Struggling with how/where to rest my hands while tattooing (2025)

This has actaully been one of my biggest hurdles when it comes to tattooing. Im having trouble finding a comfortable place to set my hand (holding the machine) while pulling lines. the 3D form of the body is nothing like naturally resting your arm on a desk while you do practice skins. It’s so much harder to keep even depth and line quality when you don’t have a stable hand rest. But I haven’t really seen this problem mention online, which means it might be a problem only I’m having. The biggest problem areas I’ve had so far has been forearms. They’re so thin and rounded.

please help me.
Should I learn how to hover my hand? is there was to practice keeping a stable hand on a surface?

What i learned my hard way, is that i'll never ink without my elbows planted somewhere. Usually on my thighs.
Then, i do the movement i will make and see if anything is in the way. Often, i move my legs, so they help my forearms and hands in the motion, since my elbows are sitting on them.
I mainly have locked fingers on my machine, and will accompany my hand/machine combo to move from my elbows or shoulders.
I hope it's answering your question, but getting the right position of your body before any line makes me turn around my clients a lot during a session.
There are good angles and bad ones.
Plus you have to handle your machine hand + your stretching hand. If they can't both carry on, you're gonna get in trouble anytime in your work.

Edit after reading Dazza:
And yeah, you need to plant yourself on your client and the table/seat where he/she's.
But the hard thing i met when i begun, was if i put to much weight on my client, i couldn't get a good flow for my motion.
To me, you should try to kinda envelopp the shape of the area you're gonna line with both hands, to get the feel of it.
Also, positionning yourself means you should get the better angle for the line WITH regards for the shape of the area you're gonna ink.
All this is quite abstract but i kind of embrace/caress the places i'm going to tattoo, because i can immediatly feel if it's going to be a natural move or if there's something in the way.
I often grab the part i'm gonna ink like if it's a fragile thing and see if my hands can turn it a little bit sideways and run around it. That's for getting the lining and stretching feel of what's going to happen next.
Don't be afraid of moving the client's body to get the best angle.
Ok... To summarize: touch the stuff, go around it, move it, and see where it fits better.

Peace,

DKJ

MalligaMallan said:

It's not only you. This has been discussed thousands of times on this forum. I don't have much good advice to give, because I do pretty much everything in a way no one else does it. I just wanted you to know you're not alone ?

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I tried looking up this problem but I couldn’t even figure out what the name of the problem is lol every search I did came back empty ?. Can you link me some old threads?

Weird angles, but hopefully this shows it OK.

MalligaMallan said:

It's not only you. This has been discussed thousands of times on this forum. I don't have much good advice to give, because I do pretty much everything in a way no one else does it. I just wanted you to know you're not alone ?

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That's exactly why you should post it mm.

Funny thing about tattooing is this - there is a lot put on apprenticeships & the "correct" ways (i am one that is a proponent of traditional apprenticeships). at the same time there is a lot of "what works for you". A mentor told me once... "what ever gets the ink in the skin without effing them up"

i am beginning to believe that an apprenticeship will serve limited value in "what works for you" & is really about paying dues, learning the industry & tradition, & most importantly - not making drastic mistakes on real people. more of a safety net if you will.

so from that perspective - i think your (MM) input is especially valuable because it offers something that is different & can help someone struggling w/the "tried & true"

Good point Gadsden, I'm indeed not used to that kind of response I have to admit ?

I will post an answer a little later on.

sheyd said:

I tried looking up this problem but I couldn’t even figure out what the name of the problem is lol every search I did came back empty ?. Can you link me some old threads?

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I don't think I can, unfortunately ? I just know we've talked about it soooo many times and surely will in the future too ?

sometimes I use a pillow to rest my forearm on, when tattooing the back. Have them sit up on the bed and put a tall pillow to hold my arms up so they don't have to float on someones near vertical back.

Also if your tattooing the forearm, you can just use the entire tattoo bed as a table and tattoo the forearm on it. That way your arms can just lay on the bed. Like have the client sit on the other side of the bed facing you with their arm on the table.

Be creative, experiment with what works. Tons of hand/client/positions and furniture options.

soulstare22 said:

sometimes I use a pillow to rest my forearm on, when tattooing the back. Have them sit up on the bed and put a tall pillow to hold my arms up so they don't have to float on someones near vertical back....

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You never fell asleep?

;-)

Peace,

DKJ