Realistic Doll Tattoos

The first tattoo I ever did was a bit crude but I used colour pencil


Since then I've started to used the transfer type and add acrylic paint


I think paint is great for a strong colour as long as it's not too thick, it seems to add a layer. I like the Color pencil as it's quite faded and more natural looking and better for shading.

 

Its amazing! My dolly want tattoo!!! ^_^

 

I painted this for Keepithushhush


and this one for SnyderOfBerlin - She had the design fro me and i scaled it and printed it on paper and used pencil to transfer it onto the doll

 

tattoos rather go ^ ^ I think made ​​me want to give more to mine

 

i also adore tattoo's but i got my doll restringed and resand by my friend, then the tats just have to go firts ; n; but im planning to retattoo my boy AND NICE TATTOO PICS XD absoultely love the pics that i saw. makes me a lot inspired to paint him a tat right now

 

A few of you guys have mentioned tracing and transferring designs onto your dolls... I'm curious as to how you guys go about this??

 

Hey!

So I came across this thread, and I thought that I'd suggest something...

If you don't mind spending the money, you can try putting a tattoo on a doll this way:

Materials Needed:

-Laser Printer (MUST BE LASER)
-Waterslide Transfer Paper
-Translucent Powder (Setting powder, you can get this at a makeup store or buy some from a FX shop, like FX Warehouse)
-ProsAid Adhesive (google search for this, or go to FX Warehouse)
-A cloth
-Q-tips
-Cotton Balls/Pads OR Makeup Sponge
-Sealer

I have NOT tried this on a doll myself, however if I were to give a doll a tattoo, this is what I would try out first to see if it'll have the effect I want.

Preparing Your Doll:

1. First thing's first, wash the area you want the tattoo to be. Use latex gloves so you don't leave any oil residue after you clean it.
2. Seal the area a few times to protect the resin. Use a resin with some "tooth", or sand it just a little after to give it that touch of a rough surface so the tattoo won't slide off.

Steps:

1. Design your tattoo and have it printed on the waterslide transfer paper. Remember: the printer HAS to be a laser jet printer. You can either buy one or get it printed at a shop. Also remember to print the design so it'll fit your doll. :P You can also print pieces of it, and individually cut them out and place it on your doll however way you'd like.
NOTE: Make sure that you print the tattoo on the SHINY SIDE of the paper!! It won't transfer if you print it on the matte side. Also remember if you're printing words, flip the file backwards and print it like that. When you apply it to the doll, the words will be readable and not backwards. :P
2. Apply ProsAid to the waterslide transfer paper on tattoo/shiny side. Let it dry.
3. Apply ProsAid to the area on your doll where the tattoo is going. Remember where this is. Let it dry. It'll dry clear, so no worries. Tip: Use a Q-tip.
4. Apply the tattoo on the area of your doll. Make sure the tattoo/shiny side of the paper is ON the doll. The ProsAid will make it adhere.
5. Using a cloth, wet it with water and apply it to the paper. Make sure the paper is saturated with the water. Don't overdo it, it's not needed. Just get the paper wet.
6. CAREFULLY remove the paper from your doll, making sure the tattoo is sticking to the doll itself and not peeling off.
7. Once the paper is removed and your tattoo is on the doll, let it dry. Once dried, apply the translucent powder to the tattoo using a fluffy brush. You can also use a pad and then brush the powder away after.
8. The tattoo will still be shiny, so apply some more ProsAid on top of it, let it dry and apply powder again. Note: Use a makeup sponge or a cotton ball, something bigger and try not to rub too hard on the tattoo.
9. Seal the tattoo, and you're done!

Note: Using black ink will make the tattoo look new and fresh. If you want a more aged tattoo, use greens, blues and grays. Also remember when it comes to color, it'll print DARKER than you see on your monitor. Do some tests if you're not sure.

I really hope this info helps. PLEASE remember to seal your doll before you do this, otherwise you might stain the resin. You're using ink, not paint or pastels (though you should seal the doll regardless... <w<; ). Like I said, I've never done this before so if it doesn't work... well if you sealed your doll properly you can just remove the tattoo and act like it never happened. :P

I found out how to do this on real skin, and I thought it would be a good method for tattooing BJD's. :3

Things to keep in mind:

-Make sure the image is high quality. Do some tests. On people, it's 300 dpi.
-It might not last for a long time, though if you seal it afterwards I don't see why it shouldn't. Use a matte sealer..

If someone tries this method before me, let me know! I wanna see. ^_^

 

Wow there are some amazing pieces in this thread! I have lots of tattoos myself, so naturally I want my dolls to have them too. But since I'm not a natural artist, I have to find a good way to "cheat". I may try the transfer method just to see how it would work. It sounds sort of the way they transfer the stencil of a tattoo onto skin before inking.

 

I got some temporary tattoos at a Halloween store a while back. The sticky kind that you transfer to your skin by wetting the paper they're on. There's some that are small enough to go on a doll so as soon as the weather's good to use MSC, I'll give it a try. (Already threatened Luken to give him an Iron Man tattoo if he doesn't behave - just couldn't resist getting those Avengers-tattoos ... *gg*)

 

I have done a transfer tattoo and it worked pretty well. My biggest complaint is that the transfer is shiny. I plan to do a skin-tone blush over the transfer, but I haven't been able to yet.

The tattoo is high on the back of her right shoulder. If you plan to do a transfer tattoo on a more curvy area then you want to plan for how you're going to wrap it around. It was tricky to get the tattoo to not slide around while I was pushing water onto the back. I sprayed multiple layers of MSC before the transfer and a few after as well. You can kinda see a few places where the color didn't transfer. I might try to touch those up with something just to practice techniques...which is the only reason this doll is getting tatts at all. XD



I have a few other shots so that you can see flash v no flash. The black bits you might see are from her shirt not the tattoo. I forgot to wipe her off after I took her top off because I couldn't see the fuzz with my bare eye.
http://s9.beta.photobucket.com/user/Farrh/library/Faceups

 

What a fun thread, I loved looking at everyones photo's of different kinds of tatoo's. What wonderful art!!

 

Would anyone advise against Micron pens? I use them for work, I'm a tattoo artist, and would love to tattoo my dolls!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Hi everyone!
I've try some realistic looking tattoos! I usually paint doll tattoos as if they were bright new, like this:

WIP skulls of wisdom par Mamzelle Follow, sur Flickr

But sometime i try older looking tattoos. Only in B&W (with little of red) for the moment:

Corsets and Ribbons par Mamzelle Follow, sur Flickr

this:


or lately, this:

Jay's hands WIP par Mamzelle Follow, sur Flickr


For an "rather old" looking tattoo, I use lighter colors (meaning inks mixed with water). And no pure black, but a blue-raw umber mix (or blue-black, depending of my mood).
Next step : doing an old looking tattoo with unclear lining...

 

Whoa, awesome tattoos! Thanks for the tips everyone.