Smart Tools for Skin Art

Since its ancient beginnings, the art of tattooing has continually advanced, and with the rapid pace of technological innovations, the way artists practice has accelerated faster than ever. From AI and UV to illustration assistance and skincare, tattooing-focused companies are helping tattoo artists grow, evolve, and stand apart from the competition by offering services that can turn a great tattoo into a brilliant masterpiece.

Magic Pen

A stylus for the skin

When HYPRSKN’s Magic Ink and Magic Pen combine efforts, the results are spellbinding, with tattoos that appear and then disappear before your eyes. When the Magic power couple is used together, tattoo artists can draw, write, edit, and erase. The Magic Pen uses UV light to capture Magic Ink’s color-changing particles, making the tattoo visible. When the light source is removed, the ink “disappears,” only to return with another dose of UV light. hyprskn.com

Inkjin

Discover original tattoo designs

For some, the most difficult parts of the tattooing process are the first steps: deciding what they want, where they want it, and who they want to ink it. Inkjin has answers to all of those questions. Its digital platform features 3,600-plus original designs to choose from and a slew of handpicked artists to do the job. Customers can preview tattoos on their bodies using Inkjin’s AR tool and determine the cost of their projects using the AI estimator. Inkjin is also great for tattoo artists, serving as a business tool for bookings, deposits, and information-sharing. inkjin.com

Phomemo

M08F Wireless Stencil Printer

Specially designed for tattoo applications, the ultra-slim Phomemo M08F Wireless Stencil Printer is small but mighty. Shorter than a standard ruler and weighing less than 2 pounds, the M08F can go where you go, sliding into most travel bags with ease — a convenient companion for on- and off-site tattooing. Its inkless thermal technology creates crisp, high-definition transfers without the mess of ink or toner, and the rechargeable battery can produce up to 220 smudge-free pages per full charge. phomemo.com

Procreate

Art for everyone

Procreate offers limitless possibilities for tattoo artists looking to refine their designs or experiment with new ideas. Procreate helps artists collaborate more effectively, making it easier to visualize and modify designs until they reach the ideal tattoo design. This award-winning digital illustration app offers hundreds of brushes and colors, and creative tools that can warp, layer, blend, erase, refine, and more. Procreate’s latest upgrade includes an expansion of drawing tools, such as pencils, paints, inks, markers, pens, and brushes. Whether your style leans more toward realism, illustrative, American traditional, or even watercolors, Procreate offers artists flexibility, control, and clarity. procreate.com

SKINGRAPHICA

Skincare for skin art

When you book a tattooing session, you willingly subject your skin to trauma. The SKINGRAPHICA four-phase system helps protect your skin before, during, and after the ink sets in. “SKINGRAPHICA is the first prestige brand engineered to preserve the art while treating the skin,” the company touts.

About two weeks before your session, prepare your skin with its PRIME tattoo preparation serum. PRIME hydrates and fortifies the skin, creating a supple surface that heals more efficiently and helps ink settle more evenly. When the ink is complete and after your tattoo artist allows your covering to be removed, move to stage two, LOCK, to soothe and protect your healing skin. Use PROTECT as your daily defense cream, safeguarding your skin and ink from harmful UV rays and fading.

Stage four, LUME, brings old tattoos new life. “For LUME, it’s important that it is used on tattoos suitable for restoration,” says Mat Baxter, cofounder and CEO of Australia-based SKINGRAPHICA. “This is typically tattoos 5 years or older, that show obvious signs of fading. Tattoos with washed-out effects or watercolor styles are not ideal candidates for restoration.”

As a veteran tattoo artist, fellow Cofounder Mikael Rämgård has a deep understanding of tattoo culture. That combination of insight and luxury skincare means your canvas and tattoos will stay vibrant now and into the future. skingraphica.com

Sacred Geometry 2.0

Drawing app for symmetry, geometry, and drawing tools

CEO and Founder Dillon Forte created Sacred Geometry “for tattoo artists, designers, educators, and anyone inspired by the mathematical beauty found in nature.” Just a year after its initial launch, the Sacred Geometry Drawing App has received an upgrade.

Sacred Geometry 2.0’s improved interface comes with a redesigned fill tool, SVG import and export options, and new tools like Nautilus Mode, which offers tattoo artists two spiral-design options. The app’s updates refine, duplicate, move, scale, and organize designs quickly, helping tattoo artists optimize their performance and save invaluable time.

Forte, a Texas-based tattoo artist, has a global reputation for his innovative geometric designs. He has tattooed stars like Chris Hemsworth, Kat von D, and Kehlani, and has tested his tattooing prowess underwater, on Mount Everest, and inside an Egyptian pyramid.

Sacred Geometry 2.0 is available exclusively on iPadOS and is compatible with iPadOS 14 or later. sacredgeometryapp.com