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Technique

Needle depth: the one habit that fixes blowouts

18 September 2026 Mara Vance 281 views
Needle depth: the one habit that fixes blowouts

Most blowouts are not an ink problem, they are a depth problem. Here is how to feel the right layer.

A blowout happens when pigment is pushed past the dermis into the fat below, where it spreads sideways and turns a crisp line into a bruise-coloured smudge. Depth, not speed, is what keeps that from happening.

Feel the layer

Stretch the skin with two fingers, hold the machine at a consistent angle and let the needle sit just deep enough that the ink stays where you put it. On synthetic skin you can cut a cross section afterwards and look at the channel you made.

Check your hand pressure

New artists push. Pushing is what turns a 1.5 mm needle into a 3 mm wound. Let the machine do the work and keep your wrist loose.

Practise a hundred straight lines before you practise anything pretty. The line is the craft.

#line work #technique #beginners