How to tattoo portraits and realism

Enabled tattoo portrait better response in realism, in other words, is the portrait of how to make the tattoo come out more beautiful, about this topic, we need to discuss from two aspects of  portrait itself and the tattoo skills.　　
The term portrait work does not always apply to people. Any tattoo that is photo realistic is considered as being portrait work. If you tattoo a soda can as realistic as possible then you have done a portrait tattoo. As time progresses, more and more clients are wanting photo realism tattoos. It use to be only the best could pull it off but know it’s a necessity of the industry. The problem with portrait work is that even the best artist in the world can only
work with what they have. If you use a bad picture then you will have a bad tattoo. The picture needs to be clear and close enough to see the detail in the face or of the object. You can only tattoo what you see. If someone brings
you a instant Polaroid, then they will have a tattoo of a Polaroid. Old and torn up pictures just will not work. The best to use is any picture taken from a professional photographer. Family portraits only work if you are tattooing the
entire family. If you have to enlarge the picture to see the face then it’s no good. Several artist do portraits in color, they look nice when they are done but after a few years the color pigments blend together making the portrait
blurry. I strongly recommend only doing portraits in black and grey. If you have ever seen the old black and white movies that they add color to later,then you know they don’t look natural. Most color portraits come out the same way.
Photo realism is different than just high detailed tattooing. With realism you need to have a picture to go by. High detail is simply adding some shading here and there to make a tattoo look more detailed where in realism you need to pay attention to the true lighting of the subject. Realism tattoos need to be at least three inches high for the main object so you will have plenty of room to apply the detail. The rule of thumb with a persons portrait is that the three inches should be measured from the chin to the begging in of the hair line. To achieve realism you are all but required to use mag fof smooth shading and a five or a three for the finer details. You cannot black outline any realism tattoo. Nothing in life has a black outline around it. Only tattoo solid black where you see it in the picture. I strongly suggest blood lining the entire piece. You can grey line if you wish , but most of the time you will be able to see the gray line after the tattoo is healed. If your subject is lighter, or say has grey hair, then you might want to consider applying some kind of back round that’s slightly darker then the image it’s self. A shadowing around certain sections of the object will do the trick. Make sure to practice the back round on paper before you tattoo it, you have to see what works and what doesn’t for each individual tattoo.
To making the pattern you can use a copy machine, but I prefer using a computer scanner, you loose less detail this way. Scan the image in and crop out around the main image only getting what you plan to tattoo in the picture. While you are editing the image in the computer is the time to add any names or dates that the client may want along with it. Size it accordingly and print the image on the highest resolution you can. Print several copies incase you make a mistake, and so you have at least one extra to have for comparison while you are tattooing. Never take an original picture back with you while you tattoo, you will get blood and pigment on the image every time and some pictures your client can’t replace. Lay the printed picture down on the stencil paper and trace every line you can leaving only the shading not on the pattern. With a portrait you might want to stencil any solid black areas filled in solid as a reference. If you have a stencil machine, I suggest doing the pattern by hand anyway so you have already drawn in before hand to get a better feel for the image. The biggest trick to tattooing portraits is the making of the pattern. When you are done it should look like a topographical map of the image. You will need to mark the separations or the various hues to function as reference points. Many artist work top to bottom and do the tattoo in a whole going that direction. This means that you would fully shade the tattoo as you move up, instead of blood lining the entire piece and doing the eyes, then mouth or what ever the case may be.When you have any realism tattoo with solid black words such as dates or names then you need to tattoo them first. Do the blood line work on the main image, then rinse and dry your needle to outline the words. With any tattoo, the outline is first, but in a portrait that may be the only outline.When you do a realism piece, you need to think of your self like a human copy  machine, everything you see needs to be in the tattoo. You may want to set an appointment for these tattoos so you have time to work and play with the image before the tattooing. Portrait work is revered as the most difficult act
of tattooing, just take your time and don’t do them if you are not ready.
Using White
The use of white high light can add definition to any tattoo but in a portrait it will bring the subject to life. White is one of the fourteen shades of grey the human eye can distinguish, and should be used, but only if used properly. Too many artists are using white highlighting during black and grey like it’s going out of style. Too much white will take away from the tattoo and make it look not nearly as real. White should only go where you see it in the
picture. One of the best examples I can tell you is to go for a drive at night. While traveling in traffic, you can see the lights reflecting on the nearby car.Look for a white car, you can see the white paint of the car, then you can see
the bright white where the light is reflecting on the paint. This is the same idea. There is white area in a tattoo which should be considered skin tone,but then there are areas that need to be the color white. If you are tattooing
a metal object then only apply white where you see it in the picture. If your tattoo is the white car in traffic, then you only want to shade the paint job,and use white where the light reflection is. With use in a portrait, you only want to put white on what would naturally be wet or metal such as body jewelry and the frame of eye glasses. This is how white does its job. In a face you should only have white in the eyes where you see the glare and on the
teeth if they are smiling. Anywhere else will just make it look like its glowing in the dark. Realism is based on what is real, not where you think you want the real to be.
You hear everyone say “My skin won’t take white”. That is wrong. When an artist tells the client that their skin didn’t take the white then they are using a crappy white or they don’t know how to apply it properly. The down side of white is that being white it has a tendency to take the color of the skin above it after it heals. On an African American you will not be able to see white pigment as well as say a pale Irish completion. I have some American Indian in me so when I put white in myself it looks sort of cream due to the darker tone of my skin. This is the only problem with white. There is no excuse for it to just not show up at all. Artist think that white pigment is a color and should be applied like a color, but it is a shade of grey, or the absence of. To properly apply white when using as a color you need to go a little slower than you would with regular color pigment. If you are highlighting with white then you need to use it as if you were lining with black. Slow and steady. You cannot apply white quickly and expect it to stay. Because white will take on the form of any other color it comes into contact with, it should be the last color you use no matter what colors you’re using. Before you dip into the white you should also rinse the machine out more cautiously than any other time. If you have just a small bit of red, then the entire ink cap will be pink the first time you touch the needle in there. Take your time, and watch for color change, I have seen artist use white but tattoo pink without knowing more times then I can count.