What is Handpoke Tattooing?

Handpoke tattooing is a method of creating art on skin, without the use of a tattoo machine. 

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Sometimes referred to as Stick and Poke tattooing, this way of marking skin has been practiced by human beings all over the world since pre-history.

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The handpoke technique differs from machine tattooing in various ways although the resulting tattoos are equally permanent.

 

Most people find handpoke tattoos to be less painful than those created with a machine as less damage is caused to the skin; as a result, the healing of handpoke tattoos is often quicker than with machine-made tattoos.

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The handpoke process is much slower, quieter and more favourable to a meditative approach.

 

I often make the analogy that getting a handpoke tattoo versus a machine tattoo is like the difference between swimming in the ocean and swimming in a pool. Both are great, but they are a different quality of experience from one another.

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The needles I use to make my tattoos are the exact same, single use, vacuum sealed industry standard tattoo needles that are used in tattoo machines, I simply hold the needle like a pen and make the marks manually, dot by dot.

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Here's a video where you can see how the process looks. Notice how lightly the needle touches the skin, how the skin is not red or bleeding and the delicate finish on the final artwork.

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