How To Make A Tattoo Stencil Without Transfer Paper?

For a tattoo artist, one of the key things that need to be done is to get make that tattoo stencil. Basically, this is the outline of the tattoo design that will go on the part of the body where you want the tattoo to be. This is usually made with the help of a transfer paper called thermal paper. The tattoo design is stuck on the skin and that is what a tattoo artist uses to guide them along when tattooing.

But what if you are out of transfer paper and need to know how to make a tattoo stencil without transfer paper? Transfer papers are sometimes not readily available or quite difficult to obtain as they are special papers. If in the instance you don’t have one, then the good news for you is that you can make a tattoo stencil without it! It might take a bit longer but you can just as easily make a tattoo stencil without the need for transfer paper. And here is how!

Key Takeaways

• You can make the tattoo stencil on either regular paper or tracing paper. Just know that each will have a different method to make the stencil.
• Transferring the DIY tattoo stencil has to be done carefully. Otherwise, you could end up ruining the paper and stenciling on your skin.
• There are many benefits to using regular paper as a tattoo stencil but there are reasons why transfer paper is better even though it is more expensive.

Making the Tattoo Stencil

The first thing that needs to be done for a tattoo is to make the stencil of the design. This is usually done on thermal paper which makes an accurate stencil on the skin, but you can make tattoo stencils with regular paper too! The process will be a little different of course, but it is still possible to get that tattoo stencil on your skin later.

Tattoo stencil on regular paper

Let’s talk about how to make the stencil with regular paper. It is pretty easy to make stencil itself. Take any normal blank paper and draw the design that you want to be tattooed. This can be any design but for regular paper, it will be a lot easier to have simple designs that have lots of lines that you can follow.

After drawing the design, you will want to take another piece of paper and just shade it with a graphite pencil around the size of your tattoo, just a bit bigger. Make sure to deeply cover it so you can get the graphite onto the final paper. Then what you will be doing is placing the paper with the design on top of the paper with the tattoo design and outline over the graphite area. This will transfer the graphite onto the back of the paper with the design which will be transferred to your skin later! You should use a ballpoint pen and deeply mark the outline of the design on the back of the paper where the graphite is sticking. Once you have done this, you have a tattoo stencil on regular paper!

Tattoo stencil on tracing paper

If you have tracing paper available, then it will make your work even easier! There are actually two ways you can trace. The first is where you take the design on top of the tracing paper pad and then lightly trace it over. The tracing paper is made of 3 different papers to be precise. The first translucent paper where the design will be, the middle brown paper that protects the graphite layer, and the graphite or vellum paper. In this first method, you will remove the brown paper after initially tracing the design. Then you will go over the design with a ballpoint pen with the brown paper removed. And with that, you are done with the first method!

The second method is easier but you will need to secure the tracing paper so it does not move. Remove the brown paper first and then secure the paper with the design underneath the translucent tracing paper. Then with a pen go over the outline of the whole design. For portrait designs, you should use dots for tracing where you want shading to be so it will be easier to tattoo. After you are done with the tracing, your tattoo stencil is now ready! All that is left is to apply it!

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Transferring the Tattoo Stencil on the Skin

With the tattoo stencils done, it is now time to transfer them onto the skin. This is the most important part, where a mistake could smudge the lines or tear the paper. But with these steps, it will be a lot easier to transfer the design.

Step 1: Cutting the tattoo stencil

First, cut out the tattoo stencil, leaving an inch gap around the design. This will make the sticking part easier to do and the gap is to ensure you have enough grip without going over the design itself.

Step 2: Preparing the skin

You will need to prepare the skin to transfer the stencil to your skin. What you need to do is use an exfoliating product suitable for your skin over the area you want to tattoo some days before you want to transfer the stencil. Then you will need to shave the area of any hair, making sure to shave along the grain.

Step 3: Using transfer solution or deodorant stick

To make sure that you can apply the tattoo stencil on your skin, you will need to apply something on your skin to stick the stencil. For that, there are transfer solutions you can use to safely transfer the tattoo stencil. Or, you can use the neat DIY trick of using a stick deodorant to apply the stencil. Simply go over the area with the deodorant over and over again until you get a nice layer of it on the skin.

Step 4: Putting the stencil on your skin

The next two steps are incredibly important and need to be done very carefully. First, you will want to put the tattoo stencil on your skin. Make sure to put it on the skin without any pockets of air forming underneath. To make sure you apply it neatly, attach one side of the stencil and use your finger to move over the paper and push it against the skin. This will ensure no pockets are forming.

Step 5: Sticking and peeling the tattoo stencil

The final part of the tattoo stencil transfer is to keep the stencil stuck on the skin. You can apply a little bit of pressure so that the paper is sticking properly and ink or graphite is being transferred to the skin. When it has been on your skin with pressure for a few minutes, it is time to peel it! Carefully start peeling from one side of the stencil. If you notice that the ink has not transferred properly, put it back and spray a mixture of water and soap over the stencil. Gently rub the solution on your skin and then start peeling again. This should make the stencil stick to your skin.

And with that, you are done with the tattoo stencil without needing transfer paper! It is just that easy!

Pros and Cons of Using Regular Paper for Tattoo Stencils

While there are some benefits of using regular paper for tattoo stencils, there are some things that thermal paper does better. So let’s see the pros and cons of using regular paper or tracing paper for tattoo stencils.

With everything said about transfer paper and regular paper, the most important difference between them is the detail of the design. More detailed tattoos will be really hard to transfer to your skin with regular paper. It will be doubly difficult to transfer the image clearly for portraits as they require a different guideline for shading! So while it might be cheaper, regular paper tattoo stencils should be used for simpler designs.

FAQs

What can I use instead of a transfer solution for a tattoo stencil?

You could use stick deodorant, baby oil, or water and soap mixture to transfer the ink or graphite onto the skin.

Is tattoo transfer paper expensive?

Yes, they are expensive. These are thermal papers that need to be heat-resistance to withstand the printing process. They also have many layers which add to the cost.

Can I use a pen as a tattoo stencil?

In theory, you can use a pen as a tattoo stencil. However, do note that pen ink is toxic for the skin and in the tattooing process could cause an allergic reaction.

Final Thoughts

When in a pinch, you could always use regular paper for tattoo stencils instead of transfer paper. They can be hard to come by and can be quite difficult to work on if you haven’t done so before. However, the design you make on regular or tracing paper should be simple designs with bold outlines that are easier to transfer on the skin. Making the tattoo stencil is fairly easy but you will have to be very careful when sticking on the skin as one wrong move means you will have to start all over again! So if you want to make tattoo stencils without transfer paper, now you know!

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