This week I had almost finished an outline and I wasn't happy. Instead of a solid, clean line, it was a variety of thicknesses and wavy.

What had happened? I concentrated on my stretch... it was fine. I wondered about my needle depth, so I set it so I could ride the tube. After trying a couple of more lines, I was getting the same result. So I chalked it up to me having a hard time. I was ecstatic to switch to shading and coloring because I feel comfortable with a mag. I then a made a point to render the butterfly as smooth as I knew how.

Then, at the end, I picked up my liner to add some white highlights. I attached my clip cord and noticed the mistake: I had forgot to pull my rubber bands down around the needle. Now, I've always been cautious to not have too much rubber band tension; but with no tension at all, you just get a messed up outline. (#61)

Nice.

With no visible alarm, I kept a poker face and quickly cleaned up the outline. None was the wiser and I was able to get up from that tattoo with both a lesson learned and no worries that I had completely forgot how to line.