Forum

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try to base your mixture on the darkness of the skin you are working on. for example, the darker the skin tone, the higher the contrast and the lower the amount of tones needed. the lighter the skin , the higher the tones needed.

for example.

dark skin. 1 cup of black 100%, 1 cup of water. each dip in the water lightens the tone about 10% adjust your tones accordingly.

medium skin: 1@100%, 1@15 drops 1@7 drops, 1@3 drops.

fair skin: 1@100% 1@15, 1@8, 1@3 1@clear

light skin: 1@100% 1@16, 1@11, 1@3,1@2, 1@1, 1@clear
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The lighter the skin, the more tones you can use. however, its all on how you dip. once you have enough experience, you can make any setup work for you. personally I use 1 cup straight black, 1 cup black for mixing, 1 cup 25% 2 cups clear. I'm comfortable with this to tattoo any type of skin, its all in how you dip between cups. there are lots of great black inks that you can mix, personally I use mostly dynamic for 90% of my greywash, and pelican for my softer works. *Just a note on the pelican. there are a lot of knock offs on this ink, you need to know where to buy a legitimate batch. there has been some legal controversy over pelican in the past, So they decided to pull their ink out of the tattoo market. however it has been used for well over 50 years without a problem, so use at your own risk. like I said, if you don't have a reliable source, DO NOT!!!! take the chance. pelican is not as black as some other inks, and there are lots to choose from....I highly recommend you stick with leaders in the industry like dynamic, eternal, fusion, intenze, silverback,etc,etc..these are great inks

hope that helps,

take care,

Stephen Stacey