Home > Author > Shelly Dax
1 " Contrast between textured areas and smooth areas in a tattoo can help direct the viewer’s eye to the most important elements. Highly textured areas will draw the eye and feel ‘closer’ to the viewer than areas with smooth or solid elements. Same goes for highly detailed areas vs. more blurred and soft areas. "
― Shelly Dax , The Tattoo Textbook: Escape the Grind, Do What You Love, and Launch Your Kick-Ass Tattoo Career
2 " When composition is good, you don’t really notice it, but you definitely notice when compositional elements are ignored. An artwork will seem unsuccessful or ‘wrong’ to you, even if you don’t know why. "
3 " Minimize, or tone down, other compositional elements in order to bring attention to the focal point. Backgrounds can be made lighter or darker in value, crisper or softer in focus, or textured or not textured, to lend support to where you want the eye to go. "
4 " Some of the pain that clients experience is likely from not knowing what to expect. They approach their appointment with tension and nervousness, and they tend to hold their breath when they first get started. As soon as a client relaxes and breathes normally, the tattoo pain becomes minimal. "
5 " In tattooing, linework is arguably the most important element. Lines form the basis of our sketches and the stencils used to apply the artwork to the skin. "
6 " When you are looking at a tattoo you are actually seeing it through the top layer of skin. Think of a color printer, printing on white paper versus color paper. The images printed will be affected by the color of the paper. The same is true for skin tone in tattoos. "
7 " Grapefruits are inexpensive, readily available and have enough surface area to accomplish some nice designs. The skin of a grapefruit is easily punctured but tough enough to hold up to multiple needle passes. Tattooing grapefruits gives you valuable experience in the feel of the machine, strengthens your hand, aids in understanding needle depth and speed before you approach a real client. Bonus; you have a snack when you are done! "
8 " Even in two-dimensional works you can convey the sense of touching a variety of surfaces by using implied texture. You can use line, value, color, pattern and contrast to create simulated textures on flat surfaces. "
9 " Emphasis is when we use art elements to accentuate a focal point or center of interest. This important principle helps us avoid things looking dull and muddled by giving the viewer a place to anchor their eyes temporarily. "
10 " Emphasis is of particular importance in tattoo art because tattoos can tend to be jumbled along body parts, such as an arm sleeve, and thus difficult to “read”. "
11 " Tattoos “read” better with one main idea while too many elements can tend to muddle up a piece. "
12 " You can always go back after a tattoo has healed and add additional dark, but you can’t take it away once in the skin (short of tattoo removal). Thus, it is helpful to err on the side of too light when you are new to tattooing and let your client know to come back for a follow-up visit to adjust levels and possibly build up color. "
13 " With the advanced information available today, there is no excuse for poor sanitation practices. Tattoo artists have an ethical and, in some areas, a legal responsibility to educate themselves, and be highly literate on the latest procedures and practices to ensure minimal risk to self and client. "
― Shelly Dax
14 " Don’t forget that the borders of a tattoo can create an implied line, too. You can dispel this look by making tattoo edges fade into the skin. "
15 " Tattooers could decide to mix their own ink. However, I believe choosing tattoo ink from well-established companies who supply ink to the public, use safe handling practices, and regularly test their ink, is an excellent choice. "
16 " Knowing when to turn your power up or down comes with cautious experimentation. Remember, that when you adjust the power supply setting you must compensate by adapting hand speed, pressure and hand movement to avoid damage to the client’s skin. "
17 " There is very little chance of getting an infection from a tattoo studio using standard precautions and sanitary practices. The majority of the time an infection is caused by improper aftercare. "
18 " A tattoo can be ruined by a too busy background or too many elements all having emphasis. "
