Welcome to the Abyss

From delicate gradients to striking realism, black and gray tattoos hold the power to create mesmerizing depth and shadow, breathing life into your tattoos. First, you have to understand that:

There are two different “types” of black and gray in tattooing:

1.) Gray wash: Refers to the use of diluted black ink to create varying shades of gray for shading and creating depth in tattoos. To dilute the black ink, you would use distilled water or a mixing solution like witch hazel. And depending on the mixture of black ink and distilled water, you would end up with either a darker or a lighter gray (or more or less transparent). It is like turning the opacity up or down on a brush in photoshop.

2.) Gray opaque: Use of full color without dilution of the ink. White ink is white ink, light gray is white ink with a tiny bit of black. And if you kept adding more drops of black ink, the color would get darker and darker. You can not see through the ink onto the skin, like you would with gray wash.

Different skin tones influence the appearance of the gray wash:

Utilizing Gray Wash for Your Tattoos:

You can build up shades by going over one area multiple times, starting from a lighter gray to a gray tone you desire. Just don’t go too crazy and use a really light gray to solid black; You would only work up the area too much, tear up the skin and potentially cause skaring.