Stretching Skin - Are You Doing That Right?

[@Pollyeverything]

Im new to your channel your way of explaining is brilliant!!

[@Tattoosby_gun]

I love the disrespectful honesty. 🙌🏻

[@joshuahall433]

To any one who is having trouble with their lining.....i found stretching and the wrong cam combo was my trouble. I was using a 3.7 cam rotary pen machine and on fattier areas of the body my lines suuuuucked.... I swapped to a 4.5 cam....got the client into a better position to help stretch.... Massive improvements....just be sensible, carefull and take your time 💪

[@chichinn]

So nice of you to give us such important information! Also wow an upload schedule that would make the other channels blush who repeat usually the same very basic information… Anyhoozels the videos, very nice, engaging, nerdy professor giving a lecture vibe! Can’t wait for the next, but take care of yourself Rian! Thank you!

[@KellieHaseneder-ph6un]

This video is great, I thought I was over stretching!!! I had a shot of tattooing ribs for the first time, and I said to my client i need longer fingers to stretch this area!!!

[@joshuahall433]

The thing im struggling with at the moment is....should i see lines or dots in my bkack and grey.... Or should it be fully saturated to where there are no needle marks ?.... Does it even matter ?

[@BetterTattooing]

Long term. Probably not. It’ll buff out if it’s saturated over the years. To change that though just adjust your insertion angle

[@joshuahall433]

@@BetterTattooing thank you sir 🤘

[@joshuahall433]

No hat....you feeling ok bro 😂😂😂😂

[@BetterTattooing]

Dude… seriously. Kinda not but I’m better now.

[@bySquints]

great video! thanks as always

[@Hiadica]

With practice the 'check tension, 3 point stretch' approach has gotten more effective and intuitive, but certain locations on certain people's skin still stump me trying to get it taught enough. One spot I struggled with twice was right above the breast of a male and female. Both had a fair bit of give +elasticity to their skin and I felt like no angle was working. Any tips for soft fattier areas? Always know I'll find the exact tattoo education video I need at the time when I check this page, thank you.

[@BetterTattooing]

Over shoulder - have the client look away from the spot and stretch their neck a bit. That will give an initial stretch to the skin. Use your hand to pull the skin in the opposite direction. Plant hand pulls perpendicular to the other two. Easy peasy. Try to always have the client do the majority of the stretch for you. The assist by having decent positioning makes the effort you have to output far less. Also, don’t be afraid to make people readjust as soon as you need. That something is see people not doing. Artists will contort themselves and break their spines rather than have someone move an inch. Silliness.

[@Hiadica]

@bettertattooing Thank you! That definitely made the area much easier to tackle. And the general advice about getting the client to position best for you, definitely has been an invaluable piece of advice. Especially when I first started, I was always too afraid to put the client in anything but the most comfortable for them or ask them to move at all for me, which much like the fear of blowing out keeping me from going deep enough, only served to extend the time tattooing, reduce the healed quality, etc. Still working on getting better about these in spite of my natural tendencies, but its getting easier now with confidence in the techniques I'm applying/where I learned them from.

[@jessejames1508]

My clients seem to get pins and needles in their hands more often then not. Would that most likely mean I’m pressing to hard rather than stretching?

[@BetterTattooing]

Pressure on the ulna nerve. Have them adjust and flex their hands every 1/2 hour

[@jessejames1508]

@@BetterTattooing thanks for sharing all your knowledge!

[@DavidToken]

Could one say that because of inadequate stretching the machine cam/throw is one of the reasons it’s getting bigger? Now all ready 5mm. And what’s the reason some of these strange throw distances: 2.4, 3. 7, 4.2, 3.3, 4.6 mm etc. ?

[@BetterTattooing]

Absolutely. Same with dragging lines versus pushing them. It’s all because technique is being lost. Good intuition 🤘

[@DavidToken]

@@BetterTattooing nowadays with the slim liner cartridge does it still matter if you drag or push the needle? Inkflow would be the same?

[@BetterTattooing]

@DavidToken it won’t be the same but the ink flow won’t dump as much as larger groupings. Smaller opening = less flow. I know there is a lot of folks just saying “pull lines” but there is a caveat to that motion - the vent needs to be facing the derivation the tube is moving towards.