Tattoo Methods
How Are Tattoos Made?
Tattoos can be made in a variety of ways. Tattoo Methods discussed in this web site include:
Other tattooing methods include Thai and various ancient techniques that can be as simple as cutting the skin and rubbing in charcoal. Before we discuss methods of making tattoos let us go over what a tattoo is.
What is a Tattoo?
A tattoo is basically pigment in your skin. First we should discuss the skin some. Yes your skin is your largest organ and it does a host of things for you. It protects your from microorganisms, chemicals, and ultraviolet radiation and helps regulate body temperature while all the time helping to hold your insides in. Your skins main parts include the epidermis and dermis. The epidermis is the extremely thin, about a tenth of a millimeter, outer layer of the skin that is responsible for your color and about every 4 weeks you receive a new one. The dermis contains collagen fibers, sweat glands, hair roots, nerve cells, lymph vessels, and blood vessels. All of that in about two millimeters thickness.
Cross section of human skin
wikipedia-Image:Diagram of human skin.jpg
Now if a tattoo is permanent - which they are, for the most part - and the epidermis isn't this means that the ink goes in the dermis and you are seeing through the epidermis, your color. This is what the above methods have in common, putting pigment, ink, into your dermis. While the skin doesn't sound that thick the ink needs to be place in the correct area. Too deep and the ink can be carried away by the blood, hard to see, and cause scaring. If only the epidermis is reached the tattoo will soon fade away.
Dragon forearm tattoo
Artist Marc Haffner
If you have ever gotten a tattoo or seen a brand new one you'll note how clean and crisp they look and later less so. This is because of the above issues. When a tattoo is done the epidermis, remember the epidermis falls off, gets tattooed because it's in the way and there is no color to hide the ink. Also when the ink is introduced into the skin your immune system tries to remove it, which in part will happen but hopefully not much. After all this in about 4 weeks the tattoo should be how it's going to be except for the effects of sun exposure and generally fading or blurring.
More to come...
- The suns effect on the skin and tattoos.
- Different types of pigments and how the skin reacts.
- A breif history of tattoos.
LeeRJohnson@gmail.com
Last Update: 2006-05-05
[Original Post: 2006-04-13]
Sources:
- 1000 Tattoos, Ed. Henk Schiffmacher.
- Ink: The Not-Just-Skin-Deep Guide To Getting A Tattoo, Terisa Green, Ph.D.
