Tattoo Tips: Get SMOOTH Black and Grey by FOLLOWING these SIMPLE TIPS

[@djs9315]

Your tip.. before the final tip.. about patience is absolutely spot on chris.. I absolutely 100% agree… it’s the difference between an ok tattoo and a really nice tattoo.. clients who want GOOD work will understand this.. as you become a committed artist to doing high standard work.. you will lose some of the guys who want a 360 half sleeve in a session or 2.. but you will gain a new kind of client who is looking for the super smooth head turning tattoos that are properly saturated and will heal well and stand the test of time. I love it when a client contacts me and I can send Em a shot of fresh work.. but also the work 2years, or more, after.. and it still stands up well.. I think contrast plays a huge part as well.. I used to be a lil afraid of putting mid greys in.. I used to often end up going to light in areas once I saw it healed.. however.. I’d still rather darken an area down than to of gone to dark.. but thankfully over the years you get to know .. like a 6th sense… what tones to use… Chris.. I also agree with you about long gradient fades and circumference type border ones.. getting these properly smooth and consistent is no easy thing.. especially when working around a face line.. as the fade needs to be relevant in the same way a light source would.. so even though it’s falling behind a face, it wouldn’t follow the shape of the face.. I hope that makes sense.. in like a circular gradient… really hard to pull off a 100% tone.. through to 0% tone.. I def make y up right as well about working backwards on longer fades.. super light first.. I get it to mate.. often I’m going back n forth with a 23bug curved mag.. I wipe.. and I can see the client thinking “wtf.. we been here a few hours, I’m in pain, you just went back n forth with that beast lookin needle.. and there’s NOTHING there 🧐😳….” They’re always happy once the ink has healed though.. tattoos hurt 😂😂😂

[@TattedDownJah]

I’ve almost been tattooing for 3 years now I apprenticed for 2 years before I actually started tattooing and you’ve explained more then I’ve had black and grey explained to me in this short video then my two years of apprenticing ty I appreciated his video so much can’t wait to use this tomorrow

[@ChrisRavage]

Awesome man, glad you could take something from the video man. Thanks for taking the time to comment

[@alexanderizzard1254]

This videos are awesome for me because there like a podcast, with no follow along i can just keep my headphones in while at work and get educated at the same time 👍

[@popeadrianbless]

My apologies for rhe ignorance. But my question is. How do you go about shading bigger pieces? I.e., would you shade in sections? This may be irrelevant to the video. But it made me think of this. Thank you for everything you do.

[@ChrisRavage]

Pretty much yes…break the big sections down into smaller sections that are more manageable

[@michaelakarlsson7071]

So so so helpful! Thank you very much 🙏🏻

[@ChrisRavage]

My pleasure, glad you could take something from it

[@vily1933]

The best explained tips ,keep going bro!

[@ChrisRavage]

Thanks for the support

[@davidgregory1229]

Love your videos when you’re packing black in is it the same concept as it is as packing color meaning same voltage and same hand speed

[@ChrisRavage]

Yes but not when you colour blend, that’s slightly different.

[@davidgregory1229]

Wow thank you for the fast response one more question I’m thinking about changing my machine to a lighter stroke will i have to change my voltage and hand speed if I choose to do that

[@ChrisRavage]

@@davidgregory1229 The short answer is yes buddy. You may need to increase or decrease voltage depending on machine and stroke.

[@marcusandrew1047]

Amazing amazing video Chris can’t thank you enough

[@ChrisRavage]

Thanks man, its my pleasure

[@inkedallegiance1227]

I was shaking my head yes bout the whole time lol awesome video bro !

[@ChrisRavage]

Haha thanks 🙏

[@olivernavarrete4036]

Dope!!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!!

[@Trasherdk]

Amazing tips Thanks for this 🙏

[@adrianhuitron8772]

Short strokee no give and cross hatching at a very slow pace with long taper 15cm thats what works for me

[@GeorgeYoungHipHop]

Hey there. Love the video!! Question though, curved or straight mags?

[@ChrisRavage]

Curved all the way, unless I'm doing colour then I'll use straight

[@TheGally01]

@@ChrisRavage hi chris..I recently got an apprenticeship And your videos have brought me on alot so thank you ..I just spent the money on a decent machine I chose the neuma 4 by carson hill..seems fantastic especially for line work has another cam for black and grey..I'm finding it takes some time to pack in black in black and grey..should I be getting it in one pass and how much needle hang would u have on a mag versus a linear

[@ChrisRavage]

@@TheGally01 Hey man, congrats on the apprenticeship buddy. Packing black correctly in one of the hardest things to get right imo. Ideally one pass, 2 at most my friend..small tight circles, no bigger than the mag you are using. Needle throw i have more throw on a liner than mag but not much more, and i control the depth with my hand

[@hifi8844]

@@TheGally01 you don't have to pack everything with black either you can shade areas with black rather than pack sometimes.

[@DazzleInk_Tattoo_Studio]

Love the content will you be doing some videos on technique. I've been tattooing a good few years but these type of visual videos help me more than vocal. Keep them coming. Thanks D

[@Kolba_Team]

Hi Chris it's only one problem with soft shading how to make that that shading must all stay in skin not all go out? That's my problem

[@ChrisRavage]

Correct needle depth, too shallow and it will fall out

[@vihaananu1102]

What's the name of the cartridges in the thumbnail

[@ChrisRavage]

Bishop Carts

[@BaldR68]

Great video, Still learning thanks.👍🏻

[@henrykolep9503]

Love this

[@mhdidrvishi5913]

What will have a better result in black and grey!?using grey tones or black and shader solution made up tones!? Tnx for your helpful video🌹🌹

[@ChrisRavage]

It’s all just personal preference, personally I like pre made, I used to make my own with black and shading solution but premade offers consistency. But either work it’s all personal preference

[@Giostattoo]

Black and grey is fundamental, color thats a next level! Lol

[@machietheapachie7214]

What's your opinion on 3.0 stroke for soft hitting? Too soft?

[@ChrisRavage]

It’s a nice middle ground.

[@Denka187]

find it much harder to even get the light tones in , darker tones always goes in but some skins just wont take light tones it seems . not to mention silverback in that is like water , so thin - there are really hard to get the light tones in - even with a soft coil or a direct drive rotory . any tips on black inks that are ,maybe lite thicker ? intenze is good but cant handle the silverback one at all .

[@ChrisRavage]

The thickest black I’ve used is Pathera, but I only used it as a packing black not for shading, I used lining black instead. I’ve never had a problem with light tones going in so I don’t have the answer for you there buddy, just don’t do too light, the water light solutions are to be used as blending tho, I use anything from a 4 up as my light on the Instarange in Silverback.

[@Denka187]

@@ChrisRavage yeah i found that when makin own greywash , i always go dark create much more contrast , iwe seen Pathera, never tried it , intenze super black works great for solid blacks . but heard mostly that pre mixed grey wash is the way to go , they seem to go in the skin better somehow , even lighter tones . worlds famous and fusion seem to have nice range aswell

[@ChrisRavage]

@@Denka187 I used to make my own washes all the time, the only problem is consistency of tones, so I made the switch to premade about 6years ago and never looked back

[@Denka187]

@@ChrisRavage sounds like a good choice , iwe seen people make own washes from a dark premade greywash aswell , i guess there are no limits only learning new stuff - thanks for the replys

[@jarrodserfass9356]

Subscribed broski!

[@priamlhabitant4875]

Thanks a LOT Chris ! This was soooo instructive 🙏 I’d have a question if you’ve got the time for it : -> Is it normal that my washed grey is lightening up significantly during healing ?

[@ChrisRavage]

Yes, you need to find a light wash that works well and stays around

[@linktheHeroftime]

Could you elaborate on "opening up the skin" so that black goes in easier? Good vid, thanks.

[@ChrisRavage]

Use a light tone..brush over the skin to open it and then put your darks down over the light

[@dongjahm7748]

This video makes me subscribe

[@Kolba_Team]

For me will be nice if u make wideo about it I mean practice what angle take for shading etc I use pandulum motion but duno attempt in90° or maby 45°

[@Kolba_Team]

And how brush motion works coz on fake skin looks not nice duno maby make something wrong 😉

[@ChrisRavage]

Works on everything, skin and fake. I will possibly go more in-depth at a later time

[@Stevotat2]

Great vid buddy must know’s for bng.

[@emilianoquetzalli3036]

Thanks

[@RocketballzHD]

Where did you find that music for your intro?

[@ChrisRavage]

Epidemic Sound broseph

[@RocketballzHD]

Great video.

[@LazurayMusic]

questions..how do you go about shading areas within the piece that are only accessible with a smaller mag? The tight corners in a rose or skull for instance...I understand the use of a large mag for the large areas of soft background shading for instance...or extremely tight areas where stippling with a liner is needed...but what about the inbetweeners areas? Thanks, very informative channel.

[@ChrisRavage]

This was something I struggled with at the beginning. The simple answer and the boring one would be that it just takes practice. You can do it with mags and a longer throw for more control or you can get smooth shades with a liner and get in there. Either work fine. Getting in with the corner of your bigger mag is also an option..but it really is just practice

[@LazurayMusic]

@@ChrisRavage just wondered if there was something I wasn't aware of, at the moment I just use a smaller mag for those areas. Being that my legs are almost fully covered with practise pieces, I have to stick to fake skin until I feel I'm significantly better 😂 if you haven't already maybe talk about the differences between fake skin and real skin, being that fake skin is used a lot atm from what I've seen...also you should do some live tattoo streams, would be interesting to see your work flow. Thanks for the info!

[@pennypack6406]

I completely agree with you, buuuuuuut. You need to explain the back and forth technique. Way better. That’s how people shade on paper. You need to whip it and you can’t give these people the easy task of going back and forth. You can’t learn to tattoo a masterpiece when you can do portraits on paper. I love you and your videos. The ‘back and forth’ is just as worse as the circles, if they don’t know what the needles are doing. I’m no professional but that bugged me

[@ChrisRavage]

I’ve done a separate video on the technique call the black and grey technique you should be using 😀

[@manny-gk2sm]

I'm a little disappointed in you! You left out the bread n butter needle grouping, 5 curved mags. 😁

[@ChrisRavage]

Haha I hate 5 curved. 7 or 9 is the sweet spot for me

[@manny-gk2sm]

@@ChrisRavage lol. 👍