stencils

HERES A GOOD TOPIC: stencils, does anybody like to hand draw a stencil? or run it in the dot matrix or thermofax? which is better?

Stencils , I've read alot about this , and no I"m not a professional by any means. But I pay close attention to their words on this subject( like most others). From what I"ve heard is that most of them prefer to do hand stencils even after paying that ungodly amount for the "stencil maker" lol. I've seen a few scratchers hook up old dot matrix machines for stencil making and i've done my fair share of trial and error and with that knowledge and my own observations i've came to the realization that if you've drawn the picture, then traced an outline, then retraced your stencil, you're fairly well accustomed to the lines and curves of the tattoo. before the needle even touches skin. I've personally never used a machine for stencils, basically cause I can't afford one and i'm not a full time professional tattooist. But I do believe i'd be more comfortable with an artist who hand draws the stencils he or she is intending to use on my body.

I have seens tons of folks come through who use our thermafax. Vast majority at some point, not for every tattoo but probably half. Coupla people will size the design then draw from the photocopy onto the thermafax paper to get their stencil. Photoshop has some cool features where you can halftone images to get stencils. Then everyone has different solutions to keep that stencil on longer... Many of the realistic guys coming through really need that stencil to stick, so theres a few solutions they use. In the end, stencils and thermafaxs and stencils in general are very usefull tools which the artist will use to their advantage as they see fit.

I makem all here, We have a thermal but i still do them all, sometimes they will use the one from the thermal over mine (grrrr) but its a mark of pride when they use mine over the machines. Ur lines get real crisp real quick.

That's the advantage i've heard about right there.

it all falls down in the size and detail of the stencil needed. Both techniques have their magic. Simple butterfly tattoos, or tattoos with small details I would prefer hand tracing. For tribal, large tattoos and images with less detail, thermal fax. Freehand is another method of transfer. Some times a combination of all this techniques are part of the stencil making for a tattoo piece. Each artist have it's own preference based on experience, tradition and taste. I personally do what helps me achieve the stencil in the most accurate and less time consuming way. For example for a name tattoo for a back, I would type it on the computer, adjust my design, print and thermo-fax it. Time = Money