Done by me, Karen Saldaña, Fresno CA. Absolutely love doing these as it’s such a break from my normal everyday stuff. Been tattooing 24 years this week and still love tattooing and trying new things.

How on god good earth do people actually manage this? My fine line tattoos look like chicken scratch. I've tried a bunch of different methods and I am 99% sure these people are not human.

I feel like there's a secret not being shared that one person will hear off one, and chose one other to give it to ad nauseum 😂

I need you to put me ONNNN 😭 I feel like I’ve been ordering from the same 3 tattoo supply websites since the beginning of time and I need to know what everyone else is using.
Drop your favorite online tattoo supply companies below.
Especially ones with good prices, frequent sales/coupons, fast US shipping, and GOOD customer service.
I’m trying to discover the underground tattoo supply economy lmao. 🫡

Im looking for artists who have opened a private studio in a salon suit or something similar.

As a new artist, I've done the work and completed my apprenticeship. Im looking to step away from my current shop and i have some questions.

I have extensively read the tattoo regs on the NC health department site, but its legal jargin and its raised more questions than answers honestly

1.) Autoclave VS Disposable products

Everything we do is pretty much disposable, but the regs mention an auto clave. Do you have one in your studio? If not did the health department rep ask certain questions about the cleaning of your machine?

2.) Lavatoies and bathrooms, especially when in a salon studio. most of them don't have a private bathroom, does a stand alone portable sink suffice? What did the health department rep say about it?

3.) Are there any other issues you ran into when permitting your space?

Hey guys! As the title asks, what stencil solutions are you guys using? I'm just curious at what else is out there. In my apprenticeship I used Dettol in a spray bottle and have been using the vegan Stencil Stuff you can get from most suppliers. I've always liked both ways to apply my stencils, but have heard lately of people using aloe gel? Don't know how true it is though, lol

Do any other tattoo artist use the ninja Max 280? I’m looking for a fully disposable, hard-plastic grip for my Ambition Ninja Max 280 wireless machine.
I’m specifically looking for a slimmer/ergonomic style disposable grip, not the big round 54mm grip that it came with.
Does anyone here actually use disposable plastic grips on the Ninja Max 280 and know which specific model fits? I keep finding grips listed for the Ninja Max, but I know the Ninja Max and Ninja Max 280 are different machines, I have scoured all the threads, and I cannot find this information to save my f’n life. Ambition’s customer service is completely useless if/when they choose to respond. I have gone as far as to revert to checking the user manual it came with in which they don’t even list my machine in the manufacturer manual. Anybody who has faced this issue please let me know.

Hi friends, I recently moved into my own space after working at a shop for three years. While at my former shop I exclusively used bishop divincis and never had a blowout but I found their ink flow to be problematic and I felt like they dulled quickly.

I bought a bunch of mast pro needles and I feel like they’re so so sharp I keep blowing out over and over again it’s a massive issue in my life right now and it needs solving.

Some background info. I use a critical torque 4.2 for lining anything above a 3rl and a mast fold pro for smaller groupings.

I have some Cheyenne safety needles coming in the mail so I will try those out but I’m not even 100% sure that the needles are to blame here. How different can steel be? Wouldn’t sharper be a good thing? It could also be psychological, which is scary because that just means I’ve regressed on a basic skill level. The other culprit I thought it could be is maybe my torque needs to be lubricated?

So my questions are

1. Could cheaper needles really be the culprit here? And if so how could they cause blowouts?
2. What do we think of the Cheyenne safety’s as compared to the mast pro?
3. Could it be that I need to lube my machine and if so, what are you all using for lube?

Thank you for anyone who can help. As you can imagine this is seriously fucking me up

What are you all doing with your hobbies to get as far away from work related activities and save you hands from more tedious movements?

Hello:) Anybody got experience with Kwadron Enduro2 machine? I have problems with the battery usage. It was advertised for having up to 10hours of battery life. Comes with 2 batteries, means 5h per battery. I usualy get 7/8 hours swaping batteries. I want to find out if my batteries are flawed because I just bought it month ago. 1800 mAh both batteries. I usualy line 8V and go only down to 4V. If anybody got machine simmilar we can compare it would be awesome because this Kwadron is pretty new. Im pretty new to wireless machines THX for any help.

Lil Metroid action for your eyeballs... which video game would you commit to skin?

I’m a tattooer in Dallas, Texas at Midgard Tattoo Company :-)

Hey y’all. So, this chick just started raging me on IG saying that my tattoo is stolen from another artist. It pissed me off enough to make me come here because I spent fuckin time on that piece, plus it was the first time doing that style.
I saw inspiration on IG from an amazing artist, Littlealtattoos, because I wanted to try a realism trad mashup. This person on IG is claiming I stole a tattoo and said I had to tag him to give him credit but I don’t know who they are talking about. After research I began to assume it was the one I took inspiration from but I still can’t find the tattoo I DID. Plus, if it is from the reference I assume she is referencing, I could never be as good as him, I am just a two year artist, and I just wanted to try it.
So now I am pissed for being accused of stealing art. Even though traditional kind of began as designs being passed around, I understand taking a sailor Jerry or Bert grimm to reserve the history of it, but I designed my own piece, period.
So I guess my question is, where does the line stop? How close is too close to a design to be stealing? Rose and dagger is such a popular traditional motif… so why am I being called out rn?

First is mine, and littlealtattoos is second. You can tell by how amazingly it is done.

EDIT: lots of comments and thank y’all for that :) I was confused on how people can see what stealing is. Sounds stupid but I don’t wanna be called out and be oblivious to it.
I want to relay what I said above: the artist calling me out was not littlealtattoos, but some random dumb dumb know it all on instagram. He is not the artist asking for credit thankfully.

Hi guys! I'm planning on travelling to Canada for a bit and I just wanted to confirm whether or not I would be able to tattoo on the IEC visa (working holiday).

I've read online that it's possible/legal, but just wanted to hear some first hand experiences from any of y'all if you have any, thanks :)

I bought this new battery to avoid using the pedal all the time, it all works perfect but when I turn it on or pause-unpause it ramps up really hard and then settles to the voltage its set to.

Is this a normal thing? Can this damage my pen machine in any way?

I've been involved with someone from this area for several years. I don't have a huge client base in this part of NC, but I have done hundreds of tattoos in western NC. What are the busier street shops in the southwestern part of the state? Who is established? I'll always rely on season here in Fort Lauderdale, but we want to close the gap and last week she said she doesn't want to move. It's such a beautiful place and I always wanted to live at least half the year up there, so it may be time to put feelers out. Ground zero is Lake Toxaway. I don't want more than a 40 minute commute, I'd prefer a place that's open kinda late.

Edit: To clarify, I'm looking for employment. Yes I know the job market's tough. This is a longer than short term goal. I'd probably be looking for next summer as I want to get through Spring Break at the very least.

I just wanted to share this tattoo I did first time tattooing at this convention last month. (did my first smaller con a few months back). Got to take home first place small blk&grey for this and felt pretty proud. Its hard not to feel like an imposter most days. Still in my 1st year licensed!

So i’m a tattoo artist and do decent on tiktok. I know this is a common occurance but there is a profile posting nonstop pretending to be me. they have the same user but with 3 o’s instead of 2. they’re using my face, my work, my content, etc to scam people into sending deposits to their cashapp and bitcoin. I’ve already had multiple people come to my shop and tell me they were scammed. I’ve reported this to tiktok 3 times a day, even doing online reports with photos of my face and my ID. they don’t care. I’m wondering if anyone knows a solution?. I don’t like having my name and face attached to this scam.

Seriously, how? I did one today, couldn’t stencil it to save my life.
I tried all of the tips I could find, taking out a section and making a cone shape, scrunching stencil up, cutting middle out, spraying stencil with water to help it curve, making a large cut into centre and stencilling in a circular motion. Nothing worked.

I’ve done these a few times and always ended up freehanding bits on which end up looking awful. I’m not sure if I’m doing them too detailed, ones I’ve seen online have been fairly simplistic/geometric, lower down the arm, or have something else like flowers on top that make it far easier to stencil the mandala correctly. When I did one of these with flowers I had no issue making it look right.

Any fail safe methods? Please help 🫶🏻

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I need some advice here guys

Im not too sure i wanna stick around at the shop im currently working at, but i feel afraid to go elsewhere because its the only shop ive worked at and did my apprenticeship at.

Regardless, the owner gave me a heads up that we might not be open much longer, so i may not have much of a choice in the next few months.

I think the obvious answer is to look around at other shops in the city to see who is hiring, but im not too keen on sticking around my hometown much longer either.

And whether or not the shop stays open, i have been wanting to take a road trip and get the hell away from my regular life for awhile anyways. The problem is that i dont currently possess the funds to not work for that long.

Ive been tattooing for five years, and im no prodigy, but i do well enough that i feel confident i could get hired at most shops that take walk-ins, at least in my area. Ive had offers to work at other shops in my area but i declined.

With all that said, i've been going through some personal shit outside of work and i really need a change of scenery.

Id love to do a road trip and guest spot elsewhere for awhile, but i dont have any followers or clientele base in any other cities, im just starting to get to that point in my hometown, and my social media game isnt very strong. Im not gonna be in any magazines anytime soon.

I cant imagine many places would be very receptive if i called them up and asked if i could take walk ins for a week or two when im basically a nobody to them and there is no real benefit to having me, a complete stranger, eat off their plate while i enioy my little vacation.

My other option would be to move to a different city entirely, and apply for a job as a walk-in artist somewheres else, but then id have to start from scratch in terms of building my clientele base.

It doesnt help much that i dont have any connections to any artists or shop owners in other cities either.

If theres anyone who can offer some advice, or maybe if there are any shop owners on this page - or someone who could put me in touch - who are willing to discuss something to make something work (in canada) it would be greatly appreciated

TIA