Modern tattooing is usually applied using an electric tattooing machine. The machine consists of a “foot-bar” to turn the machine on and off, as well as a metal tube with a needle that penetrates the skin repeatedly, transferring the ink to form the desired design. Although a machine is used, much of the artistic work is done by the tattoo artist as she must guide the needle over the skin.
“Tebori” refers to the Japanese traditional technique of administering a tattoo by hand. The artist uses a wooden or metal pen-like tool, which has needles fixed on one end. These needles are immersed in the ink before being used to penetrate the skin. Tebori tattooists require a lot of training and practice for learning the proper techniques of manually creating designs.
While a very skilled tattoo artist creates tattoos without a template, one of the basic tattoo techniques recommended for beginners is utilizing a stencil. The stencil is used to transfer the design over the surface of the skin to help ensure an accurate and undistorted finished product. Some tattoo artists use stick-on stencils, which operate similarly to “fake” tattoos, leaving an outline over the desired area, which can then be traced.
To focus on lifelike tattoo images, tattoo artists use several techniques to enhance contrast and brightness. Light tattoos should be complemented with darker backgrounds to make the image stand out. Another method to enhance contrast is to use lines and colors to separate the various features of the tattoo. The brightness of the image, on the other hand, can be boosted with the creation of shadows, providing an artificial look of light.