Home » Tattooing With A Tattoo Pen: Tips And Tricks For Success

Tattooing With A Tattoo Pen: Tips And Tricks For Success

Tattooing is an art form for self-expression. It’s highly impressionistic in style and bold in nature.

It doesn’t matter if you are new to this whole art of tattoo design; having the proper skillset and the best equipment will immensely help you in this journey.

This article will precisely guide you through all the detailed analysis, tried and tested methods, industry secrets, and definitive choices on what to do and what not to do with a Tattoo Pen.

Tattooing requires a lot of equipment to flourish, both as an art form and as a professional occupation. You don’t have to know everything about tattooing, but knowing the right equipment is essential.

Tattooing yourself is not as complex as it seems. Of course, it requires patience and understanding of the right equipment and its utilization. Knowing their advantages and disadvantages is very important whether you use a Tattoo machine “gun” or a Tattoo pen.

Most People need clarification on using a Tattoo gun and a Tattoo pen; which one is the best and most useful while engraving a tattoo? No one can give you the right answer between these two.

But in this article guide, we will particularly talk about the efficiency of Tattoo pens. How beneficial and durable it is for your tattooing process.

What is a Tattoo Pen?

What is a Tattoo Pen

A Tattoo Pen is made specifically for drawing directly onto the skin for tattooing. It has many flexible sharp-pointed needles and is quite easily disposable for sterility purposes.

Tattoo Pen specifications boast of a 1.6-millimeter ballpoint standard, 1.0-millimeter fine line point, 100% solid brass refill, an easy-to-change-out solid steel holder, and a variety of seven different colors like- red, purple, blue, black, pink, orange and green.

Tattoo Pens are basically motor-driven and use multiple needles with much flexible utility. They are neat and easy to use, providing efficient stability to engrave complex design tattoos.  Compared to Tattoo Guns, they are mostly preferable for ensuring cleaner, sharper lines and shiny tattoos without any lotion applied to the body.

The Buzzing sound emitted by a tattoo machine or “gun” can be really irritating. It leads to a lack of quiet focus and concentration of the tattooist while engraving them on their customer’s body.

Tattoo pens don’t create any abrasive buzzing sound during tattooing; they are smooth and completely noise deficient.

Tattoo Pens can be easily penetrated into the upper dermis layer of the skin for ink deposition. However, taking necessary precautions before the procedure is a must for everyone.

How Deep Tattoo Ink Goes?

The tattoo needle penetrates into your skin approximately 100 times per second, depositing the ink in a region of 1.5 to 2 millimeters below the skin’s dermis layer, bypassing the outer layer of the skin’s surface.

This part of the skin constantly revitalizes itself. Thousands of epidermal cells are relieved from your skin and instantly replaced with new cells. Ink injected into the superficial skin layer would come off within three weeks.

The tattoo-ink deposition is supposed to travel through the upper layers of the skin to the epidermis, where nerves and blood vessels are located. Hence it will hurt a little because the blood vessels are processing the ink in your body.

Macrophages are specialized immune cells that consume foreign particles injected into the body and clear them from the tissue. But this process is not so successful regarding tattoo procedures of injecting ink.

Hence, using non-polluted certified inks for tattoo procedures is important. Ordering them from reputed services is highly advised.

Tips And Tricks For Using Tattoo Pen

  • One of the most important things to remember when using a tattoo pen is to start with a clean and dry surface.
  • This will ensure the ink adheres properly and the design comes out clear and crisp.
  • Additionally, it’s important to choose the right type of ink for the job.
  • Choosing the right tattoo pen and reviewing them on Google is important to make a great tattoo.
  • Different types of ink are available for different purposes, so it’s important to do some research and choose the right one for the design.

Assembling Your Equipment For The Tattooing Process

Assembling Your Equipment For The Tattooing Process

You can assemble your Tattooing equipment from anywhere in the world. They are mostly available in every store, or you can order them online.

These are some of the most important equipment and set-up processes for Tattooing:

  • Work Table (Chairs, lifter bench, footstool)
  • Clean Paper Towels
  • Autoclave Sterilizers (for sterile dressings)
  • Tattoo Pens
  • Needle Bars
  • Antibiotic Ointments
  • Spray Bottles
  • Carbolated Vaselines
  • Rubbing Alcohol
  • Scissors 
  • Hemostats
  • Hand Gloves

‘The Bic Body Mark Temporary Tattoo Makers’ pen is great for every beginner.

Although this list is incomplete, it’s a great guideline for starting. All of this equipment is small and easily portable anywhere. They are usually inexpensive and can be bought at minimum affordable prices from anywhere.

You must have an organized work area to create efficiency in your work life. Please find all the equipment and start professionally collecting them.

Tattooing With a Tattoo Pen

Using a Tattoo pen is much more efficient and preferable than using a tattoo machine. It doesn’t create any disturbing sound while operating on your tattoo procedure. You can work silently in a very peaceful manner.

Tattoo pens are more artistic and are in full control of the tattooist’s hand. These are some of the common guidelines on how to use a Tattoo pen:

1. Put on Gloves

Put on Gloves

Wear medical spandex gloves before using the tattoo machine. Hold the needle grip precisely according to the instructions on its packaging. Then, put on rubber or nitrile gloves and load your prepackaged, single-use needle into the tip, or just take it out of the packaging. If you’re doing a stick-and-poke methodology, use 0.35 millimeters of ink deposition, which is common because it creates good tattoos, sturdy lines.

2. Shave Your Chosen Area

Wherever you tattoo yourself on your body, first and foremost, clean that area with soap and warm water. Shave the hair off in the area about an inch larger than you want your tattoo to be. Knowing the shape and size of the tattoo on your body is important here.

After the shaving is done, sterilize your skin with rubbing alcohol. Dab it on with a cotton ball and ensure it evaporates before continuing.

3. Sterilize Your Needle

Sterilize Your Needle

Desex your needle pin using a flame. Hold the needle over the flame of a candle or a lighter. Hold the other end with tongs.

Once the needle is sterile, wrap it in cotton thread. Start about half an inch away from the lead and wrap the thread back and forth about one-fourth of an inch (0.6 cm) up the needle until the thread has formed an oval shape. This will absorb the ink as you dip your needle into the container.

Dip the needle into the ink container, then spur it through your skin. There may be some blood after several layers of spurring. If blood is dripping excessively, stop the entire procedure and begin sterilizing again. Hold a clean paper towel, not an unwashed rugged piece of cloth, onto the tattoo until it stops bleeding.

FAQ’s

Q1. What is a Tattoo Pen?

Ans: A Tattoo Pen is a motor-driven device made especially for drawing tattoos onto the skin without any buzzing sound. It has many flexible sharp-pointed needles and is quite easily disposable for sterility purposes.

Q2. How to use a Tattoo Pen?

Ans: There are many different ways of using a Tattoo pen on your body. Always sterilize the needle on a light flame, and use nitrate gloves during the procedure.

Q3. What kind of Tattoo Pens are good for Tattooing?

Ans: The most famous Tattoo pens used everywhere are Bic BodyMark Temporary Tattoo Makers, Viscot Temporary XL Surgical Makers, LabAider, Hildbrant, Alex Spa Sketch Sparkle Tattoo Makers, and many more.

Q4. Is it safe to use Tattoo Pens on my Body?

Ans: Yes, 100%. If you want to engrave tattoos on your body, tattoo pens are a great option for you. It doesn’t create any distracting sounds like an automated tattoo machine. Using a tattoo pen allows you to silently work on your tattooing process with total concentration.

Q5. Does it gonna hurt more if I tattoo myself on my own?

Ans: Tattoo engraving is a little hurtful, especially if you do it for the first time. However, taking the necessary precautions and understanding the equipment will help immensely if you do it yourself. Safety should be an utmost priority.

Conclusion

Tattoo Pens are easy to use and provide a unique tattoo design style. They work effortlessly on the body without any prior use of lotion. They are easily available and less expensive to buy.

It totally depends on you and your choice of tattooing. A tattoo is a work of art that keeps improving each day. And applying different techniques and equipment is highly beneficial for you as a tattooist.

We sincerely hope this article was enlightening for you and has provided you with some necessary information about tattooing in the best possible way.

About Author

Jonathan Corby "Jonny" is a guy who is passionate about Tattooing and successfully running a Tattoo Studio in NY. Through my journey as a Tattoo Artist I have made unforgettable memories. This irrational poetry and sense of freedom of art on skin has given a blissfull experience to my life. Each Tattoo has a story behind it; Lets share one!