Right after the outline is done, it can be tempting to figure that the hardest part is over. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t true. Granted, the outline itself requires some very precise work, and is of crucial importance seeing as the rest of the tattoo hinges on it, but still – there is more to a tattoo than an outline alone, as you’re about to see!

Although most tattoo artists will be glad that the outlining stage is over, the truth is that there are other things that need to be taken care of now too, and none would be more readily apparent than: Coloring and shading.

As I wrote in an earlier article, when choosing tattoo ink colors, a lot depends on the color of your skin tone. And depending on the design that you’ve chosen, you’ll find that this parts of your tattoo process may take either a long or short period of time. If your tattoo involves a lot of color, or is heavy on the shading, then you could find that it takes just as long to complete as the outline did. But then with all the time you’ve already invested in this process, finding the design, finding a parlor, finding an artist, (finding the courage!!) you’re in for the long haul so what’s a little more time to make sure you get what you want.

Over the course of shading and coloring, you may find that your tattoo artist starts to switch around the tools that they’re using. In some cases, you may even find that the entire needle gun is swapped for something slightly different. Don’t be alarmed when this happens, it’s perfectly natural that a different set of tools would be used for shading and coloring purposes.

Once the color and shades are added, your tattoo should start to resemble the pattern that you had in mind. Since it is based on your design, there should be few disappointments, and that really is the objective, yes!