• How to set up for color shading

    Setting up for color shading is similar to how you would for black shading and shadowing with the main difference being that you will want the needles sticking a bit more out of your tattoo gun.  Have your needles out 1/16 of an inch rather than 1/32.

    Don’t be tempted to set them too deep in the hope of injecting the ink further into the skin. Remember that black is going in at 1/32 and that stays well in the skin so 1/16 should provide all the depth that your color needs.

    You will need to clean your equipment every time you change colors and needles. You will need to keep this in mind when using a variety of colors on a tattoo.

    You will need to make sure that you have removed all the old color off the needles and shader bar if you want to get the exact color that the customer is looking for. For instance, if the yellow is mixed with a bit of red then the final color in the skin will more than likely turn out orange. This is likely to embarrass you and cause your customer to become justifiably angry – always remember to clean your equipment.

    Things you need to know about color shading

    1. Avoid pressing too hard on the needle tube and make sure you move over the whole area where you want the color. Don’t crisscross over the area you are working on because you will end up damaging the skin and this will cause your customer to lose confidence in you.
    2. Try and have constant, tight, and flowing circles as this will make your shading look better.
    3. You shouldn’t really shade the same area more than once; if you really have to you can go over it twice to fix the coloring. Going over the area too much is bad for the skin because it leaves scars.
    4. Ink is going to be everywhere when you are doing shading. Make sure that you take occasional breaks to wipe away excess ink. If you don’t do this you won’t be able to see what you are doing and you could go outside your outline and ruin the tattoo.
    5. You will be able to make adjustments as you go if you take the time to inspect your work. In order to have a proper look at your tattoo you will need to wipe the area and the stretch the skin, just like you would do when tattooing in the area. You can be fairly certain that if the color looks good stretched it will be fine when finished.
    6. If you want to create the impression of diminishing color you can use the same sweep shading technique that was used with black. Many designs favor a blue design that diminishes to a very faint light blue and you will be able to create this effect by sweep shading.