What kind of a needle for tattoo?

Answer 1

It all depends on the size of the tattoo that you are going to do.

You will use anywhere from a 3RL to a 7RL in the instance of outlines, though larger groupings are available. For solid coloring, most artists use Mags since they pack in more color efficiently, thereby reducing the amount of trauma to the skin. As far as Mags go, you would use anywhere from a 7M to a 12M for smaller areas of fill, anywhere between a 14M to a 22M for good sized areas of fill, and lastly anywhere between a 24M upwards to a 34M or in even some instances…a 54M for large areas. For black and grey, a lot of artists prefer to use Round Shaders since you can achieve smooth saturation better than with a mag needle, but I know a lot of artists who use nothing but mags for B&G shading to great effect. For Round Shaders, you would use anywhere from a 9RS to a 14RS for small areas of detail, anywhere from a 15RS to a 25RS for mid-sized areas, and anywhere from a 30RS and up for large areas.

All of the aforementioned needle groupings come in an array of sizes, and it is up to you as the artist to find out what needles works best for what. Map out what needles are needed as soon as you look at the picture or the design.

When I became an apprentice ages ago, my teacher told me to think of needles like paint brushes, and I've found that this rationale helps others that I have taught in turn. Thinking of them in this instance is good because you conceptualize what grouping is utilized for what. With this said, if you don't paint, you should start. There is some correlation between painting and tattooing in that you learn to perfect having a steady hand, learn and perfect color theory as well as light theory…not to mention the fact that making and selling custom art is part of most artists daily bread and butter, especially come slow season.