Single Needle: How Deep Should You Go? (0.5mm-1.2mm)
Summary
TLDRIn this tattoo informational video, the artist addresses a common question about needle depth in tattooing, particularly for light gray shades. They clarify that the standard 1-2 millimeter depth is for larger needle groupings, not single needles, which should only go 0.5-1.2 millimeters deep to avoid skin damage. The artist demonstrates this with a ruler and needle, emphasizing the importance of skin stretching during tattooing. They also discuss techniques for darker tones, using a poking scribbling motion for deeper ink penetration without going too deep.
Takeaways
- 📏 The standard depth for tattooing with multiple needles is between 1 to 2 millimeters, but this is not suitable for single needle tattooing.
- 🤔 Factors such as machine type, needle gauge, and voltage can affect the penetration depth and should be considered for adjustments.
- 💉 For single needle work, the recommended depth is between 0.5 to 1.2 millimeters to avoid damaging the skin.
- 🪡 The analogy of a magician on a bed of needles is used to explain why single needles penetrate the skin differently than multiple needles.
- 🧍♂️ Tattoo artists should constantly stretch the skin while tattooing to reduce tension and ensure proper ink penetration.
- 🔍 The depth of 1.2 millimeters is considered deep for single needle tattooing, especially with a 12-gauge needle which is thicker and allows for better ink flow.
- 🚫 Going too deep with a single needle, such as the full 2 millimeters, can lead to skin damage and is not recommended.
- 🎨 For lighter shades, the artist may need to consider the risk of the tattoo fading due to the shallower depth required.
- 🖌️ The artist uses a poking and scribbling motion for the darkest parts of the tattoo to achieve depth without going too deep.
- 🔄 The healing process of a tattoo is similar for both single needle and traditional methods, with the key being proper initial healing.
- 🔄 Long-term tattoo preservation depends on proper healing, and tattoos will naturally fade over time regardless of the method used.
Q & A
What is the standard depth for tattooing with a single needle?
-The standard depth for tattooing with a single needle is between 0.5 millimeters to 1.2 millimeters, which is shallower than the traditional 1 to 2 millimeters used for multiple needle groupings.
Why is the depth for single needle tattooing different from that of multiple needles?
-Single needle penetration is different because it goes into the skin more easily due to less resistance, as opposed to multiple needles which need to account for skin resistance and therefore require a deeper penetration.
What is the significance of the 'bed of needles' analogy mentioned in the script?
-The 'bed of needles' analogy is used to illustrate the difference in skin penetration between single and multiple needles. A magician can sleep on a bed of needles without harm due to the distributed weight, but would be injured by a single needle, highlighting the increased ease of penetration with a single needle.
What are the factors to consider when determining the depth for tattooing?
-Factors to consider include machine type, needle gauge, voltage, and the specific technique being used, such as single needle or multiple needle groupings.
Why is it not recommended to go as deep as 2 millimeters with a single needle?
-Going 2 millimeters deep with a single needle is too deep and can easily lead to skin damage, such as 'blowing out' the skin, which is cutting or damaging it excessively.
What is the recommended depth range for tattooing light gray tones with a single needle?
-For light gray tones, the recommended depth range is the same as for single needle tattooing in general, which is between 0.5 millimeters to 1.2 millimeters.
How does the tattoo artist ensure accurate tattooing while using a single needle?
-The artist should constantly stretch the skin while tattooing, which reduces skin tension and allows for more accurate and proper tattooing.
What technique does the artist use for rendering the darkest parts of a tattoo with a single needle?
-For the darkest parts, the artist uses a poking or scribbling motion to get the ink in without having to change to a larger needle grouping, which helps maintain a consistent texture.
How does the artist's experience influence the depth range recommended for single needle tattooing?
-The artist's extensive experience and portfolio of healed tattoos over the years support the recommended 0.5 to 1.2 millimeters depth range, showing that it is effective for long-term tattoo preservation.
What is the artist's approach to answering questions in the new series of videos?
-The artist aims to make the videos shorter and more focused on one specific topic or question, providing direct and concise answers based on years of experience in tattooing, particularly with single needles.
Outlines
📏 Tattoo Needle Depth Explained
In this paragraph, the speaker addresses a common question about tattoo needle depth, specifically for light gray shades. They clarify that the standard depth of 1 to 2 millimeters is not suitable for single-needle tattooing due to the different skin penetration compared to multiple needles. The analogy of a magician on a bed of needles is used to illustrate the point. The recommended depth for single-needle work is given as 0.5 to 1.2 millimeters, and the importance of considering machine type, needle gauge, and voltage is emphasized. The speaker also demonstrates the depth with a ruler and a single needle cartridge, highlighting the difference in depth for a 10 gauge versus a 12 gauge needle, and stresses the need to constantly stretch the skin while tattooing to reduce tension and ensure proper ink insertion.
🔍 Fine-Tuning Tattoo Depth for Different Tones
The speaker continues the discussion on tattoo needle depth, focusing on the implications for different shades in a tattoo. They advise against going too deep with a single needle to avoid skin damage, which could 'blow out' the tattoo. The recommended depth range of 0.5 to 1.2 millimeters is reiterated, and the speaker shares their personal experience and portfolio as evidence of the effectiveness of this range. They also discuss the long-term healing and permanence of tattoos, noting that as long as the tattoo heals properly initially, it is likely to remain over time. The paragraph concludes with advice on handling darker tones with a single needle, suggesting a poking and scribbling motion to achieve depth without going too deep, and a commitment to answer more questions in future videos.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Tattooing
💡Needle Depth
💡Single Needle
💡Skin Penetration
💡Light Gray
💡Machine Type
💡Voltage
💡10 Gauge
💡Stretching the Skin
💡Mid-Tones
💡Darker Darks
Highlights
The video discusses the depth of needle penetration in tattooing, emphasizing the difference between single and multiple needle groupings.
Traditional tattooing depth is generally between one to two millimeters, but this is not suitable for single needle work.
Single needle penetration is easier due to less skin resistance, so a deeper penetration can damage the skin.
The recommended depth for single needle tattooing is between 0.5 to 1.2 millimeters.
A visual demonstration is provided using a ruler to compare the depth of 1.2 millimeters to a single needle.
The artist uses a 12-gauge needle for better ink flow and insertion, which is thicker at the base.
Skin stretching is an important technique to reduce tension and allow for more accurate tattooing.
Over-penetrating with a single needle can lead to skin damage and cutting, which is not recommended.
The artist shares personal experience and portfolio to support the recommended needle depth range.
Long-term tattoo healing is discussed, with the notion that if the tattoo stays after initial healing, it will remain over time.
Different tones in tattooing require different depths; mid-tones fall within the 0.5 to 1.2 millimeters range.
For the darkest parts of a tattoo, the artist uses a poking scribbling motion with a single needle to avoid skin damage.
The artist emphasizes the importance of not going lighter than 0.5 millimeters to avoid the risk of fading.
The video promises to be shorter and more focused on specific questions in future episodes.
The artist appreciates the audience's questions and plans to answer more in upcoming videos.
The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to check the artist's Instagram for a portfolio of single needle tattoo work.
Transcripts
hi welcome back to my informational
tattoo videos um let me do something a
little different for this video compared
to
the other ones um i'm gonna try to make
these videos about one specific topic
versus how i normally do it where i have
all these specific topics jam-packed
into one
video
with one overarching subject that
relates to all these little bits
so
let's begin um ink orchestra asks
i was wondering i look
in a lot of review that the needle have
to go in between one and two millimeters
but in the video it looks like you don't
go into that
deepness particularly for the light gray
so when you brush the skin you don't go
as deep for the grade
here basically asking will it not fade
and also asks what are the different
depths that i use when i tattoo this
kind of piece so what are the you know
he asked about the light gray
uh but also asks you know how i do for
the other tones including the darker
gray so
regarding the one millimeter to two
millimeter range that's basically
the long time standard depth that you're
supposed to go to
uh i know you're supposed to consider a
machine type um you know needle gauge uh
voltage and all that
again this is a general range you should
consider all those variables but know
that it will affect the range and don't
just take it as you know uh as just that
so one to two millimeters does that work
for single needle does that work for
what i'm doing in these videos
no the answer is no it does work for
traditional you know uh normal tattooing
which is the larger needle groupings
but because single needle skin
penetration is different than multiple
needles
recall back to when i made a video about
and i use the analogy with the magician
and the bed of needles if it's a bed of
needles a magician sleeps on it it's
fine because the weight is distributed
and he won't get
stabbed but if he laid on one needle it
will go straight through him
this applies to single needle as well so
when you penetrate the skin it goes in a
lot easier
so going two millimeters right
um
it's a little too it's it's too deep
to be doing that with single needle
but why does two millimeter work for
multiple needle groupings is because it
also accounts for
the um the bounce back of the skin
resisting the multiple needles so that's
why you gotta go a little deeper so the
many needles can penetrate
the
skin so
what would i say for single needle then
0.5 millimeters to to 1.2 millimeters
so that's the number i would use for
single needle
okay so here is a ruler
you can see two millimeters right there
past the 15.
and if we compare
or if we
see
on the
single needle cartridge here two
millimeters is about
about this one
this is pretty long for me to go
deep into the skin with
this is about 1.2 right here
so yeah
okay so that's about 1.2 right there if
you can see me pulling it out see how
deep it went
yeah i hope you saw that so
for me
that's already pretty deep
for what i do when i tattoo so and plus
this is a
remember this is a
10 gauge so this is a very
slim needle what i use is i use a 12
gauge so it's a little fatter on the
base
because uh it's better for ink flow and
ink
insertion
so this is actually much easier to slide
in but if you can imagine i'm using a 12
gauge
going that deep that's only 1.2 if we
were to go a full two millimeter in
that's way too deep and you're likely
gonna blow out considering
you know um
this is a single needle so also to note
that
when you're tattooing you're typically
stretching the skin
and then tattooing and you should be
doing that constantly as a tattoo artist
so this reduces the skin tension and you
can tattoo properly and more accurately
so consider the penetration of the
single needle
and the reduced skin tension while
stretching
then you will know that
going too deep will easily blow out when
you're using a single needle
damaging the skin
cutting the skin
you know
so that's why
i recommend a much
lower
depth range than the traditional one to
two millimeters two millimeters as you
saw it was just it was just too deep so
imagine stretching
using a single needle
and then going two millimeters you go
ahead and you try it and you'll
you know you're going to regret it so
and
this is just a this is just my
thinking of what the range should be i
don't have there's not a lot of single
needle
tattoo artists out there that are that
experienced like i am that i can bounce
back these you know uh ideas with and
then we can all get together and
standardize something no
this the whole fine line thing is new
and especially in fine lines single
needle is even more uncommon so
i'm basically
alone here right in in making these
claims right
but
i have a lot of experience on my side
and i have
um you know um
my heel portfolio to back me so if you
go to my instagram and look at my heel
portfolio i've been doing this this
range my my 0.5 to 1.2 range for years
now and if you look through all my heel
photos you can see that they've healed
then you might ask what about long term
like 10 years later down the line of
course of course that's going to affect
healing just like the effects for
traditional
but the rule of thumb here is that
as long as the tattoo heals
initially
if it goes away it goes away forever but
if it stays it's going to stay and do
its
you know
healing over time so of course it's
going to stay fresh
first month
years years years later down the line
it's going to fade like all tattoos will
fade single needle traditional bold
everything will heal the same it's just
that these little
ink pixels are much less with single
needle
so
yeah so so keep all that in mind and
so what what about the other
other tones like the mid tones and the
darker tones
so
mid-tones of course is within the 0.5 to
1.2 that's all in the middle that's the
easiest because you're not worrying
about going too shallow or too deep but
for the darker darks
if i'm using a single needle
1.2
is the darkest is the deepest i'll go
i'll push it a little bit
to get even darker maybe but i'm worried
more about blowing out and skin uh
damage at that point
and if i were to go even lighter
than 0.5 i'm pushing the lighter
gray rendering but i'm also considering
that oh it might fade
so what okay so back to the point
the darkest darks if you look at my
videos
skip to the parts where i'm rendering
the really dark parts you'll notice that
i
do a
poking scribbling motion to get the ink
in
i adopted that technique because i'm too
lazy to change to a three round liner or
maybe a seven mag to pack in the black
because i just like sticking to one
thing and then if i
i don't know i feel like it's a more
consistent texture anyways
um so that's what i would do for the
darker darks
um
that should answer the question these
videos are going to be shorter and
more to the point so
for my next video i'll answer a
different question
um
yeah you guys been sending me
such amazing questions
that really gets my brain thinking about
what i've gathered for the past years
and years and years of tattooing
especially single needle so i'm going to
answer another one
soon
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