Jump to content

Thick black outlines


iowagirl
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have a fairly large piece with thick black outlines like this... upside - I think it looks cool and is a bit different, downside - it effectively doubled the lining time as the tattooist basically double outlined the piece and then filled it in. It's a kind of new school trad piece based on Fontinha flash.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thickest of the thick.

Koji Ichimaru

I love his work. You just know it's going to age perfectly and read forever.

Anyway, I think it's a stylistic preference, but I think it looks great. Of course you need to give the heavy lines room to breathe, but those are definitely tattoos that are built to last and be seen from across the street.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting comments on thick outlines in this video (starting at the 5:20 mark). Some pretty cool history, too

I can't find the post right now, but somebody here posted a video of old NY/NJ tattooers sitting down and talking and they said pretty much the same thing about line thickness. The one tattoo I have from an old guy (ie he's been tattooing over 50 years) is done with thin lines. I also have some really thick lined stuff on me, it's a much larger tattoo though.

That monkey Jesus looks like it was made to get Instagram likes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have work that was done with a standard 5 over 20 years ago; it's been holding up just fine. To assume that tattoos done with middle line weight won't hold up would be incorrect.

More relevant is type of skin, location of the tattoo, exposure over the years, what black the tattooer used, etc. plenty of other factors besides line weight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you talking about that video with Mike Schweigert, Tony Polito, Pete Giaquinto, Mike Perfetto and Ronnie Dell'aquila?

I think Rich Fie may have been involved as well and maybe Richie Montgomery.

Anyway, I hope I'm not giving away too much info, but I believe the ones that came before us, used way smaller needle groupings to line the tattoos they were doing. 40 years down the road, the outlines look 1/4 inch think!

I love the look of a fat outline, not a doubled-up outline, just a fat fucking outline.

Think about how that may look 40 years from now. If you're still alive.

Yeah, that's the video. Good stuff.

With these kinds of threads I feel that we too often miss the point. When talking about Chad's tattoos, for instance, what makes his tattoos so great is that they have real power. Line weight plays into it, sure, but not as much as that his drawings are loose, they're big and bold, they're aren't picky or finicky, they're just straight up fucking powerful. Fat lines alone isn't going to make a tattoo good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting comments on thick outlines in this video (starting at the 5:20 mark).

Only just now watched this and I'm glad I did. Cool stories aside, what he said about line weight vs size of tattoo is something I would echo any day of the week. Not everything needs to be done with a sharpie. Or even a 8 or 9. Right size for the job is the key.

One thing that I see a trend of is that some tattooers have become so isolated on one style that they have come to rely on thicker lines; names respectfully not mentioning. I can watch someone nail a tradish tattoo with a baggy 8 or 9 but completely blow it with a 5. Thick lines hide shaky or less-than-awesome linework and I see what some people are doing as turning into a crutch. There is a difference between 'this is my style' and 'this is all I can do' and that is what makes a more skilled craftsman than the next guy.

In my opinion.

Of course there are always exceptions; sometimes an artist unintentionally gets pigeon holed. It can't be helped if you just wanna do a smooth b&g tattoo with a 3 once in a while but everyone walking through the door wants to get a Japanese sleeve because that's the only stuff people see you do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...