pale skin versus dark skin: prejudice in canvas

[jnoxzemia]

i am a african american tattoo artist first and foremost
80% of my clientele are comprised of dark skin individuals
i read in a recent tattoo magazine, an artist, when asked what
excited him/her the most about tattooing said " i love it when a pale client
comes in".
this disturbs me and i wish to understand is this a mutual feeling among my fellow artist. i also notice the constant discussion about dealing with "darker skin" or "this color wont work on dark skin" like its a problem or mountain in which nobody like to climb.

feedback and input deeply appreciated!
(also post pictures of this situation solved please.)

pale skin takes every color very well. most people like the b1tc4slap effect. meaning how well the color can be seen from far away. finer lines show up better. of my clients 60 percent are darker skinned. i treat everyone the same though depending on the how dark the skin i my line a little thicker. hope that helps

[FallenKing]

it all comes down to contrast. darker skin is harder to contrast but not impossible.
It's a challenge and different artistic angles need to be spotted.
For example, planing tattoos with a lot of air, dark colors big sizes are key points for those tattoos to stand out.

Remember that skin is dark because of it's pigment. Flesh looks the same in most cases.
When you lay that particle of ink you do it by penetrating that layer of pigment. The end result is a layer of skin with "X" color pigmentation that's going to overlay those particles of inks deposited beneath that layer.

I enjoy doing dark skins, because it breaks with the traditional way of planning your work.

Colors look brighter when the canvas offer more contrast towards such colors.

[yoniC]

Originally Posted by Topshelftattoo

pale skin takes every color very well. most people like the b1tc4slap effect. meaning how well the color can be seen from far away. finer lines show up better. of my clients 60 percent are darker skinned. i treat everyone the same though depending on the how dark the skin i my line a little thicker. hope that helps

I agree with ya bro. I tattoo many darker skinned people down here (especially ALOT of reworks n coverups-moreso than pale-skinned clients) It makes things a little more challenging as far as building contrast, especially in a more elaborate piece-but that to me makes things more fun and interesting....It's especially cool to do a piece on a darker skinned client that has been told over and over "you can't get that kinda tattoo, it won't look good"...and then you do a nice piece for em and they're extra happy with it...

[conorblue]

This has boggled my mind since I started tattooing. I always hear from my darker skinned clientele "well they said color wont work" or whatever. Thats not true at all. Its having a real grasp on contrast that makes those colors work. Its easy on a pale skinned client to put any color next to another it have it look bright right then, but its even the amount of contrast on pale skin that makes it last. I have some colors that really dont show up as well, anything that is close to the clients skin tone really wont be that noticeable, but reds, blues, greens, all in heavy contrast can look great. Its that extra effort, planning, and artistic knowledge that shy some artists away to make general excuses like that. A killer tattoo, is a killer tattoo.

Hell I like to tattoo anyone, that gives me alittle leeway designwise, and takes good care of their tattoo. Its all good advertisement for me.

i found yellow oranges and white are not as contrasting as the others as we all know but if it achieves what you are goin for use it

[yoniC]

Originally Posted by conorblue

This has boggled my mind since I started tattooing. I always hear from my darker skinned clientele "well they said color wont work" or whatever. Thats not true at all. Its having a real grasp on contrast that makes those colors work. Its easy on a pale skinned client to put any color next to another it have it look bright right then, but its even the amount of contrast on pale skin that makes it last. I have some colors that really dont show up as well, anything that is close to the clients skin tone really wont be that noticeable, but reds, blues, greens, all in heavy contrast can look great. Its that extra effort, planning, and artistic knowledge that shy some artists away to make general excuses like that. A killer tattoo, is a killer tattoo.

Hell I like to tattoo anyone, that gives me alittle leeway designwise, and takes good care of their tattoo. Its all good advertisement for me.

for sho

[Erock]

I want all the customers as long as they have money!

[BRANDON BOND]

hahahahah - erock hahaha

yeah its different tattooing dark skin than light skin thats a fact - limitations are different and so is the outcome - it should be approached differently as well- and I cover that in my seminar dvd...

its just different thats all theres an art to it - artists that tattoo dark and light skin the SAME with the same needle groupings, and tones and hues in color generally get poor results.

I was fortunate enough to tattoo in New Orleans for a year or so on ALL BLACK skin, it taught me a LOT!!! I almost got fired the first time I did a name becuse the lines were done with a 3 instead of a 7

true i agree and followedthe same guidelines you covered for years. just depending on how dark, depends on the piece as well idk i'm gettin as much say so as i can before rockstar comes back and throws me outta the chair! she has been bombed with emails which isn't bad !