About Handpoked Tattoo

Many times I come across questions about handpoke tattooing and how is it possible that tattoos can be done without machines, but what few people know is that this is the oldest method used for it. In the photo below we can see it being applied inside Namkha Tattoo Studio:

As humans we have always had a curious need to record what is inside and around us. Cave paintings, painted ceramic pieces found in excavations, and even mummified bodies covered in tattoos serve as signs of this intrinsic desire for our species to leave marks throughout history.

Focusing specifically on the act of tattooing, machines only emerged at the end of the 19th century, meaning they are extremely recent in history, considering that the first recorded tattoos date back to 3000 BC.

Obsidian blades, shark teeth, claws and fangs of large predators, and even lemon tree thorns have been used by masters of tattooing traditions around the world. And in some places (such as the Kalinga of Malaysia, who use thorns) it is still a wide used method.

Currently (and in the case of the studio), sterilized stainless steel needles (in Brazil, authorized by ANVISA) are used, with the utmost caution and attention to modern biosafety standards.

Tattoos are kindly put by the needle's pulsation into the skin, penetrating just enough for the pigment to settle and remain in the body. This makes it a gentler process for the dermis and promotes much faster healing.

The intensity of pain varies from individual to individual, but in general, clients report that it hurts significantly less than machine tattooing. Within NAMKHA TATTOO, I usually say that the two methods are not comparable in terms of being “better” or “worse,” as it is much more about the suitability to the individuality of each person who comes to the studio seeking a tattoo.

Sometimes we need the silence and the "stitching" of a handpoke tattoo; sometimes we need the electricity and the "cut" of the machines.

But what about the result? Is it the same as machine tattooing in terms of pigmentation and quality? I’ll let the two examples below answer that question:

Above, the finished work from the initial photo. Below, a beautifully made freehanded handpoke tattoo.

With these two examples, we can get a sense of the potential offered by the ancestral method of handpoke tattooing. Yes, it requires patience and a lot of presence, but it is precisely through these two key elements that we build beautiful treasures in our minds and lives.

Nelson Tedesco - NAMKHA TATTOO