Tattoo Outlines

As the saying goes: build your house upon rock - so when the rains come and wind blows, it will remain and stand strong. Only the fool builds their house upon sand.

I often think of this when starting a new tattoo; especially a large scale piece. Outlines are the bedrock upon which the entirety of a tattoo is built. A strong, confident foundation paves the way for a final tattoo that will both stand out in a crowd and stand the test of time.

Clients often comment that my outlines are more intricate and involved than what they are used to seeing, and that "if you just left it like this I'd be happy!" - and that's precisely the idea. Ironically, I often cover-up and alter the original outline while I'm shading a tattoo, but the step of creating a solid outline is essential for a variety of reasons.

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Outlines are the glue that holds a tattoo together. Unlike paper or canvas, which is for the most part a fixed surface, skin changes greatly over a person's lifetime. Our bodies are alive and are constantly regenerating and repairing themselves. Most sources say that on average our skin cells completely regenerate once every few weeks. Think of that along with every day wear and tear such as bumps, bruises, and sun exposure.

The boldness of a strong outline takes much longer to soften when compared to shading (which, in most cases, is already soft). Creating a solid outline is a tried and true method of ensuring that a tattoo will hold up over time.

The outline is also the first step of the application process, meaning it allows me to make decisions on the skin that I simply cannot account for during the drawing process. Every individual's skin is quite different. Aside from more obvious attributes, such as complexion, there are many unique characteristics that come together to tell the story of a person's skin: pigmentation variation, tone, texture, elasticity, blemishes, wrinkles, scars, body hair, and much more that all affect how I approach a tattoo. Even on the same client, one's skin varies greatly in different areas of the body. To ignore these variables and use the same formulaic approach for creating a tattoo would be a great misstep.

The outlining process allows me to "feel out" the skin I'm working with and develop an approach that will carry over into the shading process.

The first pass of an outline also allows me to edit the design, in real time, and develop a concept of how it while be shaded. As a tattoo develops, I often cover-up much of my original linework with shading and re-sculpted lines. This is a less traditional approach that can be attributed in part to the way that I was taught to tattoo, as well as a reflection of my painting and charcoal drawing process outside of tattooing.

Developing a strong design is a process achieved through application of subsequent layers of information. Unlike when working on paper or canvas (which for me tends to be a more experimental), I try to be calculated in my decision making while tattooing, yet open-ended enough to allow each individual client's skin to inform the process. I want to respect the client's time and experience of getting tattooed (...yes, it's uncomfortable). A solid outline sets up the rest of the process, so the shading can be done swiftly and efficiently.

Some recent outlines...