Tattoo Styles not recommended for beginners

For novel tattooists, there may be things that are not very clear when they start, and not knowing where to begin is very normal.

You may really want to work on a specific style, but inexperience is present.

That is why, here we'll give you some of the styles that are not recommended for beginners and the reasons.

As usual, it is better to start with less complex styles, and not because you do not have talent or ability, but because it is very necessary to go from less to more.

Do you want to learn more?

Avoid these tattoo styles in your beginnings

• Realism Well… What can we say about this? If you have recently started tattooing and the first thing you want to do is Realism, let us tell you that you are going the wrong way, and you will crash into a wall.
  
  Not because you don't have the skills. Not at all, you may be a great drawing artist, but translating this into tattoos takes a long time, even years and years.
  
  To know more about this, read our post Realistic tattoo: a demanding style.
  
  Better start with less complex styles and, once you have mastered them, reach other goals and meet other demands. Meanwhile, the important thing is that you practice a lot, especially the lights and shadows, as we mentioned in the article Learn to draw for tattooing.
  
  Knowing how to draw Realism in an excellent way takes many years, even more if you want to tattoo it! Definitely not for someone who started tattooing 15 minutes ago.

• Micro-Realism. If Realism seemed difficult for us, Micro-Realism… Guess what?
  
  Although the techniques used for both styles are very different, Micro-Realism is very complex.
  
  Well, it is about achieving realistic effects through Dotwork and other similar techniques on a tiny scale. It takes a lot of time and a lot of practice.

• You can jump right in, but you'll likely just end up with a big black mark on your client's skin.
  
  In addition, already for a Micro-Realism professional, it is difficult to achieve the good aging of tattoos, since lines and dots, when they are very close together in a tiny area begin to join after a while.
  
  It's a mess!
  
  Avoid the bad moments and be honest to yourself. After several tattoos, you will be able to do it in an excellent way. Don't be discouraged, but be patient!

• Fine line. Although at first glance they seem simple tattoos without major complexities, let us tell you that it is one of the most difficult to achieve, since drawing perfect lines, in combination with the use of very fine needles, requires skills and a lot of experience.

• As we told you in the article Minimalism: Fine-Line tattoo, keep in mind that any slight mistake is noticeable and fixing it is almost impossible.
  
  Better start with a style in which you need thicker strokes, you will see that you will be able to handle it much better.
  

• Watercolor. Getting to make a tattoo where the ink stains have to be realistic is hard! In fact, even for the most professional artists, that is a challenge.

• Geometric. This style demands perfect lines and generally fine and very defined strokes. If you're just starting out, you probably won't get the lines right in one go. This has happened to all of us.
  
  As with Fine-Line, mastering the use of very fine needles and making long strokes without imperfections is very hard work. So we encourage you to continue practicing, for example, on synthetic skins, until you master the technique and use of the equipment too.
  
  You will see that little by little you will make relevant progress, and you will better understand the weight of your machine and how the inks behave. This is fundamental, since having mastery of the equipment and the ease in hand to tattoo is only achieved with perseverance and daily practice.
  
  Knowing how to master the machine is knowing how to tattoo. There's no other way. So, you know, take one step at a time, and you'll get very, very far.

Some tips to keep in mind

• Don't start with light shades. In general, achieving solid results with these types of inks is not an easy task if you do not have the necessary training. It may happen that in the first passes the ink is not well impregnated, and you go over it more than necessary.
  
  To achieve an accurate result, master the use of black inks first.

• Avoid mixing tones. Not all shades or inks can be mixed, and to do so and achieve the desired results, it takes a lot of practice. Often, the ink we see in the cup, when placed on the skin, behaves differently. For this reason, we must first learn about colorimetry.

• Do not make very long strokes. Very long lines in a single stroke are just difficult, since it will depend on your steady hand and confidence to make it look good. Start with other options and work from less to more.

• Don't just rely on machines. Typical! Thinking that the machines will do all the work, or that by buying the latest and most expensive model, the designs will be excellent is just useless!
  
  Machines are just a means to achieve what you want, but the rest of the work depends on your skills.

• Be aware of your limitations. This is not a bad thing at all! Knowing how far you can get now, speaks well of you and your willingness to learn more.
  
  Be confident when tattooing your first clients.

Patience: the key to success

Don't let this advice discourage you! We just wanted to warn you of possible problems you may encounter if you skip or rush stages. As in everything, it's best to go one step at a time.

It's natural that having such a passion for this profession, we find it hard to wait, and we wish we could tattoo it all as soon as possible! But if we want to improve, it's crucial to respect the time needed to do it in an optimal way.

Engrave this in your heart: success is not about running to try to get there first, but rather going step by step and gradually increasing the challenge... Even the best professionals recommend it because they know what each stage of their development has meant.

Believe us, with practice, patience, and resilience you can go as far as you want.

And if you need a hand to be trained by experienced professional tattoo artists who've already been where you are now and who, despite their mistakes, have managed to become top benchmarks in the industry... then you might want to check out our best-suited course for beginners.

Learn how to tattoo one of the most sought-after yet approachable styles. MasterCourse: Blackwork Tattooing, with Rebollo.