How to tell the tattoo depth in skin and if tattoo show problems prior to being fully healed

[Sorry Sloth]

Firstly, I'm sorry if this is the wrong place for this type of question. This is my first time posting... So bear with me please.

Alright. I'm going to be honest. I tattooed for the first time on Friday. I have no training. I am a horrible person. I know. Lord forgive me for living in a city where tattooists are a dime a dozen and no one wants to teach the art.

I tattooed my uncle and then after cleaning everything I tattooed my boyfriend. Both stated that they didn't really feel anything too unpleasant.

My uncle was getting colour in his and even he braced himself for it due to previous experiences with his usual tattooist. Again, apparently, I was very light. It hurt, according to him, but not as much as he thought it would.

In the case of my boyfriend, he has one tattoo and where it is he's numb, so he could not compare it to his first. He did however say it felt pretty light. Not much pain aside from certain spots.

Anyway. My question is; is there a way to know if you haven't gone deep enough in the skin with the needle?
I'd rather go too shallow than just slice someone open mindlessly and without worry of blow outs and other nasty shit.

Also, will the tattoo show you right away if you fucked up (aside from the obvious) or do you need to wait until it's completely healed... Kind of like a little surprise at the end.

 

[Torb]

Hi. You can usually tell by having a really close up look at your lines. They should look solid and crisp. Slightly raised. If they look a bit scratchy or uneven then go over them again. If there is more than a tiny amount of blood then you have gone too deep. I still have the odd line that comes off once healed.

 

[Sorry Sloth]

Hi. You can usually tell by having a really close up look at your lines. They should look solid and crisp. Slightly raised. If they look a bit scratchy or uneven then go over them again. If there is more than a tiny amount of blood then you have gone too deep. I still have the odd line that comes off once healed.

Okay. That makes me feel a bit better. I was silently panicking while doing them both because there really wasn't much blood at all. I think the lining on my uncle's bled but that was it and he claimed to be a 'bleeder'. Thank you for answering

 

[Torb]

Good you played it safe. Better too shallow than too deep. You can always go over it again once it's healed.

 

[Niko2614]

Are you floating your needle?

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[DKJ]

Hi all,
For my 3rd tattoo, i had a Neotat Vivace, a better experience than with my previous dragonhawk panther.

I could feel and hear when my needles were entering the skin, it has been a gain in depht evaluation.

Hope it'll help, it worked for me. You have to pay attention but the difference can be felt and mostly heard.

Peace,

DKJ

 

[Dazza]

If you go to deep it will usual blows out quite quickly or even by the next day ,if you haven’t gone deep enough it will heal out or heal patchy where you’ve gone in and out of the correct depth

 

[DKJ]

Hi all,
From my 3rd tattoo, with a Neotat Vivace which was really better than my previous dragonhawk panther, i could hear and feel the change when my needle was "into" the skin.

It helped me a lot and i gained better depht that way.

Peace