DIY Tattooing (Stick n' Poke)
Do-it-yourself tattooing is often frowned upon, and indeed can be a very bad decision if you don't know what you're doing.
Before you attempt to give yourself or someone else a homemade tattoo:
Think about your artistic skills. Do you have any artistic ability? If the answer is no, then you probably want to forget the idea completely and pay to be tattooed by a professional.
If you can't draw, then you won't be able to tattoo very well either.
Look at your resources. Do you have access to or the money to purchase the proper equipment?
Sewing needles and pen ink are a bad idea waiting to happen. On your body. Permanently.
Are you drunk?
You don't want to go through with this if you're drunk.
Now that I have been responsible and warned you about how Do-it-yourself tattoos are presumably a bad idea, I'm going to teach you how to properly stick n' poke.
Supplies
- A design
(For your first stick n' poke, the smaller and simpler the design, the better. You can always add to your design later.)
- A fine-tipped sharpie
- Surgical gloves
- Rubbing Alcohol/Hydrogen Peroxide
- Individually packaged 20g stainless steel piercing needles (Piercing needles are very sharp and hollow. The sharp tip makes poking the design into skin easier, and the hollowed shaft of the needle holds ink better than a normal sewing needle.)
- A bottle of tattoo ink or India Ink (India Ink can be purchased at almost any craft store)
- A cloth/several paper towels wet with warm water
Put on the surgical gloves and clean the area to be tattooed with the rubbing alcohol/Hydrogen Peroxide. Pat the area dry with a paper towel and draw your design on your skin with the fine-tipped sharpie. Open one of the piercing needles and the bottle of ink. Pour a little bit of ink into a bowl or container, and dip the needle in it.
Don't be prudent with the amount of ink you get on the needle. Keep it at a happy medium. Too little and your design won't show up, too much and you won't be able to see what you're doing, because the ink will be everywhere.
Start poking, using your design as a guide. You will soon get a feel as to how deep to poke. As a rule of thumb, push until you feel a slight "pop" in your skin. If you never feel this, then you're not going deep enough. Every now and then you'll have to wipe the area with the wet cloth so you can see.
Profuse bleeding is normal, and will stop eventually. Fleshier areas tend to bleed more. Just keep dabbing the blood away and even apply pressure if needed.
You will most likely have to go over your design more than once, maybe more than twice. Let the tattoo heal completely before you go over it again.
Do NOT pick at the scabs. As your tattoo is healing, scabs will form over it. If you pick at them, the ink will come out of your skin.
Before you attempt to give yourself or someone else a homemade tattoo:
Think about your artistic skills. Do you have any artistic ability? If the answer is no, then you probably want to forget the idea completely and pay to be tattooed by a professional.
If you can't draw, then you won't be able to tattoo very well either.
Look at your resources. Do you have access to or the money to purchase the proper equipment?
Sewing needles and pen ink are a bad idea waiting to happen. On your body. Permanently.
Are you drunk?
You don't want to go through with this if you're drunk.
Now that I have been responsible and warned you about how Do-it-yourself tattoos are presumably a bad idea, I'm going to teach you how to properly stick n' poke.
Supplies
- A design
(For your first stick n' poke, the smaller and simpler the design, the better. You can always add to your design later.)
- A fine-tipped sharpie
- Surgical gloves
- Rubbing Alcohol/Hydrogen Peroxide
- Individually packaged 20g stainless steel piercing needles (Piercing needles are very sharp and hollow. The sharp tip makes poking the design into skin easier, and the hollowed shaft of the needle holds ink better than a normal sewing needle.)
- A bottle of tattoo ink or India Ink (India Ink can be purchased at almost any craft store)
- A cloth/several paper towels wet with warm water
Put on the surgical gloves and clean the area to be tattooed with the rubbing alcohol/Hydrogen Peroxide. Pat the area dry with a paper towel and draw your design on your skin with the fine-tipped sharpie. Open one of the piercing needles and the bottle of ink. Pour a little bit of ink into a bowl or container, and dip the needle in it.
Don't be prudent with the amount of ink you get on the needle. Keep it at a happy medium. Too little and your design won't show up, too much and you won't be able to see what you're doing, because the ink will be everywhere.
Start poking, using your design as a guide. You will soon get a feel as to how deep to poke. As a rule of thumb, push until you feel a slight "pop" in your skin. If you never feel this, then you're not going deep enough. Every now and then you'll have to wipe the area with the wet cloth so you can see.
Profuse bleeding is normal, and will stop eventually. Fleshier areas tend to bleed more. Just keep dabbing the blood away and even apply pressure if needed.
You will most likely have to go over your design more than once, maybe more than twice. Let the tattoo heal completely before you go over it again.
Do NOT pick at the scabs. As your tattoo is healing, scabs will form over it. If you pick at them, the ink will come out of your skin.