Determine the approximate size of your tattoo and begin to sketch the design with your regular pencil on a sheet of blank white paper. Take your time and correct all mistakes completely with your eraser. If you feel you've made too many corrections to the sketch, you may want to start over with a fresh piece of paper.
Trace over the pencil lines with your thin black marker once you've completed the sketch and you are comfortable with how it looks. Do not color the design or fill it in with black ink -- just trace the outline of the sketch.
Flip the paper over and copy the image onto the other side with the black marker. Do this in a well lit area to ensure the lines show through -- a tracing desk is ideal but not absolutely necessary. You will make the stencil for this design using the reverse image so that it will lay frontwards on your skin.
Tape a sheet of stencil paper over the reverse image so that the papers wont slide apart when copying.
Trace the image onto the stencil paper using the tattoo stencil pencil. This ink is difficult to erase, so if you make a mistake, start over on a fresh piece of stencil paper.
Give the stencil sketch to your tattoo artist and allow her to make any necessary corrections or alterations. The artist will shave the area that is to be tattooed and wipe it down with either a stencil solution or glycerin-based deodorant, so the stencil ink will stick to your skin.
Press the inked side of the stencil against the prepared area on your skin and hold it firmly in place for 10 to 15 seconds before peeling away.