Under Your Skin Ink

My process stays pretty consistent with every tattoo. One thing I hear a lot from clients is that my tattoos tend to hurt less and rarely need touch-ups. Don’t get me wrong — I’ve tattooed ribs and feet where people have had to tap out — but outside of those high-pain areas, I’ve been told many times that my approach is easier on the skin.
I run my machines at a lower voltage. In my opinion, a lot of skin damage comes from artists pushing their machines too hard. High voltage can chew up the skin fast, leaving you with very little room to work before the skin turns into hamburger, which usually means rough healing and weaker results over time.
I avoid all that by keeping things lower, especially because of my whip shading style. There’s no reason to overwork the skin if you don’t have to. Lower settings give you more workable passes, and the skin tends to respond and heal a lot better because of it.
For the scratchers out there — if you constantly need to crank your voltage way up, something’s probably off. That’s usually a sign it’s time to really learn how your machine runs instead of forcing it.
I still use traditional coil machines. I’ve heard a lot of artists say rotary pens aren’t as versatile, and some have even moved away from them completely. That’s enough for me to stick with coils. I haven’t mastered tattooing yet, so I don’t see the point in changing tools right now. Plus, I genuinely like the buzz of a coil machine.
Over the winter I’ve been putting a lot of time into practicing whip shading. It’s another tool and technique that adds texture and softness to a tattoo. In a way, whip shading reminds me of stippling or dot work on paper — it’s all about patience, control, and building tone gradually.

Before the shop opens up there's been a few people who have helped me in ways I couldn't help myself. A huge thank you to Mark, Tracy and Garrett and everyone who's been an encouraging part of this journey. This wouldn't be possible without your help.
I'll be forever grateful for you guys,

Thank you. 😎🙏

Tentative opening day is May 16th. I won't be booking until May 16th in case there's anything to tie up with the health unit.

It's looking like next weekend we will be reaching out to the North Bay health unit. We're coming down to the last few things on the check list that need to be done. Thanks for your patience. I am getting pumped. This was my last dream I really had. Not much left on my bucket list. Just wanted to make some comics and do some tattoos. Make some people happy. Getting insurance might slow me down a bit but we'll take it a day at a time and get open asap.

Getting very close to getting the North Bay Health Unit out to tell me what else they need done. Got 3 solid hours of work done yesterday with the beautiful weather and there's not much left to do before the call. An update because I'm getting pretty pumped. Finally got some nice weather.

I'm still aiming to have the studio open as soon as possible. I need a few 10°C days though for what needs to be done before I get the health unit here. Getting very excited for what's to come. Let's see them warm days! 🌞

UYSI Poll Question:

Are you down for the new tattoo trend of shadow puppet animals? If I were to do it, my shadow would be realistic. Gotta sketch one up.

So are you yes or no for the hand puppet tattoo trend?

Sketch Dump! 🗑️.

I’ve been sharing a lot of sketches lately to show my style and what I can do. A lot of the pieces I worked from started as AI references that clients brought in, so I’m often translating someone else’s idea rather than creating the design from scratch.
Because of that, it’s honestly knocked my confidence a bit when it comes to my own designs. But I still have the skills and experience behind the machine, and I’m hoping the sketches help show the level of work I bring to the table.

Under Your Skin is still aiming for a spring opening. Stay tuned. I'm always here for any questions. Getting really pumped to bring this dream to life.

Hoping to be open weekends and a possible spot at nights throughout the week for the first few months.