At home (DIY) tattoo experiment

Following on from my quick research, I decided to do a quick experiment within tattooing. Obviously nothing too drastic or insane as I know myself I am not a professional tattoo artist. However, with further research I came across the technique 'Stick and Poke', which is an at home (Do It Yourself) tattooing technique that can be produced by anyone, all that is needed is a sterilized needle and a pot of ink, the most popular and effective ink that is used is Indian Ink and that's what I therefore used in my experiment. For this short experiment I simply gathered my equipment and gained a volunteer off my friend to give this minor permanent tattoo to, she was a fan of the Beatles particularly Ringo Star, this therefore gave her the idea for me to create a simple outline of a star to represent Ringo. We decided to place the tattoo on her outer wrist, as this part of the body is most common and represents courage and pride due to certain studies I came across.  

In addition, I applied the stick and poke technique onto the skin and created the design. However, I found this technique very challenging as it did require a steady hand and a sharp eye to direct each individual puncture of the needle with the ink. Although, I do believe I created an effective illustration of a star, considering there are no second chances due to the fact you are unable to erase your mark, once the ink is punctured into the skin you are unable to go back and change it. This did obviously apply pressure although the determination to get the design as accurate as possible. Overall, I am happy with the outcome and so is the provider thankfully, however it could be improved and I believe I may have to go over the outline of the star a little bit to fill in the gaps that I can noticeably see if you look closely.

By doing this experiment I felt like I got an idea of the feeling and passion tattoo artists feel when giving tattoos. I felt really inspired and motivated to create more intricate designs and to further develop my knowledge into the tattoo industry.