Tattoo Stenciling

Whether you put it on your arm, neck, lower back or ankle, a tattoo helps portray who you are as an individual. Tattoos may be created for cosmetic, religious and magical reasons. They can express individuality or affiliate a person with a group or gang.

According to Wikipedia.com, tattoos may represent various words, symbols and significant images, such “marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love.”

Created through tattoo stenciling, a technique requiring the use of a stencil to help create your desired image, a tattoo can be permanent or temporarily, depending on your preference.

Popular Tattoo Designs

• Old English
• Flowers
• Zodiac signs
• Dragons
• Sun, moon and stars
• Chinese characters
• Skull and crossbones

How to use Disposable Tattoo Stencils to Airbrush Tattoos

Using disposable stencils to airbrush temporary tattoos has become one of the most popular forms of tattoo stenciling. Eliminating the difficulty of having to hold the stencil firmly in place while spraying the tattoo, this technique simplifies the art of tattoo stenciling by using disposable, self-adhesive stencils.

Before attempting to perform this technique at home, you should recognize each step involved in the process, which according to Stencilcut.com, should take only a few minutes. However, if the tattoo is all black, the entire process can take less than one minute. Using an alcohol wipe, clean the entire area where you plan to stencil a tattoo.

1. Remove adhesive from the desired tattoo stencil
2. Apply the stencil to the desired area, rubbing the surface to ensure all areas are evenly adhered to the surface
3. Pulling back at a 180 degree angle, carefully peel off the clear masking material on the surface of the stencil
4. If your tattoo includes colors other than black, you should spray a thin white base onto the surface to make the colors appear more vibrant
5. When switching between colors, be sure to clean the inside of the airbrush with alcohol
6. Spray colors evenly over the entire area to be tattooed
7. To add shading to the image, spray black paint around the edges of the tattoo
8. Pulling back at a 180 degree angle, carefully pull the stencil off of the skin
9. Remove any excess paint around the edge of the stencil with an alcohol swab
10. Dust baby powder or talcum powder over the tattoo’s surface
11. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, remove the tattoo with alcohol and start over
This type of temporary tattoo typically lasts about one week.


Sources:
Application, Cutters, FAQ, Stencils. Stencilcut.com. 8 Oct 2006.
http://www.stencilcut.com/application.htm
http://www.stencilcut.com/cutters.htm
http://www.stencilcut.com/faq.htm
http://www.stencilcut.com/stencils.htm
Tattoo. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 8 Oct 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo