Three things have to be settled before a long session starts: how high the client sits, what supports the area being worked on, and where your tools are. All three are working-method decisions, and there is no single standard — they depend on your height, the client's build, the placement, and how you prefer to stand. What follows lists them as options to settle before the needle goes down. It gives no measurements and claims no one setup is better than another.
1. Chair height
What you need is a chair whose height can be changed while you work. Two adjustable options in ATTO's range are the Professional Multifunctional Adjustable Tattoo Chair, and the ATTO TATTOO Foldable Portable Tattoo Chair when you work away from the studio.
How high, and by what test, differs between studios. No universal figure is offered here.
2. Support for the area being worked on
The area needs something holding it rather than the client holding a position. Whether that is a dedicated support, a rolled towel or the client's own body is decided on the day.
3. Where the tools sit
Keep what the current step needs within reach without moving your body. ATTO's 7-hole stainless steel ink holder is one of the tools for that job.
Three sentences to say before the first line
- Where to put their hands. Name a specific place rather than saying "relax".
- When they may talk. When they need to move, need a break, or feel discomfort.
- When they must not move. While the needle is in the skin. Say this before the first line.
Why "at home" is not only an equipment question
What beginners most often underestimate is that a domestic setting is missing working conditions, not just a machine.
In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) stated in a standard interpretation dated 29 July 2002 that because tattooing and piercing generate blood, workers in the industry fall within the scope of the Bloodborne Pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and that these protections cover clients as well as workers. The standard addresses a set of conditions the workplace has to keep meeting, not one machine or one table. A domestic room usually cannot provide them, and none of that has anything to do with how good your hands are.
What you specifically need to satisfy where you work is a question for your local health or occupational safety authority.
After the client sits down, before the first line
- Chair height set for you and the client as they actually are.
- The area being worked on is supported.
- What the current step needs is within reach.
- The three sentences above have been said.
These four produce no artwork. They simply belong to the part that is finished before work starts.