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Skill Building Sundays with Jason Leeser Ep #96

submitted on 01.29.23 by Reinventing The Tattoo

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Tattooers and apprentices, enjoy the end of the weekend the right way, with a group drawing session. Join host Jason Leeser and other talented artists for the Sunday Evening Reinventing Drawing Group.

Bring any art you're working on for the day, whether it’s:
-  a tattoo appointment
-  prep for an upcoming tattoo
-  just doodling and having a good time.

All skill levels and styles are welcome. If you are working on a project and want to jump in and show off, if you are struggling with a part of a designated want some honest feed back or an alternate perspective/opinion, or if you just wanna watch me draw some things and work on some art stop on by. This will be a judgment free, positive atmosphere for all artists to show off and meet some new people.

Blocking in Color-Lining Tattoos with a Shader

submitted on 01.25.23 by Fireside Tattoo Network

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Blocking in Colors

“all of these shapes have been made with a mag… lots of greys and muted tones laid straight over that black, so a lot of my value decisions were already made…”

– Jake Meeks

Moving onto color now, since all my value problems were solved with the black, it was just a matter of glazing right over the tattoo with lots of muted tones to give life to the tree. From there, the background is then glazed right on as well, paying close attention to the positive and negative values as they approach the tree to avoid making the piece too crowded and busy.

Check out the Full Deep Dive Episode:

Why Line Tattoos With a Shader?

Why Line With a Shader? | Fireside Technique |

submitted on 01.23.23 by Fireside Tattoo Network

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As tattooers sometimes we forget that a tattoo machine is simply a tool which can make a variety of interesting marks. In this episode, instead of following the convention and using a regular liner to pull lines, we explore the idea of using a magnum to create lines. Trying this approach for a tattoo provides a much different look as well as adding new possibilities and tricks to your existing toolkit.

Taking A More Painterly Approach to the Tattoo

I tend to start a lot of my large scale work with a loose marker drawing, I find it more efficient and a lot faster… its just a more natural way for me to 

–  Jake Meeks

Starting with a Loose Marker Drawing

So when it comes to large, flowing, organic work I like to start with a loose marker drawing. It allows me to be quicker in my approach of laying down shapes on the skin in a much more natural way. As I’m blocking in the shapes, I focus more on sculpting the dark and light values rather than focusing on making clean, defined line-work.

Even though some of these lines look halfway solid, they’re really kinda soft at the edges… It looks like a rough charcoal drawing.

– Jake Meeks

Here we are on the first pass. The important part here when working with a magnum is to block in your darks and lights. You want to address any problems or questions the values bring up in this stage so that when you’re adding color later it easily flows in place. The goal is to get a rough value study down, leaving your edges soft and a little loose, similar to a charcoal drawing.

Watch the Full episode on our deep dive page

Why Line With a Shader? | Fireside Technique

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