TATTOO SHADING TECHNIQUES

If your tattoo shading looks choppy or is healing patchy and you don’t know why,
changing your technique can set you on the path to smoother blends and perfect contrast.

In tattooing, black and gray realism is incredibly popular. But it is also highly
competitive. Customers have a much higher standard today than they did just 20 years
ago. If your tattoo shading’s not on point, you’ll struggle to keep up with your
competition. And if you can’t compete, you’ll lose access to the massive group of
customers who love black and gray. As a result, your earning potential as a professional
tattoo artist will fall through the floor.
If your tattoos don't look as sharp and refined as your drawings, don't worry. With a few
key changes to your tattoo shading techniques, you can massively improve your results
almost immediately.

By the end of this article, you will understand:

 How to fix the most common mistakes new artists make when learning how to shade a
tattoo.
 Why your black and gray tattoos are healing lighter than they “should.”
 Which needles to use for different black and gray effects.
 Three methods that lead to smooth gradients.
 How to best make your own gray wash.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Common Mistakes
Shading Techniques
Making Your Own Gray Wash

Common Mistakes
When it comes to black and gray, the issues many artists face come down to tiny changes
in technique. Here’s the top mistakes new artists make, why they happen, and how to
fix them:

1. Tattoo Healing Patchy or Uneven:

There are multiple reasons your tattoos could be healing patchy, though most of them
will occur when using a circular motion with the needle:

PROBLEM 1: Your circles (or ovals) are too large, leaving empty space between the circles. Keep your ovals
tight and tiny.

PROBLEM 2: You’re moving the needle too quickly. Circular motions should be slower to pack in the ink.
PROBLEM 3: You’re not angling your mag. If the needle is straight when you’re
moving it in an oval formation, all the needle barbs will line up and slick the skin like a
razor blade (see the image below), leaving you with overworked skin and a patchy tattoo.
This is not what you want.

2: Not making the tattoo dark enough:

Black and gray lightens up 30% when it is fully healed. This is especially true when
you’re working on sensitive areas like ribs, inner bicep, or the back of the knee. During
the tattoo, blood seeps through the skin, making your lighter shades look much darker
than they really are. This leads artists to put less ink into the skin, which causes their
tattoos to fade much faster than a normal tattoo.

3: Using Wrong Stroke, Diameter, or Needle Type:

If you’re using the wrong needle or stroke on your tattoo machine while working on
black and gray realism, you could be sacrificing the smoothness of your blends and
causing patchy healing.

Stroke

Short StrokeBuild up layers in black and gray, allows for multiple passes
(1.8 - 2.5mm)
without chewing out the skin.
Medium Pack in solid black ink.
Stroke
Short StrokeBuild up layers in black and gray, allows for multiple passes
(1.8 - 2.5mm)
without chewing out the skin.
(3.0 - 3.8mm)
Note: 3.5If you only have access to one tattoo machine, a 3.5 stroke will allow
Stroke you to shade and pack in ink.

Diameter

Bugpin Soft portrait work. Easier on the skin, allowing you to build up layers.
(#08/#10, 0.25 -
0.3mm)
Standard Better for solid black due to its larger (more even) coverage over a big
space.
(#12, 0.35mm)

Needle Type

M2 Stacked Mag Tribal and packing black ink quickly. Needles are tighter and m
sharper lines.

M1C Curved Mag Soft portrait work. Curved edges leave you with soft shades with
hard lines at the edges.

3RL Thin Liner Fine details like eyes, lashes, brows, and nostrils.
M2 Stacked Mag Tribal and packing black ink quickly. Needles are tighter and m
sharper lines.

Keep Realism from Looking Like a Cartoon

While portraits and realistic images might look like they have hard edges, portraits are
composed using only tattoo shading techniques. Just like the human body has no
"outlines", realism portraits have no true outline to them because they're representing a 3-
D shape.

Shading
Shading allows you to add depth to your tattoo by making certain areas darker than
others. Shading changes how your eye sees the design on the skin by making some parts
look like they’re closer than others.
For example, the rose on the left looks “flat” because there’s no shading. The rose on the
right has depth because the shading makes it look like the petals are 3-D.
There are a few ways to shade your tattoos and each method is determined by how you
move the needle.

Shading Techniques
The three most common tattoo shading techniques are based on the type of movement the
tattoo artist makes when putting ink in the skin:

1. Whip Shading
  What it does: Leaves you with a dark mark on the skin trailed by a lighter gradient.
 How to do it: Touch the needle into the skin. Then drag it across then gently flick
the machine away from the skin.
 Why it works: The needles go deeper in the skin when you first hit it. As you
gently flick the needles across and out of the skin, the needles won’t be in the skin
as deep. The ink will appear lighter as the needles move out.

Note: When moving the needle down, make sure you’re coming down straight with the
tattoo machine. If you come in at an angle and then quickly switch to another angle to
“whip” the needle back, you will cause damage to the skin.

2. Pendulum Shading
  What it does: Gives you a dark mark on the skin with lighter gradients on either
side.
 How to do it: While swinging the needle back and forth, move the needle down at
the center of the swing motion and up at the ends of the swing motion.
 Why it works: By moving gradually in and out of the skin, you gradually distribute
less ink, then more ink, and then less ink again. This leaves a smooth gradient in the
skin with “feathered edges.”

Note: Used with mags. The lines you create with this method need to overlap slightly to
make sure there’s no patchy, empty space.

3. Packing
  What it does: Lets you create solid fills.
 How to: Move the needle in tight oval motions over the skin. Make sure pressure on
the needle is not heavier on one side of the needle.
 Why it works: Moving your needles in an oval motion covers more surface area
and prevents gaps from appearing in your shading.

Note

Use larger mags to cover a big space. Slow your work speed as well as your machine
speed to really pack the ink into the skin.

Pro Tip: Don't "Hop Around" While Shading

While you're shading a tattoo, don't move from one area to another. Instead, flow with the
piece and continually expand the shading of the area you're working on until the piece is
filled.

4. Stipple Shading
Stipple shading is about speed. If you move your hand fast enough, you won’t leave
behind a hard line because the needle won’t be going fast enough up and down into the
skin. Instead, it’ll leave a bunch of dots behind, almost like the needle is “skipping”
across the skin. If you’re going for this effect, it’s recommended to slow down your
machine so you don’t have to move your hands as fast when you are working.
You can use the same hand motions you’d use in whip shading or pendulum shading as
well as cross hatching and moving in a larger oval motion to get a nice, even fill.

Note: Stipple shading is done with a Round Liner needle.

Making Your Own Gray Wash

Having the right technique when you shade is critical. But without the right mixture of
gray wash, your tattoo will either be too dark or so light that it will fade within a month
or two. This can be difficult to spot when you are tattooing because the blood in the skin
makes gray wash look darker than it actually is. On average, gray wash will look 30%
lighter when it heals. To prevent that from happening follow this simple formula when
mixing your own gray wash (if you don't buy premade) to get the best result:

Note: Gray wash will heal 30% lighter when it heals.

Gray Wash Measurements

There's an unlimited number of shades you can create with gray wash. If you aren't sure
where to start, begin with these four caps:

1. 1 Full black
2. 2 1/3 black, 2/3 with hazel
3. 3 1 drop black, witch hazel
4. 4 Full witch hazel

The cap of plain witch hazel can be used to dilute the gray wash in the needle's tip to
produce smoother blends and more shades of gray. (For example, if you need something
a bit darker than the one drop ink, but lighter than the 1/3 full black cap, you could
lighten some of the 1/3 mixture with witch hazel.)

Dip in the lightest wash then in the witch hazel to create ultra-light shades to smooth out
where the tattoo fades from ink to skin. This combination will be nearly invisible when
healed. (Do not use in large areas; only us to smooth out shades).