'judging' a tattoo. A sign of quality. Even an all black tattoo can be blended/feathered in. Use different gauge needles, and colors.

Your Lotus Flower looks like you used 2 colors (could be monitor/photo) and simply varied intensity -vs- 3, 4, 5 colors blending together.

Here is a Lotus Flower with some nice blending and shading:

This flower has what looks like Red, Orange, Yellow, Purple and base flesh + black? outline

Incomplete, but--

Similar here, the dark bottoms of the petal where light would not get down to; black, purple, yellow, orange. Notice how round one of shading the scales takes into consideration how light would reflect-- tail higher toward imaginary light source, and possibly the head as it would arch up.

Study, Study, Study, Practice, Practice, Practice. Rome was not built in a day.

Thanks for the feedback, it's much appreciated, and yes, I'm very much still in the apprentice stage Yes, the lotus was a two color piece, and yes, it does look very 'printed', but it was supposed to be a stylized piece, rather than a photo-realistic one Your comment on the line work really confuses me though, as I would have thought precision and consistency of the lines, is one of the key principles of a well applied tattoo... I know the lines on my wife's sleeve are all over the place in terms of consistency, but, in my defense, she is a nightmare to tattoo: fidgets, complains about the pain etc, so it was a case of getting all the lines of the stencil inked as quickly as possible, even if only sketchily, so they could be refined in the future, rather than doing a perfect piece in one go As you say, these things do take time to get to grips with, and all I can do is keep practicing

Thanks to all for the feedback, it is very much appreciated

[Guest zeleni kukuruz]

Your work is far better from other tattos i have seen!

Tattos Is NOT my thing, to me all tattos or other things that you put or nail on your body is ugly! Call me old school but i cant see the love for doing that to your body.

But as for the drawings i like them

[spooky driver]

Nautical star (skin condition is psoriasis)

unfortunally they do look very amateur....your Nautical star looks way of the mark compared to the one below .

[subbiesrock]

Your work is far better from other tattos i have seen!

Tattos Is NOT my thing, to me all tattos or other things that you put or nail on your body is ugly! Call me old school but i cant see the love for doing that to your body.

But as for the drawings i like them

You have an eye for it, just grab some pig skins and practise practise practise. I really like the art too

[TeeJay]

Your work is far better from other tattos i have seen!

Tattos Is NOT my thing, to me all tattos or other things that you put or nail on your body is ugly! Call me old school but i cant see the love for doing that to your body.

But as for the drawings i like them

Thanks, that's nice to hear, it can be shocking to see the level of work people do walk around with, but I at least accept that I am just learning I do understand that tattoos aren't everyone's cup of tea, when I was younger I swore I'd never get one, and if I drew on myself, I would immediately rub it off again Ironically, I still can't stand to have ink marks on me, and still rub off smudges etc, yet am perfectly happy having permanent tattoos I have been drawing much longer than I have been tattooing

unfortunally they do look very amateur....your Nautical star looks way of the mark compared to the one below .

Of course they look amateur, I am still learning the ropes How long had the artist who did that star been working for? The one you have compared it to, was probably the fifth or sixth tattoo I had ever done

You have an eye for it, just grab some pig skins and practise practise practise. I really like the art too

Many thanks I can only get better at it

[HauteHippie]

As someone with some ink, and friend of 3 working Tattoo Artists-- it is not horrible, but it does show a little lack of experience IMHO. Clearly still in the apprentice stage. ???

Let me give perhaps some constructive criticism.

Hey Ronin, are you familiar with Kore Flatmo? His work is the best I've ever seen.

[TeeJay]

Hey Ronin, are you familiar with Kore Flatmo? His work is the best I've ever seen.

Not a name I was familiar with, but I really like his work. His Japanese work reminds me of work by Horiyoshi III

[TJGladeRaider]

This has been interesting.

Our member asks for some honest critique.

Our member gets some pretty brutally honest critique.

Our member apparently appreciates the honesty he asked for.

Personally, I don't know squat about tattoos, but it's nice to be with a group who can talk to each other like family.

For my part, I'll just offer one comment about the wife - more specifically, a comment about the previously offered comment about the wife. I think most women I've known who would go for a tattoo like that would be much more satisfied with their husband's best work (assuming it is decent) than a masterful job by a professional artist. Considering the way that you take brutal honesty and criticism (and the fact that she undoubtedly knows how you are), I'd just see what she says and accept whatever she says as heartfelt.

Good luck with this hobby, or vocation, whichever it turns out to be.

Bill

[TeeJay]

This has been interesting.

Our member asks for some honest critique.

Our member gets some pretty brutally honest critique.

Our member apparently appreciates the honesty he asked for.

Personally, I don't know squat about tattoos, but it's nice to be with a group who can talk to each other like family.

For my part, I'll just offer one comment about the wife - more specifically, a comment about the previously offered comment about the wife. I think most women I've known who would go for a tattoo like that would be much more satisfied with their husband's best work (assuming it is decent) than a masterful job by a professional artist. Considering the way that you take brutal honesty and criticism (and the fact that she undoubtedly knows how you are), I'd just see what she says and accept whatever she says as heartfelt.

Good luck with this hobby, or vocation, whichever it turns out to be.

Bill

Many thanks, Bill, I am hoping to be able to learn and progress to the point where I can make a career tattooing, although I do appreciate that at the moment, I am at the bottom of the totem pole Also, you're quite right about what most women would think about their husband's work, my wife was actually really upset by Dave's comment as she understands that the condition of her sleeve is currently little more than a sketch, which will be refined in the future into a finished piece, and that it was simply a matter of getting all lines down (albeit crudely) rather than having to re-draw or re-stencil in the future And absolutely, we are all family here, which is why I knew I could trust people to be honest, rather than just telling me what they thought I wanted to hear That's what I need to hear to continue to learn and improve

I forgot to post this pic before, but it's another tattoo I re-worked, which was not only badly faded, but very badly executed...

The S was higher than the top of the original banner line, so I had to re-draw that, and then used the blue ink and shading to hide all the blurring But, even more disturbing than the positioning of the S, the lady told me that when it was done, the tattoo artist not only made her stand for the application of the stencil (totally normal) but made her stand for the procedure as well I just found it hard to imagine any artist thinking that was an acceptable way to tattoo someone, as if they were to come over light-headed, as can happen, well, the possibilities don't really bear thinking about

[Ronin]

Hey Ronin, are you familiar with Kore Flatmo? His work is the best I've ever seen.

Ohhh yeah!

Your comment on the line work really confuses me though, as I would have thought precision and consistency of the lines, is one of the key principles of a well applied tattoo...

It is more of a 'feeling'. Like analog music from a tube amp -vs- a MP3 on a iPod.

Take your Bamboo sketch for example.

The growth rings are all very much the same, as are the leafs. The leafs might as well be copy-n-pasted. Don't get me wrong it is a good drawing, and most people wish they could sit down and draw that. It does look a little more "Comic Book / Cartoon" bound, than organic lifelike. Which is fine if that is "your style". This is where "Art" gets subjective.

Organic, no two leafs are identical. Again, personal preference.

Side note, are you trying to spell Komatori with your Hiragana? English for Robin?

[TeeJay]

It is more of a 'feeling'. Like analog music from a tube amp -vs- a MP3 on a iPod.

Take your Bamboo sketch for example.

The growth rings are all very much the same, as are the leafs. The leafs might as well be copy-n-pasted. Don't get me wrong it is a good drawing, and most people wish they could sit down and draw that. It does look a little more "Comic Book / Cartoon" bound, than organic lifelike. Which is fine if that is "your style". This is where "Art" gets subjective.

Organic, no two leafs are identical. Again, personal preference.

Ahhh, yes, I see what you mean, and yes, the reeds were essentially copy/pasted as I just drew up a few basic shapes, then traced and repeated them to get the effect I was looking for If you ignore the reed which the cobra coils round, the other three reeds follow the traditional rules of ikebana When it comes to doing the actual tattoo, there will be more 'weathering' added to the reeds and leaves so they're not all perfect copies of each other

Side note, are you trying to spell Komatori with your Hiragana? English for Robin?

Yes, my godson's name is Robin, but I chose to use the actual Japanese word, rather than simply trying to write 'robin' in katakana The other bamboo reeds are reserved for the names of my own children when we have them

[Dave123]

Don't want to upset your wife,she looks like she could kick my ass.

As for what i said earlier,its not that i have an issue with tat's,i have one (small and shitty as well ,did when i was a kid ),not a fan of them on women,just a personal opinion.

[P4GTR]

Your drawings exhibit a lot of talent. If you aren't the best tattoo artist i've ever seen right now, you may be one day. I agree with Ronin's pointers.

I've always wondered what people really thought, and how to provoke the answer from them that they may think but never say. That is why I wanted to do that for you. Maybe one day I will ask you to return the favor.

I've been good at a lot of things in my life, however no matter what it has been, or how much I tried, I don't think i've ever been truly great at anything. Newly married with a child on the way, I am very much about being a great husband and father-to-be. I'm sure you can relate, being a newlywed yourself.

Best of luck being great at whatever you do.

Edited May 17, 2011 by P4GTR

[TeeJay]

Don't want to upset your wife,she looks like she could kick my ass.

As for what i said earlier,its not that i have an issue with tat's,i have one (small and shitty as well ,did when i was a kid ),not a fan of them on women,just a personal opinion.

That's cool, afterall, everything's personal preference

Your drawings exhibit a lot of talent. If you aren't the best tattoo artist i've ever seen right now, you may be one day. I agree with Ronin's pointers.

I've always wondered what people really thought, and how to provoke the answer from them that they may think but never say. That is why I wanted to do that for you. Maybe one day I will ask you to return the favor.

I've been good at a lot of things in my life, however no matter what it has been, or how much I tried, I don't think i've ever been truly great at anything. Newly married with a child on the way, I am very much about being a great husband and father-to-be. I'm sure you can relate, being a newlywed yourself.

Best of luck being great at whatever you do.

Many thanks, and when the day comes, I'll be sure to be as equally honest I've been drawing just over 20 years, and people have been saying I should tattoo for a good ten years, it's just until now, I was too worried about making a mistake to actually consider doing it. It wasn't until I lumed the dial of my 1655 that I had the confidence to even consider tattooing. I've been lucky, in that I have a friend online who is a tattoo artist, and they've been giving me a lot of advice and encouragement, as proper apprenticeships are hard enough to find in most places, and in this town, a total impossibility due to none of the studios wanting to take on apprentices. Sadly, the mentality seems to be "who wants to train someone who can then take away your business?" When what people seem to forget, is that it's not just a case of everyone cutting themself a piece of the pie, but that there is a never-ending supply of pie, so there's room for everyone to get into it and still be enough work to go round Luckily for me, I've spent the better part of the last 10 years in various tattoo studios, and picked up most of the information which apprentices learn, it's just a matter of actually putting that knowledge into practice and doing it

[spooky driver]

well having a artists eye for things will definitely give you a head start on most tattoo artists....

[TeeJay]

well having a artists eye for things will definitely give you a head start on most tattoo artists....

Fingers crossed

[If you see Kay]

Are you on Tattoodles.com for your peer reviews? He's a local tattoo artist that has made a name for himself amongst tattoo artists.

by the way when doing kanji characters, be VERY careful in replicating them. make sure you get a bonafide chinese dude to read over your proof first before doing the work.

Edited May 17, 2011 by If you see Kay

[Ronin]

Are you on Tattoodles.com for your peer reviews? He's a local tattoo artist that has made a name for himself amongst tattoo artists.

by the way when doing kanji characters, be VERY careful in replicating them. make sure you get a bonafide chinese dude to read over your proof first before doing the work.

His characters are actually Japanese Hiragana and not Kanji. The good news, I was able to read them and translate correctly.

But I know what you mean. I wonder how many people are running around with the Kanji equivalent of "Kick Me" tattoo'd on them.