Stick and poke, also known as hand poke, is a tattooing method which uses a single needle instead of a

tattoo machine A tattoo machine (colloquially referred to as a tattoo gun) is a hand-held device generally used to create a tattoo, a permanent marking of the skin with indelible ink. Modern tattoo machines use electromagnetic coils to move an armature bar up an ...

. Until the introduction of electric tattoo machines in the 19th century, hand-poking was a common tattooing method, alongside incision tattoos and subdermal tattooing.

Practitioners

In the modern day, stick-and-poke tattoos are often performed by young adult amateurs. Minors who are unable to obtain parental consent for a professional tattoo may receive stick-and-poke tattoos from peers. Incarcerated people may also give and receive stick-and-poke tattoos, an association which sometimes gives them the name of prison tattoos. Other groups associated with stick-and-poke tattooing include

punks Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and bikers. Within the tattoo industry, stick and poke is often stigmatized as unhygienic or unprofessional. Other tattoo artists dislike the trendiness of the resurgent practice. However, professionals who practice stick and poke praise its "softness", intimacy, and transgressive nature.

Materials

Stick and poke tattooing requires a sharp object and a source of pigment; a handle may be attached to the sharp object for easier manipulation. Primitive tattoos were often performed with natural materials such as thorns or fish teeth, or with sharp implements made from metal, bone, or stone.

Soot Soot ( ) is a mass of impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. Soot is considered a hazardous substance with carcinogenic properties. Most broadly, the term includes all the particulate matter produced b ...

was sometimes used for pigment, as in the tattoos of

Ötzi the Iceman Ötzi, also called The Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on 19 September 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi", ) at the Austria–Italy border. He ...

. Modern amateur stick and poke often uses a

safety pin A safety pin is a variation of the regular Pin (device), pin which includes a simple Spring (device), spring mechanism and a clasp. The clasp forms a closed loop to properly fasten the pin to whatever it is applied to and covers the end of the p ...

sewing needle A sewing needle, used for hand-sewing, is a long slender tool with a pointed tip at one end and a hole (or ''eye'') to hold the sewing thread. The earliest needles were made of bone or wood; modern needles are manufactured from high carbon steel ...

, and ink from a

ballpoint pen A ballpoint pen, also known as a biro (British English), ball pen (Hong Kong, Indian, Indonesian, Pakistani, and Philippine English), or dot pen ( Nepali English and South Asian English), is a pen that dispenses ink (usually in paste form) ...

. Professionals use

tattoo ink Tattoo inks consist of pigments combined with a carrier, used in the process of tattooing to create a tattoo in the skin. These inks are also used for permanent makeup, a form of tattoo. Professional tattoo inks are available in many colors and ...

, medical-grade tattoo needles, and stabilizer pens.

References

{{reflist Tattoos by type Tattooing traditions