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The right equipment

“A craftsman is only as good as his tools.”

You want to start inking and you need the right material. In this chapter, I'll go over the basic equipment you need to get started. At the same time, I'll give you some tips on how to save money and what you should not do at all. Let's start with the tattoo machine. No matter if it's a bobbin, rotary or pen. Never order a tattoo set for less than a hundred Euro that includes everything. Usually these sets contain three or four machines, transformer, cables, colors, matrix paper, needles, pots, artificial tattoo skin and much more.

“This is China junk.”

that you definitely shouldn't ink someone with. If only because of the questionable colors. It'll do for a start, you say. No, everything you learn and maybe do with these inferior materials is a waste of time.

“A craftsman is only as good as his tools.”

Buy quality goods from the start and learn how to use them. If necessary, you can always resell them for good money. At the end of this chapter, I will prepare a price list for the materials you need so that you have a general idea of what you can expect to spend. Another hurdle in the purchasing process is being able to show them your trade license, which you don’t necessarily need if you have a few good connections.

My tip:

Go to the Trade Licensing Office and apply for a small business tattoo studio. It will cost around twenty Euro and you don't have to pay sales tax. No one really cares. You can find a lot of information about it on the internet. This little certificate makes your purchases much easier. Procuring machines and materials online is the easier option. Ask your online retailer whether you need a trade licence or not.

So what do you need to get started? I proceed chronologically, according to work steps. A good office chair that is adjustable in height, with which you can turn and move around a little. Preferably two chairs, because your client also has to sit somewhere. A small table on which you can place your materials. A good lamp, so that you can see everything and don't strain your eyes too much. A small bathroom shelf, on wheels, you can get in every hardware store for little money. A printer and scanner to scan in motifs or, you may have guessed it, to print them out. Depending on how you work, there is a light table to trace your motifs. I prefer to simply print the motif, apply it to the skin, change any deviations with a tattoo pencil and start. Everybody proceeds differently to get the desired result quickly.

Draw everything by hand

Many rely on a thermal printer to save time and effort. Here the cheap devices are not worth it, if you are thinking of getting one. As a beginner, I advise you to use a pencil. Draw your motifs by hand. This way you will get to know the motif better and it is a useful warm up before the actual inking begins. To draw through, you need matrix paper, i.e. tracing paper. There are different colors and qualities. Some are not approved on specific markets, similar to the various tattoo colors. Try some of them and find the right matrix paper for you. Above all, this depends on how they perform on the skin of the customer. Whether they smudge quickly, dry quickly or stay on for a long time. They should at least last until you have finished your work.

Transfer to the skin

The desired motif now has to be applied to the skin. You will need a skin disinfectant spray and a kitchen roll. For your hands as well as the body of the customer. Put on your disposable gloves first. After all has been cleaned thoroughly, the chosen area must be smeared with a transfer agent. Here you can find several expensive products on all tattoo accessory platforms. At the risk of being crucified, I still use a deodorant grease stick, which doesn't cost me even one euro a piece. It holds very well if you let it dry for a few minutes. What you use is up to you. After the motif has been properly transferred and everything fits perfectly, you should let it dry between five and ten minutes.

Preparations

I like to use this time to prepare the tattoo machine, colors and everything else. Disposable mats, adhesive tape, mouth spatula, vaseline (milking grease) and ink pots are the next consumables you need. The disposable mats are attached to the table on which your material will be placed. Hygiene is very important when tattooing. Pay attention to it from the beginning. With the mouth spatulas you get some vaseline from the pot. With that, you can fixate the color pots on the surface underneath. This is a well-tried method and holds very well. There are different sizes of ink pots that you can use. How much ink you need for what will become apparent over time. The size of the pots and the amount of ink pots to buy depends on this.

Ink and other little things

Put ink in the pots. Inks are a topic in themselves. One person does well with this brand, the other with another. As a rule, you don't go wrong with the common brands. First of all, lean towards the basic shades or limit it to a good black, as inks can be very expensive. If you start, a solid black will do, because you can mix shades with it. Especially since you won't ink big things right from the beginning. The topic of inks is dealt with in the chapter “Ink and shades”. Properly shake the ink before each filling, so that sunken particles mix in again. You need plastic cups in abundance. Fill them with water and place them on your working area. You will need it later. Just like the special soap or foam, for intermediate cleaning or for the final cleaning of the tattoo, as it is always shown on the Internet. You know, you see an arm with foam. Then the tattoo artist wipes over it and reveals a masterpiece - or not.

A solid tattoo machine

Now we’re going to talk about the tattoo machine. Probably the costliest point in inking is and remains the machine, without power supply "transformer", foot switch and cable. At the beginning I mentioned the starter sets, which you should keep your hands off. I emphasize it again at this point. Keep your hands off the junk. For a good machine alone you should expect a price of at least three hundred euro. More like five or six hundred euro. This is not a joke, it's a fact. But for this money, you get a very solid machine that will keep you going for a long time if you keep your focus. After only a few tattoos, the costs for the machine break even. What kind of tattoo machine you want to go for is entirely up to you. Coil, rotary or pen are the three types you can choose between. More about this in the chapter “Which Tattoo Machine”. I've been using a Rotary for days and years, but I've switched to a solid pen because it's so handy because of the modules. So you save having to buy disposable handle and needles. That's why I advise you to buy a tattoo pen, which is already available for under four hundred Euro.

Besides the machine and clip or chinch cable, you need clip cord sleeves. These, mostly blue plastic covers for the cable and the machine, should be used for hygienic reasons. With the crepe tape you attach the covers to your machine.

Power supply and foot switch

The power supply, or transformer, can be another expensive investment, but it doesn’t have to be. Again, I advise against cheap offers. With approximately one hundred euro you get something solid. Important is the display, which should provide exact data. Whether you stick with 8 volts or 11 volts is decisive for your work. Especially with outlines, color or shading, the speed must be right so that you can orientate yourself better. Have the power supply checked beforehand so that you can adjust to the values. Use a round foot switch, because it can be activated easily from all sides and is firmly on the ground. A square one does the same, but can slip if it is too cheaply made. This can cost time and nerves, believe me.

So, everything is ready for the jump-off. The pattern, on your customer's body, is dry. As a precaution, press again with a dry strip of kitchen roll. Then you smear Vaseline on the entire motif with the mouth spatula, thinly. This makes the motif more supple and you can draw the lines more easily because of the low frictional resistance. You can always reapply Vaseline if necessary. This is a matter of feeling.

In between you have to wipe away excess ink. Do this with a damp piece of kitchen towel. Many do it dry, which causes the customer unnecessary pain after a while. With this, perhaps un-interpretive, method you make good friends by working a little more gently. Tattoo pain in all honours, but at some point every customer goes to his knees.

You've done it. Your first motif is on a person's skin. A little final cleaning, where you remove all the excess ink. Just wait a few minutes, dab the motif in between in case some blood or other liquids come out.

Wound and healing ointments are the preferred variants for the aftercare. Some recommend Vaseline or milking grease. More about this in the chapter “The right care”. After almost two weeks you can see whether your work has been successful or not. Whether it needs to be reworked or not. If so, make an appointment in good time to touch up your work.

So, that was a lot of material to get your basic equipment together, wasn't it? So I'm litattoo the materials again with the approximate prices. Computer or laptop, as well as chairs, table, pencils and paper are a basic requirement, which I do not list here.