mickymick

for tattooing i use 2 machines : my liner is 8 coil wrap my shader is 12 both are running almost 30% less volt than on skin you have to tune your machine ULTRA SMOOTH so it wont destroy the leather, to leave a ''scar'' - you want a smooth line that equal the material texture - so when you look at it with a 45 degre angle in the light, you wont see any curve and engraving effect, a smooth and silk surface not encripted as it was lasered or some pew pew madness, you want it as a skin tattoo - the video example someone posted is a bad exampel to my eyes - you see that engraving effect on the leather - the material is mashed under the needle (too much voltage imo and the angle is not quite correct) some could like it , i think its a lack of understanding of the medium, the material and the potential. As you see on my facebook page, i will keep posting all my experiment you can shade colors - no problems so if you mash the leather hardcore, you wont be able to do so - to shade or whatever i will try a full black and grey portrait on vegetal leather soon ps: to shade, a basic tattooing knowledge is needed : its better to blend going backward of the needle direction pss: tattooing leather is more difficult than skin , way more tricky - for the chrome tanned example, i did not used much vaseline and the piece of leather is small, it got wet pretty quickly, the leather got darker and darker so you work even more blindly than when tattooing - the more wet the leather got, the less control i had on my liner - i found the line tend to bleed and stretched randomly - i tried to reline some line after shading , the leather was wet too much and that cause a engraving effect on those 2 lines i repassed - altought i found my shading easier when it was fully wet - i will experiment more on that avenue to discover the best solution - so much to come psss: i think so far that the ink will hold very long in that material, very very very long, some guy on the forum thinks not, i think i will stay there even if i tattoo my wallet full colors shade pew pew pew i think it will hold for quite a time pssss: for the stencil, i used stencil stuff : MAN my stencil are un-erasable on leather (wish it could be the same on human skin tehehe), it s permanent almost, to remove it had to use some sandpaper or something very mad i will experiment that avenue also, whats the best treatment to put after tattooing etc psssss: dentat on the forum talks about using beeswax mixed with mineral water- i will try those

on buffalo chrome tanned leather i used 5RL and 11magnum bugpin, running volt pretty LOW its still wet so it will get clearer when dry its a experiment for a purse of that mat my GF is doing, she want to put a white geometric tattoo on it (white work pretty well ) https://www.facebook.com/347569078758192/photos/a.347569305424836.1073741825.347569078758192/347569325424834/?type=3&theater

Hi, i'm a pro. tattoo artist for 6 years. My GF is a leatherworker I'm experiment a lot these days. Here's my result : Vegetal leather is the best - it's almost textureless compare to other leather and the core is somewhat different - use 1/4'' thickness or more to ink, after you can use a slitter leather machine to thin the material. You will notice that you can't really slitter past 1/16 (up to your experiment anyway) . . You have to prepare your leather, use different type of coating - you can use it raw but it will be hard clean (even if you put a layer of vaseline, some ink will stain the leather - it is very difficult to clean) i found use a soft sandpaper to clean work good. I tried diffirent type of coating and the best is a artistic finish coating for charcoal drawing i use it clean easy the leather but be careful, after 1 or 2 whipe you have to wait some time for you leather to be dry, so you can put some more coating etc the leather consistency is different to the human skin. So, you have to work you needles with less voltage. Be sure to keep your needles at the same depth without the tip of your machine to rub on the leather- it will mash it. I use 3 round liner or 5 or 7 or 12 it doesn't mather, you have to have a lower voltage and a different type of tuning so your line will look fresh and clean. also, it's better to use long taper needles, you will diminish the mashing effect. I run at 5,8 volts to shade - i use bug pin magnum 13 - i found the bugpin would drop more ink effectively than a regular needle. I wish you i would understand how to show you picture, maybe another time !! Sorry for my english / not first langage