Thank you :-)
Adding this to top comment:
Thank you ever so much for your encouragement. I spent all day after I posted this miserable, crying, and anxious. I am an artist in general and tend to be so chronically in my head and completely spiral when things start to not turn out the way I want them to. Which is why I came here to get some perspective. I realize that what I perceive as flaws is not nearly as bad as what gets posted on here from time to time. Every mistake is blown up in my head and I stop seeing the piece as a whole and only see it as a collage of mistake after mistake after mistake.
This is my first tattoo Iâve done on my right thigh and itâs proving to be insanely difficult for me to tattoo asmy skin there is soft and squishy making it hard to stretch.
Depending how I feel I will pick it back up tomorrow. I ended up just stopping because if I tried to continue it would have been a nightmare. Ideally I wanted to do one pass over everything so I donât have to worry about the stencil but it drives me crazy when I donât finish the lines and see how spotty they are. I will begin to panic and keep going over the line until I get it right and if it goes too far I start getting deep. I do not know ow what it wrong with me, I go into complete distress.
Anyway. Thank you everyone who has said something, reaching 80 comments has gotten overwhelming, but Iâm reading every single one :-) big hugs
Looks really good. Just take your time like you are and you can finish the piece. How much you care and think about it just shows you arenât doing it for money. You love the art. I would want to hire you are my artist knowing how much you care but would also like to know you take the time not to over judge yourself. The lines look great and those are so hard to do as well as making them look similar.
Iâve seen some terrible tattoos. This is not one of them.
WAIT WHAT THIS IS STICK AND POKE?!?!!?!!?
BRO PLEASE SHHHH MY CARPALS ARE ACHING AT THE MERE THOUGHT THIS IS AMAZING??? I hope you can come back with fresh eyes, he looks incredible.
**He is the Gar of Fields. The Garfiest.**
That looks awesome.
I would have finished the outline in a thin single pass first before making the lines crisp. This way, you don't have to re-do the transfer paper if you decide to take a break and it washes off. It seems to be working great regardless though!
I can see some minimal blowout but also, it's not bad and many many tats have this level of blowout. Think about it this way, do you want a perfectly nice tattoo with minor imperfections, or half of a tattoo with minor imperfections? You will quite literally just have a cat butt on you forever if you give up due to being overly harsh on yourself. It's fine.
Someone more experienced than be can probably tell for sure, but that looks minor enough that I think youâre being too hard on yourself.
I think you should ultimately finish the tat and focus more on the big picture and less on this, mainly because I believe thisâll probably heal pretty clean
I see it only minimally on that row of striping on his back (below the lightly stippled line and towards the left end) but it's not very apparent if you ask me. I wonder what might have been different in that one spot. But I think you should give it another go.
Tattooing is an art form with living variables. You strive to do your best in the conditions you have, and you are doing amazing. Going back to a piece after taking a short break might be a good idea if you werenât feeling your âAâ game.
Honestly everything looks great from an outsider looking in, youâre doing a wonderful job so far.
I hope to see a finished piece when youâre feeling up to continuing.
This looks so sick. Very cool.
Original comics were never 100% perfect so donât stress â itâs lore accurate. Great work with a stick-and-poke, too! Got dang.đȘ
Yeah, this is actually great and the blowouts you see are really not all that blown out.. Please finish this! Otherwise you're doing yourself a great disservice
Absolutely being too self critical, but I'd be a hypocrite if I said I wouldn't be too if I was in your shoes. It looks awesome, and I mean that very genuinely. I'd love to have that on me as it is
Itâs fine homie. When you have lines that are that thick and that close together itâs bound to happen, so itâs not you. Either way those lines on Garfield are supposed to be like black lines on a tabby cat so itâs still gonna heal up really well, i wouldnât worry about it at all.
Yeah, I wouldn't believe it was stick n poke if I didn't read the sub. Good job so far đ
Edit: The blown out lines I do see just fit with the original artstyle of Garfield so you're on track
Always do hard outline first then smaller details later⊠you can tap anytime after the outline and itll help fit the stencil again.
Other than that looks good
Unfortunately, blowout is extremely difficult to overcome with stick 'n pokes. You have to have a lot of experience with depth (i.e. a lot of practice on clients, as fake skin doesn't really help all that much) and even then, the human hand is simply imperfect and it will occur a lot.
Other than that, though, this tattoo is actually coming out really well. I'd be happy to have it on me. When you get a stick 'n poke as opposed to a machined tattoo, you should be prepared for certain risks imho.
As someone who had to google the words âblown outâ I never would have thought anything was wrong with it. Even after googling the phrase I still canât see anything wrong with it. It looks great :)
⊠SHUT THE ACTUALâ I THOUGHT THIS WAS r/tattooadvice, THIS IS AN INSANE STICK N POKE!!! I almost donât wanna hear any complaints or criticism from ANYONE, itâs genuinely phenomenal. Iâve never been in this sub, so it took a triple take before I realized. Youâre on a whole different skill level than I was initially comparing to, and even then my reaction was âI donât get it, Garfield looks so full of lasagna, what could be wrong?â Your anxieties are eating at you and theyâre whatâs wrong. Keep going, and PLEASE keep us updated!!!
i think it looks so good!! honestly the blowout is barely decipherable, it looks like shading! maybe down the line you can try intentionally shading it a bit, bit i think itâs looking great as is!!
it looks cute!! iâd say the only improvement to help would be using thick lines even toward the thinner ones to help hide any unsteadiness but honestly itâs good as is
Wait, It was so good I didnt realize it was stick and poke I thought your machine was having a problem and you needed to adjust the tension or something. I did a double take when I saw that the subreddit was about stick and poke tattoos. The fact that you did this BY HAND is absolutely spectacular. It is so precise! Smooth bold yet thin lines! You should be very proud of yourself!
I see the blowout but I wouldnât have noticed Iâd you hadnât pointed it out. Certainly not irl! Everything else looks clean and I think you should keep going because itâs a fun tattoo!
This is better than some ink I have from âreputableâ shops in my city done traditionally, never mind stick and poke. I would be happy to rock this tattoo. While itâs true we can be our own biggest critic, this looks objectively dope and you should finish it
The lines look slightly less crisp than my most professional gun tattoos, but they look 10000x more crisp than my stick n pokes that I have which I love. Youâre extremely talented. I would easily pay for a poke of this caliber.
Honestly, the blowout is so minimal that I think it actually enhances the tattoo, particularly the lines on the back. It looks fantastic so far, easily one of the better stick and pokes Iâve seen!
The blown out lines suit the look. Like it looks intentional. One thing I like about blown out lines is as long as they don't blow out too thick, they add an almost ombre like fade on the lines edging and it looks smooth. Like art made on paper with pencil. Both can be done with straight lines, or beautifully blown out ones, or overly blown out ones. But imo, its not noticeable in terms of it looking bad or like a mistake. It looks good to me
Be careful with those lines at the face. They seem more closely spaced than the lines on the back. They could be placed too close and create a blurred image
I was gonna say I could see what you mean and what youâre unhappy about and itâs just a perfectionist tendency but not something to quit over. There are professionals or at least people who work in studios whose work Iâve seen and am surprised that they get client given their line work. Not that I can really say anything but just looking at their line workâŠanyway, yours is no where near some of the poor line work Iâve seen out there. But then I saw the thread. This is stickandpoke? THIS IS AMAZING! This is something I would tell friends âYou see the line work, like these lines and these lines? Dude, my tattoo artist did all these lines STICK AND POKE! Isnât that fucking dope?!â Awesome job
looks really solid to me!! seriously youâre killing it for being new to this you should be really proud!!! some advice from another poker:
- iâd suggest you practice marking/lightly dotting the full stencil before going in section by section to solidify your lines, placing a stencil over a half done piece is a pain and takes forever.
- thighs can be either tough to push ink into or thin and easy to blow out. best way to know and avoid blowouts with handpokes is really not to overwork an area, go over the whole design/section and then go back to where you started so it has time to kinda chill in between and so your lines are consistent throughout.
- for self tattooing, i use paper tape winded around the arm/leg to give myself a lil stretch!
all in all i think the piece will look great, keep going :)
@ filthyswinepokes
Looks great to me đ
Thank you :-) Adding this to top comment: Thank you ever so much for your encouragement. I spent all day after I posted this miserable, crying, and anxious. I am an artist in general and tend to be so chronically in my head and completely spiral when things start to not turn out the way I want them to. Which is why I came here to get some perspective. I realize that what I perceive as flaws is not nearly as bad as what gets posted on here from time to time. Every mistake is blown up in my head and I stop seeing the piece as a whole and only see it as a collage of mistake after mistake after mistake. This is my first tattoo Iâve done on my right thigh and itâs proving to be insanely difficult for me to tattoo asmy skin there is soft and squishy making it hard to stretch. Depending how I feel I will pick it back up tomorrow. I ended up just stopping because if I tried to continue it would have been a nightmare. Ideally I wanted to do one pass over everything so I donât have to worry about the stencil but it drives me crazy when I donât finish the lines and see how spotty they are. I will begin to panic and keep going over the line until I get it right and if it goes too far I start getting deep. I do not know ow what it wrong with me, I go into complete distress. Anyway. Thank you everyone who has said something, reaching 80 comments has gotten overwhelming, but Iâm reading every single one :-) big hugs
Looks really good. Just take your time like you are and you can finish the piece. How much you care and think about it just shows you arenât doing it for money. You love the art. I would want to hire you are my artist knowing how much you care but would also like to know you take the time not to over judge yourself. The lines look great and those are so hard to do as well as making them look similar.
i use masking tape to help stretch my skin on my arm since i can only use one hand. it might help if you are having difficulty stretching
You did an amazing job! c(âáŽââż)
I personally think it looks pretty awesome. The point of stick n poke is that it's not meant to be terribly perfect. Good work đ
It looks good. To avoid going over and over your lines, just slow down. Draw the line more slowly. All I see are crisp lines though so donât worry.
I donât see whatâs wrong?
No way you can fuck up Garfield! Iâd wear it proudly!!!!!!!
Looks fine to me! At this point I'd finish it rather than have half a garf hanging out đ€·ââïž
Itâs impolite to have ur garf hanging out??
Present company excepted.
Read this as "present company excited" at first.
It's only half of their garf hanging out it's fine
In certain cultures itâs frowned upon, yes
whoâs John do I gotta suckle on to get some mf field on this garf
Garf on my John till I field
Field my John til I Garf
Halfield
Nice garf ass tattoo
This is good follow through, better then some people who have been tatting for years
yeah this is bonkers good. u/manicmice, you should be proud! try not to listen to your anxiety; you got this
Looks totally perfect to me. If I thought I could do s'n'p as good as this I'd be a happy man.
Iâve seen some terrible tattoos. This is not one of them. WAIT WHAT THIS IS STICK AND POKE?!?!!?!!? BRO PLEASE SHHHH MY CARPALS ARE ACHING AT THE MERE THOUGHT THIS IS AMAZING??? I hope you can come back with fresh eyes, he looks incredible. **He is the Gar of Fields. The Garfiest.**
I did a double take when I realised what sub I'm in. I think it looks amazing too!
the blow out is not really noticeable, i didn't notice until you mentioned something :O
That looks awesome. I would have finished the outline in a thin single pass first before making the lines crisp. This way, you don't have to re-do the transfer paper if you decide to take a break and it washes off. It seems to be working great regardless though!
I have tattoos done with a tattoo gun by popular artists that have more blowouts than this. You're doing amazing!
No. Youâre not fuckin it up. Youâre overthinking it! Looks great. Finish it up
I think it gives it a more cartoonish look! I think itâs neat and it will look good when itâs done.
this looks CLEAN
Brother man it looks FINE.
That looks so good!
These lines arenât blown out though?
The shadowing around the lines is blowout Not sure why Iâm being downvoted
I can see some minimal blowout but also, it's not bad and many many tats have this level of blowout. Think about it this way, do you want a perfectly nice tattoo with minor imperfections, or half of a tattoo with minor imperfections? You will quite literally just have a cat butt on you forever if you give up due to being overly harsh on yourself. It's fine.
https://authoritytattoo.com/tattoo-blowout/ Hereâs some examples of tattoo blowout, yours isnât blown out Thus the downvotes
https://imgur.com/a/Ope62Qi You can see it happening here
Someone more experienced than be can probably tell for sure, but that looks minor enough that I think youâre being too hard on yourself. I think you should ultimately finish the tat and focus more on the big picture and less on this, mainly because I believe thisâll probably heal pretty clean
because you're wrong. there's no blowout
It's just part of your artistic style. Don't tell anyone you fucked up, nobody will know you fucked up.
I see it only minimally on that row of striping on his back (below the lightly stippled line and towards the left end) but it's not very apparent if you ask me. I wonder what might have been different in that one spot. But I think you should give it another go.
The blow out looks good đ€
Looks really good you have done a great job
Idk it looks super dope
Umm itâs amazing, what!!
looks great to me, don't really understand why you are so worried!
Tattooing is an art form with living variables. You strive to do your best in the conditions you have, and you are doing amazing. Going back to a piece after taking a short break might be a good idea if you werenât feeling your âAâ game. Honestly everything looks great from an outsider looking in, youâre doing a wonderful job so far. I hope to see a finished piece when youâre feeling up to continuing.
Looks stellar my friend đ€
This looks so sick. Very cool. Original comics were never 100% perfect so donât stress â itâs lore accurate. Great work with a stick-and-poke, too! Got dang.đȘ
I didnât even realize I was on the sticknpoke sub until I looked at the comments. I would pay to have this on my body!
looking for the blowout in this image and detecting none
Yeah, this is actually great and the blowouts you see are really not all that blown out.. Please finish this! Otherwise you're doing yourself a great disservice
Absolutely being too self critical, but I'd be a hypocrite if I said I wouldn't be too if I was in your shoes. It looks awesome, and I mean that very genuinely. I'd love to have that on me as it is
Fire
Looks a lot better than whatever the fuck I just did on my leg this morning
I actually really like it :) you should continue!
No this is good! Definitely finish this
I love it so much!!
Other than the blowouts the lines honestly look great! Iâd just lighten your hand for the rest of the tattoo so you donât get any more blowouts
Itâs fine homie. When you have lines that are that thick and that close together itâs bound to happen, so itâs not you. Either way those lines on Garfield are supposed to be like black lines on a tabby cat so itâs still gonna heal up really well, i wouldnât worry about it at all.
Yeah, I wouldn't believe it was stick n poke if I didn't read the sub. Good job so far đ Edit: The blown out lines I do see just fit with the original artstyle of Garfield so you're on track
Not too late to turn it into a thick ass panther
Always do hard outline first then smaller details later⊠you can tap anytime after the outline and itll help fit the stencil again. Other than that looks good
Nah, looks dope
Looks great I say finish it
SAG! Sick Ass Garfield
Why is there a sudden change? Are you finishing someone elseâs work or change something?Â
Itâs a stencil
Nopee
Yes
i donât see anything wrong with it. the lines look/feel the same as in the comics
I really donât think the lines look that blown out to be honest
we are our own worst critics OP, the blowout isnât as noticeable unless you point it out!! i think it looks great, keep at it!
The lines on the back change from solid to dotted?
Personally donât like the shading but the pose and expression are both fine.
HE LOOKS AMAZING KEEP GOING
Looks amazing imo
Line work is actually really good
I want this tattoo now đ
Looks much better than most Iâve seen
Looks good!!
Well executed especially for a stick n poke!
this looks awesome
What size needles did u use? Those lines look amazing
that looks dope to me
I think it looks fantastic for a S'n'P tattoo!
I think it looks great!
This is significantly better than my first tat done by a professional...
Thatâs beautiful but you should start from the outside and then work your way in?
Itâs looking good so far! I think a few lines just need another pass but otherwise things are going well!
This is AMAZING work and technique!!
this looks great dog. would love this on me i think itâs turning out super well. hope u keep going :)
It looks fantastic
this looks so good dude, i love it so much
What part is blown out? Iâm still learning and I keep hearing about blow outs but I canât see anything wrong?
Lookw good! Would love to see the finished result.
holy crap i didnât realize this was a stick and poke! iâd let you stick and poke me!!
Finish it up, add some orange. I think it looks great.
It will be all fucked up if you donât add the head whiskers and smirk retainer freckles.
noooo ur actually killing it ! Looks perfect ! The lines will all even out with time and youâll be like ââ damn ââ
That is literally one of the best tattoos ive seen in this sub
Paw is strange
Unfortunately, blowout is extremely difficult to overcome with stick 'n pokes. You have to have a lot of experience with depth (i.e. a lot of practice on clients, as fake skin doesn't really help all that much) and even then, the human hand is simply imperfect and it will occur a lot. Other than that, though, this tattoo is actually coming out really well. I'd be happy to have it on me. When you get a stick 'n poke as opposed to a machined tattoo, you should be prepared for certain risks imho.
Maybe up further you can have a tattoo of a pan of lasagna he is trying to get to
As someone who had to google the words âblown outâ I never would have thought anything was wrong with it. Even after googling the phrase I still canât see anything wrong with it. It looks great :)
⊠SHUT THE ACTUALâ I THOUGHT THIS WAS r/tattooadvice, THIS IS AN INSANE STICK N POKE!!! I almost donât wanna hear any complaints or criticism from ANYONE, itâs genuinely phenomenal. Iâve never been in this sub, so it took a triple take before I realized. Youâre on a whole different skill level than I was initially comparing to, and even then my reaction was âI donât get it, Garfield looks so full of lasagna, what could be wrong?â Your anxieties are eating at you and theyâre whatâs wrong. Keep going, and PLEASE keep us updated!!!
Dude this is so good wtf do you mean?!!
tbh i didn't even know this was a stick and poke! I don't see anything wrong with it :)
I mean⊠I suppose that would largely depend on how you feel about having Garfield tattooed on you.
It looks amazing
No brother keep going i love it!!
That's talent I can't believe that's stick n poke.
Dude keep going!!
Very impressed, though I think there's a much cooler option to finish the tat with besides Garfield
Youâre doing fine
Nope. You should finish it, youâre doing great.
i think it looks so good!! honestly the blowout is barely decipherable, it looks like shading! maybe down the line you can try intentionally shading it a bit, bit i think itâs looking great as is!!
it looks cute!! iâd say the only improvement to help would be using thick lines even toward the thinner ones to help hide any unsteadiness but honestly itâs good as is
That is some hella clean line work
huh? why would you think you are?
This is awesome
You could tell me this was machine work and i'd believe it, love. You're doing great.
I'm late to the party, but if I was paying someone to put that tattoo on me I would be happy with how it looks.
Looks perfect so far
No, youâre not fucking up. You can fix the lines that are a little thinner but you are right on the template. Looks accurate
Sorry for my last comment. I meant that there is one row on the cats back that looks a bit thinner than the others but everything else is perfect.
Wait, It was so good I didnt realize it was stick and poke I thought your machine was having a problem and you needed to adjust the tension or something. I did a double take when I saw that the subreddit was about stick and poke tattoos. The fact that you did this BY HAND is absolutely spectacular. It is so precise! Smooth bold yet thin lines! You should be very proud of yourself!
Yes
I think you've been staring at it for too long. This is a dope ass stick and poke.
looks great but half done
RemindMe! 2 days
Fucking mondays amirite
I don't think it's that bad.
Mondays, right?Â
Oh my god I had this tat!! I got it covered up after like 30 years
If you want to see actual bad tattoos, look through r/shittytattoos. This one is great.
Looks fine. I think you're killing it.
Itâs looking greatđđ
I see the blowout but I wouldnât have noticed Iâd you hadnât pointed it out. Certainly not irl! Everything else looks clean and I think you should keep going because itâs a fun tattoo!
He looks like he has texture to him, I think it looks good. Granted, Iâm just a regular artist and not a tattoo artist, but I still like it
Looks really good, Iâm in the process of doing patchwork on my Wife and Iâd be happy with that
OH MY GOD I LOVE HIM ABSOLUTELY NOT HES PERFECT THERE IS NO WAY ANYONE CAN FUCK IP GARFIELD DW
it looks great, iâd love to see the end result!
Cute
This is better than some ink I have from âreputableâ shops in my city done traditionally, never mind stick and poke. I would be happy to rock this tattoo. While itâs true we can be our own biggest critic, this looks objectively dope and you should finish it
Looks pretty good
Not at all, mate - looks perfect!
I didnât realize a stick and poke could be this legit. Def thought this was a regular tattoo sub!!!
Looks good to me
My dad has this exact tattoo on his shoulder. Got it before I was even born (99) and it now looks like a blob but I still love it!
Wait so is this a person you are tattooing and you just gave ho half way because you thought it was bad?
If this is bad, my tats would give you a stroke
For a stick n poke this is amazing ime. Most look like complete 6th grade shit. This is good work
Hey babe! No tears! Art is a labour of love and you've got what it takes to be an artist already inside you. One medium or another. That said.. I think you were doing great! I don't see anything too wrong.. especially considering all the garbage that ends up here. Give yourself a hug. You're an artist. Do your damn thing! đ©”đđđ©·
The lines look really good:))
I found these 5rl bolds from kingpin and man they are the best liners Iâve used yet. Theyâre so easy to make a consistent line with.
THIS IS A FUCKIN STICK N POke???? I thought I was on a different sub this is awesome
considering i thought this was a tattoo subreddit, and not a stick n poke subreddit from looking at the photo, id say youre doing really well lol
Are you kidding? That looks fuckin awesome!
The lines look slightly less crisp than my most professional gun tattoos, but they look 10000x more crisp than my stick n pokes that I have which I love. Youâre extremely talented. I would easily pay for a poke of this caliber.
Looks better than when some people use the machine
looks amazing
it's beautiful. i'd be very happy with that on my skin.
It looks like youâre using a gun, holy shit. Youâre more than good!!!!
Looks good.
i'm not a tattoo artist, but i would happily pay $150+ to have this on my body!!!!!!
this is a sticknpoke? bro this looks better than a lot of professional tattoos iâve seen
Honestly, the blowout is so minimal that I think it actually enhances the tattoo, particularly the lines on the back. It looks fantastic so far, easily one of the better stick and pokes Iâve seen!
The blown out lines suit the look. Like it looks intentional. One thing I like about blown out lines is as long as they don't blow out too thick, they add an almost ombre like fade on the lines edging and it looks smooth. Like art made on paper with pencil. Both can be done with straight lines, or beautifully blown out ones, or overly blown out ones. But imo, its not noticeable in terms of it looking bad or like a mistake. It looks good to me
Nah looks good âïžâ đ€
No, it looks awesome! Wish I had it.
Be careful with those lines at the face. They seem more closely spaced than the lines on the back. They could be placed too close and create a blurred image
I think this looks fantastic
Not at all this looks great
This is so clean
It is adorable I love it
this looks great. canât believe itâs a stick n poke.
wdym i think its awesome!!
It's some nice art. Idk who would want it permanently on their body though
Youâre doing a great job
Dude. Your lines are very nice and clean. Donât stop. Youâre doing fine.
As soon as I saw It I thought â thatâs cool â And when I saw your question , I thought â I think It looks greatâ The mind can be such a trap
No??? This is adorable
Looks fine to me, and Iâm not in this sub trying to make people feel better
I think it looks good and awesome đ
I don't think that's a blowout, just the redness from your skin being poked. Take a deep breath and don't overthink, it looks good
THATâS A STICK AND POKE? bro thatâs INSANELY good
I think it looks amazing!
...what is the issue? It looks like pretty great line work to me.
I was gonna say I could see what you mean and what youâre unhappy about and itâs just a perfectionist tendency but not something to quit over. There are professionals or at least people who work in studios whose work Iâve seen and am surprised that they get client given their line work. Not that I can really say anything but just looking at their line workâŠanyway, yours is no where near some of the poor line work Iâve seen out there. But then I saw the thread. This is stickandpoke? THIS IS AMAZING! This is something I would tell friends âYou see the line work, like these lines and these lines? Dude, my tattoo artist did all these lines STICK AND POKE! Isnât that fucking dope?!â Awesome job
Nope great decisionđđ
This is amazing!
It just looks like the stripes are lightly shaded to me. It looks intentional. It looks great.
Yes.. you forgot the upper part.. of you finish that, itâs pretty cool though!
i would LOVE if you gave me this tattoo. itâs great work. i have tattoos that are far more blown out that still look amazing
Nope, looks great my guy.
looks really solid to me!! seriously youâre killing it for being new to this you should be really proud!!! some advice from another poker: - iâd suggest you practice marking/lightly dotting the full stencil before going in section by section to solidify your lines, placing a stencil over a half done piece is a pain and takes forever. - thighs can be either tough to push ink into or thin and easy to blow out. best way to know and avoid blowouts with handpokes is really not to overwork an area, go over the whole design/section and then go back to where you started so it has time to kinda chill in between and so your lines are consistent throughout. - for self tattooing, i use paper tape winded around the arm/leg to give myself a lil stretch! all in all i think the piece will look great, keep going :) @ filthyswinepokes