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Had to pick between a gun or a coil for my first real tattoo
Turned 18 and wanted something proper on my arm. Tried the homemade stick and poke thing with india ink for months but the lines always came out fuzzy. Switched to a tattoo machine from a friend's cousin in Atlanta for 40 bucks. First real line was shaky but way cleaner than anything I did by hand. Any of you make the jump from hand poking to a machine and regret it?
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lily_torres312mo ago
Hand poking has its own charm though, you can get way more control over saturation and shading if you practice enough. Machines are cool but they're not automatically better for everything.
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harper9142mo ago
totally feel you on that, hand poking really does have its own kind of magic.
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sean_green442mo ago
and honestly, that's something I didn't fully appreciate until I got my first hand poke piece a few years back. the artist took their time, really let the ink settle into my skin, and the healed result has this soft, almost watercolor look that I haven't been able to get with a machine since. there's also something about the process itself that feels more collaborative too, like you and the artist are working together with each little dot rather than just riding the hum of a needle. I think a lot of folks write it off as less professional or less permanent, but in my experience it can be just as solid if you know who you're going to.
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