Fireside Articles

Wrong on Paper, Right on Skin | 3 Minutes to Better tattooing

Dan Pushcarich

Published on: 23/04/2025

Shape is king in tattoo design. When I recently had a client come in wanting a blue jay that would wrap around multiple angles of his shoulder, it perfectly illustrated why we need to prioritize designing for the body rather than the stencil paper. This is exactly the kind of challenge that separates good tattooers from great ones - understanding that what might look "wrong" on paper can be absolutely right on skin.

Drawing for Tattoo DesignTattoo Techniques

Building Tattooer Loyalty with a Little TLC | Don Ranns & Tattoo Lover's Care | EP 296

Dan Pushcarich

Published on: 16/04/2025

In the evolving world of tattoo aftercare, understanding the science behind healing can make all the difference in preserving your artwork for decades. When we talked with Don Ranns, we dug into how inflammation affects tattoo healing and why ingredients like CBD are showing promising results for reducing redness and irritation during the critical first days after getting tattooed.

Business and MindsetScience & Technology

Balancing Intuition & Technique | Levi Hilton | EP 295

Dan Pushcarich

Published on: 09/04/2025

What's up everyone, I just had the opportunity to sit down with the incredibly talented Levi Hilton, a recommendation from our friend Patrick O'Neal, and it turned out to be one of the best episodes we've recorded in quite a while. Levi shared his journey from Louisiana to San Diego, diving deep into how animation influenced his unique tattoo style and the importance of understanding how designs interact with the body as a canvas.

Drawing for Tattoo Design

Tips for Tattooing Darker Skin Tones | Fireside Technique | EP 37

Dan Pushcarich

Published on: 08/04/2025

Creating dynamic tattoos for dark skin can be a challenge, but it’s not impossible. In this short episode, we offer a few tips to help get the most out of your designs for dark complexions. Some of the main thing’s we’ll get into are; simplifying your value range, taking extra care for body placement, and utilizing larger, more well defined shapes. Tattooing darker skin is really no different than tattooing any other skin tone, you just have to take a little more care and consideration with your design for the client.

Tattoo Techniques