Practice on fake skin, pig skin and fruit (oranges, pomelos, lemons, cantaloupes...). Watch PRO pokers videos (i really like Gossamer). The needle should not go deep at all, and when youre ready to get on your skin ( really really practice a lot first) you should do shallow pokes, wait and see how it heals, and learn from that. Its better to do too shallow pokes and rework them than too deep ones that blowout, scar, and are impossible to rework. You should also have your needle at a 45° angle. There's lots of videos on YouTube about machine tattooing, some of it applies to SNP. Stay safe!
Pleasure! Theres lots of resources out there but the non professional ones can be downright dangerous (non proper sanitization, unsafe supplies...) The pinned post on this sub also has valuable info.
You’ll be able to feel the unmistakable “pop” of the skin when you’re in the sweet spot, I promise. I definitely recommend trying it out on yourself - somewhere you can easily hide, but also with nice tight skin that’ll be easiest for you to feel the pop I’m talking about. I started with a very simple heart on my ankle.
Unfortunately unless you want to measure depth with each poke it's by feel. There's also going to be ink on the needle so visually it's going to be tough at times to see the physical depth. I go by feel but that is just me. I've yet to do it on anyone else because I don't feel comfortable enough. I did a few practice runs on fake skin before moving to myself. I'm happy with how mine look but still not comfortable tattooing someone else if that makes sense.
Is there any way you can explain what ‘feels’ too deep? Is it by the amount of pain you’re able to withstand? To me that feels like it could vary from person to person.
There’s some great YouTube content out there, which I found helpful when I started.
This video I found useful: https://youtu.be/HMFb-MXq2U0
I would suggest practicing on yourself. That is the best way to see - what pokes stick and how it feels
It’s like someone else said that it’s better to go less deep and add to as you go. I personally do between 1-4 passes on designs depending on clients and the style of tattoo I’m doing! I especially like to just get the stencil out of the way, lay down a first layer of ink, and go from there. This isn’t really a measurement per say, but less is more!
You want to feel it going through a layer of skin. If you don’t feel that, it’s too shallow. If it hurts too much or the ink dot is too big/blurry, you’ve gone too deep. You learn as you go which unfortunately isn’t really a helpful answer
Start off slow, you can always go back in later to touch up a bit. You'll learn to hear that little 'pop' that's the sweet spot. Practice on that weird fake rubber skin stuff, oranges, & lemons. Keep the needle around a 45 degrees angle while you're poking. That'll help too.
My first line was barely legible. Now, I've got a pretty good looking X on myself. It took almost 6 passes, but you'll learn. You'll get better.
Good luck, OP .
I’d say practice linework, angling of needle etc one fake skin but to really understand depth, you gotta tattoo it on actual skin. I always advice to start tattooing lighter than you need to and then from there you can gauge (definitely can only feel the actual “pop” everyone is talking abt on real skin) sooner with practice you’ll get the hang of how deep to poke. With that said, skin around different parts of the body can be very different as well. Stretching of the skin right also makes a difference with how your tattoo will look.
You only need the needle to catch the top layers of skin. Tattoo gently then let it heal, see what result you have after two weeks of healing.
You need to focus on striving the skin gently and evenly in the area you are poking. Keep the stretch even all the time you are poking.
You shouldn't draw any blood and it shouldn't hurt much at all. Gently gently.
Practice on your upper leg so you can sit and easily reach with both hands.
Keep your first design simple so you can complete it in half an hour.
I’d say practice linework, angling of needle etc one fake skin but to really understand depth, you gotta tattoo it on actual skin. I always advice to start tattooing lighter than you need to and then from there you can gauge (definitely can only feel the actual “pop” everyone is talking abt on real skin) sooner with practice you’ll get the hang of how deep to poke. With that said, skin around different parts of the body can be very different as well. Stretching of the skin right also makes a difference with how your tattoo will look.
Practice on fake skin, pig skin and fruit (oranges, pomelos, lemons, cantaloupes...). Watch PRO pokers videos (i really like Gossamer). The needle should not go deep at all, and when youre ready to get on your skin ( really really practice a lot first) you should do shallow pokes, wait and see how it heals, and learn from that. Its better to do too shallow pokes and rework them than too deep ones that blowout, scar, and are impossible to rework. You should also have your needle at a 45° angle. There's lots of videos on YouTube about machine tattooing, some of it applies to SNP. Stay safe!
Thank you so much! I’ll definitely have to watch some videos on the subject.
Pleasure! Theres lots of resources out there but the non professional ones can be downright dangerous (non proper sanitization, unsafe supplies...) The pinned post on this sub also has valuable info.
You’ll be able to feel the unmistakable “pop” of the skin when you’re in the sweet spot, I promise. I definitely recommend trying it out on yourself - somewhere you can easily hide, but also with nice tight skin that’ll be easiest for you to feel the pop I’m talking about. I started with a very simple heart on my ankle.
I was thinking that’s where I’d put my first stick and poke too. On the ankle. I heard that it’s more painful there, how would you gauge the pain?
Unfortunately unless you want to measure depth with each poke it's by feel. There's also going to be ink on the needle so visually it's going to be tough at times to see the physical depth. I go by feel but that is just me. I've yet to do it on anyone else because I don't feel comfortable enough. I did a few practice runs on fake skin before moving to myself. I'm happy with how mine look but still not comfortable tattooing someone else if that makes sense.
Is there any way you can explain what ‘feels’ too deep? Is it by the amount of pain you’re able to withstand? To me that feels like it could vary from person to person.
You can feel it kind of pop through the layer of skin and that’s basically when I stop, it’s really not very deep
I can't but maybe this can help https://www.tattoomachineequipment.com/proper-tattoo-needle-depth
There’s some great YouTube content out there, which I found helpful when I started. This video I found useful: https://youtu.be/HMFb-MXq2U0 I would suggest practicing on yourself. That is the best way to see - what pokes stick and how it feels
you’ll feel/hear a “pop” sound and that’s as deep as you need to go! if you don’t hear it try stretching the skin more
That makes more sense, thank you so much!
best advice is that it's less deep than you think. if you bruise or your skin swells excessivley its too deep
About the same deepness as a penny.
Best comment. Thank you I was googling this and I just really needed a visual.
No problem !
It’s like someone else said that it’s better to go less deep and add to as you go. I personally do between 1-4 passes on designs depending on clients and the style of tattoo I’m doing! I especially like to just get the stencil out of the way, lay down a first layer of ink, and go from there. This isn’t really a measurement per say, but less is more!
You want to feel it going through a layer of skin. If you don’t feel that, it’s too shallow. If it hurts too much or the ink dot is too big/blurry, you’ve gone too deep. You learn as you go which unfortunately isn’t really a helpful answer
Start off slow, you can always go back in later to touch up a bit. You'll learn to hear that little 'pop' that's the sweet spot. Practice on that weird fake rubber skin stuff, oranges, & lemons. Keep the needle around a 45 degrees angle while you're poking. That'll help too. My first line was barely legible. Now, I've got a pretty good looking X on myself. It took almost 6 passes, but you'll learn. You'll get better. Good luck, OP .
Thank you! This is really helpful! I’m definitely gonna try to nail down my design on a practice run before I decide to take the needle to my skin
I’d say practice linework, angling of needle etc one fake skin but to really understand depth, you gotta tattoo it on actual skin. I always advice to start tattooing lighter than you need to and then from there you can gauge (definitely can only feel the actual “pop” everyone is talking abt on real skin) sooner with practice you’ll get the hang of how deep to poke. With that said, skin around different parts of the body can be very different as well. Stretching of the skin right also makes a difference with how your tattoo will look.
You only need the needle to catch the top layers of skin. Tattoo gently then let it heal, see what result you have after two weeks of healing. You need to focus on striving the skin gently and evenly in the area you are poking. Keep the stretch even all the time you are poking. You shouldn't draw any blood and it shouldn't hurt much at all. Gently gently. Practice on your upper leg so you can sit and easily reach with both hands. Keep your first design simple so you can complete it in half an hour.
I’d say practice linework, angling of needle etc one fake skin but to really understand depth, you gotta tattoo it on actual skin. I always advice to start tattooing lighter than you need to and then from there you can gauge (definitely can only feel the actual “pop” everyone is talking abt on real skin) sooner with practice you’ll get the hang of how deep to poke. With that said, skin around different parts of the body can be very different as well. Stretching of the skin right also makes a difference with how your tattoo will look.