With the people of the world staying home as much as possible due to the coronavirus, many tattoo addicts have started turning to their own creativity to get their tattoo fix in the form of self-administered hand-poked tattoos. Hand poking is the original form of tattooing, with tattoo machines being a modern invention. Before the mechanisation of tattoo art, inserting ink into the skin was a much more time-consuming affair, with each line having to be made up of repeated poking of the skin, one dot after another.
Because hand-poked tattooing is slower, more attention can be paid to the quality of the tattoo, and there’s less chance of a beginner tattooer making a quick, bad mistake that ruins the finished tattoo. Many tattoo artists start their career with small, hand-poked tattoos that they create on themselves or for friends and family members before taking on paying clients. Because you can buy hand-poke tattoo sets online, this method of tattooing is an ideal lockdown hobby for budding tattoo artists. All of the hand poke tattoos pictured below were created during 2020 since the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Will these tattoos serve as a lifelong reminder to their owners of the time that they spent in lockdown?
(Please, if you do try hand-poking a tattoo; use the right equipment and follow all of the correct safety and hygiene procedures.)
A happy dolphin leaps out of a banana in this funny hand poke tattoo. People who hand poke their own tattoos often speak of the pride they feel in creating their own artwork on their own skin. [source] Did you know that banana dolphins are a thing?
This small skull hand poke tattoo took this determined artist around two hours of careful inking to make. [source]
This cheerful tattoo design of a little dude holding flowers is perfect for hand poking because it is sweet and simple. The outline of the character has enough room between the lines that the tattoo can be understood even when seen from a distance. It’s clear that this is a smiling guy holding a bunch of flowers. [source]
Hand poke tattoos have an organic feel to them which makes these sea shells a great tattoo design choice. The tattoo artist has been able to focus on the fine details of the shells, even adding a bit of shading in the form of dot work. [source]
This abstract portrait tattoo uses dotwork to shade the eyelid and eyebrow of the sleeping woman. Simple, minimalist designs like this one are perfect for small, hand poked tattoos. This one is exceptionally well-executed. [source]
Many hand poke tattoo artists avoid large areas of black ink but this brave tattooer chose Betty Boop and Bimbo who both have significant areas of black ink in their character designs. Cartoon characters from the black and white cartoons of the early 21st century are ideal tattoo designs for hand poking because they have strong silhouettes and bold outlines. [source]
This beautiful butterfly tattoo shows that with a bit of practice and patience an artist can develop the skills to create amazing art work on their own skin. [source]
A crow sits on a human skull in this artistic hand poke tattoo. The artist has used two different sized tattoo needles to create this artwork on skin. [source]
This stay home tattoo artist has used 3 RL and 9 RL needles to hand poke this tattoo of a daisy flower. The number represents how many tiny needles are grouped together (fewer means finer lines and more means thicker lines). [source] The RL stand for Round Liner. Stick and Poke Tattoo Kit explains the different needles on their website.
